A balanced scorecard approach to project management leadership

In this paper, we discuss ways that project managers can use measurement (using a tool such as the balanced scorecard) to improve the operational performance of their project teams. Project managers will see that attaching measures to outcomes clarifies project objectives and supports well-defined and well-communicated links between the project vision and business strategy. These also enable project managers to more effectively monitor and control project activities for the purpose of improving project results. This paper reinforces the importance of strategy as an added dimension to the traditional triple constraint. We present this information through our comparison and survey of two projects undertaken by project teams at a large North American global telecommunications organization. The results of our study provide early evidence of the usefulness of the balanced scorecard (BSC) as a tool for improving project management effectiveness. Our study also shows that balanced performance measurement is an important technique for establishing on-strategy project delivery. We propose using this technique primarily as an extension of current practices by adding a strategic measurement dimension.