I finally heard about the almost-complete financial numbers from the Agile 2009 conference. The conference is supposed to generate enough monies for the Agile Alliance to fund research, other conferences, guest speakers, and a whole bunch of other initiatives that are on the site. I was happy, because early indications are that we did. No, I don't have final data, and when we do, it will be up on the Alliance site.
I was explaining this to Mark, and comparing it to other conferences I've run, as well as other projects. With other projects, sometimes, it's difficult to know how much revenue you can connect to a project, so I tend to look at other outcomes too, at 3-, 6-month periods, and possibly later, depending on the project.
He asked, “Doesn't everyone do this?”
I didn't know. Do you? Do you have access to the data? I'm curious.
Hello Johanna.
Outcomes (benefits materialization) tracking is very badly done if done at all in most organizations I know.
I am just working now with many customers on including outcome tracking in their portfolio management process. This is something I myself overlooked when I co-authored PMI first ‘Standard for portfolio management’ (the 1st edition in 2006….they did same overlook in 2nd edition in 2008).
Benefits realization was not considered as a sub-process of the portfolio management process because it was happening after the projects (well not in agile timeboxed projects, i know, but many projects do not give you much benefits unless the product is completed…an airplane without wings is not very reliable hehe).
The problem, when we wrote the standard, was thinking that portfolio management was a project management process. It is not. It is an operational process that has to be integrated with other operational processes and overall organizational capacity management.
Finally the PMI PMBoK does not do well taking care of final outcomes tracking. The notion of tracking project benefits once the deliverables are transfered is given lip service there. Typical ‘traditional’ project approaches are more concerned about the WHAT and HOW (the solution) than about the WHY (a usable solution meeting the intention behing the project). I wrote on that not long ago ( http://www.projecttimes.com/blogs/surviving-the-project-age/446-qwhy-managementq-the-ultimate-knowledge-area-.html ), talking about the need to add a new knowledge area in the PMBoK caring for the WHY, not only after the project, but planning for its maximization during the project.
So to answer Mark….’basically, almost no one does it’. Still unchartered territory. Amazing, isn’t it ?
Claude
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