10 Tips to Implement A Project Portfolio Management (PPM)
Economic cycles and business issues can impact the project portfolio both positively and negatively. Many of these new business opportunities and constraints can be identified and acted upon early to manage the portfolio and to confirm the integrity of the programs and projects of the portfolio. Being continually aware of and acting upon these business opportunities and constraints will ensure the project portfolio is balanced and optimized.
- Start at the top. Start at the top with senior management buy-in and participation. Senior management buy-in is required to achieve consensus, motivate, and to ensure adherence to the processes, tasks, and activities required to manage the project portfolio. Without senior management participation, project portfolio management doesn't work and you are likely to end up with, or return to, a squeaky wheel gets the grease mindset for those involved.
- Avoid the Big Bang. Don’t overwhelm the organization with a “big bang” approach. Each organization is different in terms of its level of maturity and ability to handle change. A phased approach should be used based on an assessment of the company’s abilities. In implementing PPM, seek to identify your strengths and weaknesses, use a proof of concept, and roll out PPM with toleration for information that is not perfect. And whatever approach and tools are selected, don't go too long without showing results.
- Develop a governance process. PPM implementations with a strong governance structure will be more likely to be accepted and to work. Things to consider include: timing, decision style, organizational level, thresholds, decision criteria, and decision making. Understanding each of these areas will help structure an effective governance process for the organization.
- Use a proven PPM tool. PPM involves tradeoffs of value, cost, resources, and risk. This can quickly become complex and requires software that can mathematically weight, balance, and optimize a portfolio in a seamless manner. In selecting PPM tools, organizations should look not only at the breadth of functionality the tools offer, but also at the vendor’s experience in PPM. With the evolving market for PPM tools and solutions, vendors who have the most implementation experience are the ones who are likely to have the most sophisticated and scalable solutions.
- Forgive human errors, but not process errors. Don’t assume things will automatically play or can run on auto-pilot. Business dynamics and changing conditions prevail and require portfolio agility, the ability to stay current with your investment status and respond to changes. Also prevalent can be legacy attitudes, behaviors, and quiet dissension from those that fared well under the old system. Expect human errors and execution difficulties. In fact, embrace them, as they can lead to an understanding and resolution of those things in the process that led to the problem in the first place.
- Use the tool in your operations reviews. Use the capabilities and outputs of the PPM tool to make decisions. If different tools, reports, and data is being used for management and review, it won't take long for the support for the PPM tool to dissipate. Conversely, if the PPM tool is used as the driver of portfolio management operations, then all involved will get and stay on board.
- Use executive dashboards. Few executives will take the time to login to your PPM tool much less navigate through reports or search through data. They will no doubt want the PMO to have and use and master the PPM tool and its capabilities, but they themselves may or may not be so inclined. Whether within your PPM tool or external to it, maintain high-level executive summary dashboards that serve to both provide an executive overview of the status of the top projects of the portfolio and to provide direct access to the appropriate area of the PPM tool where useful reports and data can be immediately accessed. Keep it simple.
- Be open to project failures. Most project management methodologies anticipate project difficulties and provide monitoring and controlling processes for change, issues, and problem management. However, the resulting mindset for the project effort can often be singularly focused on getting the project back on track to the exclusion of any real consideration given to the fact that the project may very well be failing. Be open to the possibility that the project effort could be failing and should be scrubbed from the portfolio.
- Anticipate business opportunities and constraints Economic cycles and business issues can impact the project portfolio both positively and negatively. Many of these new business opportunities and constraints can be identified and acted upon early to manage the portfolio and to confirm the integrity of the programs and projects of the portfolio. Being continually aware of and acting upon these business opportunities and constraints will ensure the project portfolio is balanced and optimized.
- Remember who the boss is Project portfolio management can be a tremendous discipline for management and the leadership team. It will facilitate the strategic alignment of projects and programs to the priorities of the business. However, there will come times when the business intuition and market instinct of the CEO and the top tier executives will seemingly compromise the portfolio management process and available metrics. Hence, there always needs to be a certain degree of flexibility and understanding that no matter how regimented the process is made to be, certain data points and judgments might very well fall outside of the process to no discredit of all those involved.