Goals of Projects and Project Management, The

This Element is an excerpt from A Manager's Guide to Project Management: Learn How to Apply Best Practices (ISBN: 9780137136902) by Michael B. Bender. Available in print and digital formats.

Projects in context: What should your projects aim to achieve, and how can you help your project managers achieve it?

Ultimately, both projects and project management have only one goal: to add value. You, as an executive, establish the values important to the organization. You then communicate these values and establish a strategic plan to foster and improve the organization along these values. Projects are the actions an organization performs to increase its value. Project management, as with all activities an organization undertakes, must also add value greater than its cost.