Projects can easily lose sight of the business need they were meant to address.  This ‘project myopia’ is increasingly prevalent in a time of fast-changing business needs and priorities.

The solution is to adopt a ‘Business First’ perspective – putting the needs the business ahead of the project plan.  It requires ongoing strategic conversations about the project to ensure that it stays connected to what matters to the C-suite.  Find out more here

Is there a direct link between the objectives/scope of the project and the needs of the business?  Use the panel on the ‘project chassis’ one pager to explore: What underlying business need(s) does the project address?  Specifically:

• How does it address key business priorities?
• How does it further the strategy/vision?
• What problem/opportunity does it address?
• How will it build/extend org. capability/capacity?

The ‘Business First Test’ checks for signs of ‘Project Myopia’ (i.e. where a project looses sign of business needs)  the level of clarity and alignment with respect to Business Needs:

Ask key stakeholders, sponsors and project team members to describe the business need that the project / Initiative addresses/must address.  

Of course, you could simply tell people what the business need is, however to effective engage stakeholders it is better to ask, rather than simply to tell.