Project Portfolio Management
There are six attributes of Project Portfolio Management
tools that companies should consider as they evaluate project management
software solutions for successful Project Portfolio Management.
Role-based Tools and Perspectives
Because so many people within an organization are affected by projects, Project Portfolio Management cannot be a "one-size-fits-all" solution.
Different levels, as well as types, of users must be able to get the specific information they need to do their jobs at any time. Executives, for instance, need an elegant summary view of their project portfolio, which details how projects are performing against budgets and time lines, as well as identifies what still needs to be completed. Full-time project managers must be able to model different scenarios to finish a project faster. Front-line workers need simple Web-based timesheets and to-do lists to receive and update their assignments.
The basis for much of the project portfolio information
comes from the detailed plans formulated by the project manager. While many
people in an organization are the beneficiaries of project information tailored
to their unique needs, the Project Portfolio Management tool must provide the
project manager with in-depth project modeling features, flexible what-if
analysis, and sophisticated reporting options.
Hierarchical Project
Management
Project Portfolio Management tools must allow all of a
firm’s projects to be planned, analyzed, and controlled within a single
framework, or project hierarchy, from prefunding to completion. It must provide
for both top-down as well as bottom-up planning—and compare the two
perspectives to ensure that tactical plans are in line with the higher-level
project objectives.
A Project Portfolio Management solution should enable
everyone to look at projects using a hierarchy that makes sense to them. For
the CFO this might mean viewing projects according to cost accounting
structures, with appropriate hooks into the corporate ERP or accounting system.
For a resource manager, this means looking at the project’s resource hierarchy
to ensure that the right individuals are assigned to tasks requiring their
unique skills. For the project manager, this means analyzing the project
according to a work breakdown structure of its deliverables.
Optimization of Limited,
Shared Resources
In many organizations, people’s time, not capital, has
emerged as the scarcest enterprise resource. Assigning the right person to a
task and making the most of the people involved in a project, regardless of
where they are geographically located, are essential to successful Project
Portfolio Management. A Project Portfolio Management solution should help
organizations make necessary trade-off decisions with regards to who should be
working on which project, as well as the ability to plan resource assignments
based on role (long before they know who might be available to do the job). For
example, a human resources executive should be able to analyze upcoming
projects to anticipate future staffing requirements, allowing them to know they
might need more JAVA programmers in the future and plan for that now through
training or recruiting. A functional manager should be able to instantly
identify when key resources will free up for work on other projects.
Real-time Communication
A key attribute of Project Portfolio Management software is
the ability to provide top executives with timely feedback about projects and
project portfolios. Project management, at its heart, is communication. With
traditional project management tools, however, by the time the decision-maker
sees the data, the ability to change directions may be gone. Project Portfolio
Management in the "Internet age" must give unfettered access to
project information in real time. If something is going to take longer than
planned, management needs that information immediately—not a week or two later
after a time sheet has been filled out or at next month’s steering committee
meeting.
Project Portfolio Management should also provide project and
line-of-business managers with insight into the strategic vision for the
business—as set forth by the senior executives or strategic planners—so they
also have a sense of ownership of the goals of the organization. Mid-level
managers will be better prepared to quickly respond to changes in business
conditions and communicate those changes to their subordinates and teams for
follow up.
Project Portfolio Management must bring front-line workers
into the communication process. The workers need to be immediately informed
about changes in priority so they are always working on the most important
tasks. Inasmuch as these are the people that really know whether they are
making progress on their assignments, Project Portfolio Management must
ultimately close the communication loop by providing a real-time feedback
mechanism whereby they can acknowledge what has been completed, but more
importantly what remains to be done.
Visible Project Performance
No doubt you have heard that "if you can’t measure it,
you can’t manage it" or "if it gets measured, it gets done". A
recent report by The Conference Board on Strategic Performance Measurement
found that companies which employ performance measurement techniques are much more
likely to achieve leadership positions in their industry. A Project Portfolio
Management software solution, therefore, must encompass a strong focus on
project performance measurement.
Project Portfolio Management makes performance measurement a
forward-looking metric, not just a backward-looking one. It helps companies
identify not only what happened, but why it happened. Further, it helps
companies spot problems and trends in time to correct them, and in the best
cases it helps them spot opportunities for getting to market first.
Regardless of the stage of a project (unfunded, authorized,
planned, underway, inactive, or completed), Project Portfolio Management shows
the real status and performance of individual projects and project portfolios.
It raises both the visibility and accountability for projects within an
organization, and in doing so increases the likelihood of corporate success.
Built for Integration
As project management tools take their place beside other
corporate systems, Project Portfolio Management software must be able to
integrate with accounting and other enterprise information systems. Whether
through pre-configured or custom-built interfaces, integration ensures
consistency of project-related information throughout the company. As projects
change, other departments will be able to see the immediate consequences,
including the financial impact of schedule changes on other work flow in the
organization.
