Alignment and allocation … prioritization and politics … visibility and value … strategy and synergy.
Many companies struggle with justifying the need to maintain a project management office after it is established. But the onus is on the PMO itself. Here are five key performance indicators that PMOs should use to measure effectiveness and ensure alignment with the needs of the organization.
How many projects is your organization going to deliver next year? “As many as we can” is not a helpful or meaningful answer. In lieu of an established portfolio planning process, there are some techniques that can help a company calculate the number of projects and programs it can realistically handle in the coming year.
Would you describe the culture at your organization as casual, chaotic or compliant. How about committed? High-performance companies like Google and Southwest Airlines leverage workforce commitment to drive goal alignment and engagement. The key is fostering an environment of positive accountability.
Project portfolio planning efforts often stumble on seven common pitfalls, including outdated evaluation criteria and prioritization based on emotion. To avoid these missteps and produce better business outcomes, here is a best-practice framework that can be tailored to meet the specific needs of your organization.
There is no secret formula to project success, but the infamous flop of The Coca-Cola Company’s 1985 introduction of the “new Coke” offers a timeless case study in misunderstanding the end-user. It’s a lesson that project managers, product development teams and portfolio directors should all keep in mind as they balance expectations, risks and strategic goals. [4:40]
Some organizations have the latest and greatest software for prioritizing projects; some don’t. A project management veteran who helped start her credit card company’s PMO from scratch shares her experiences in meeting the challenges. [8 min.]
When you're close to a project, it can be difficult to objectively gauge the strategic impact and risks involved. Miller Brewing Co.'s director of strategic projects shares her insights on setting project priorities and building the business case justification. The challenge is to clearly define the quantifiable benefits while also recognizing the qualitative or soft benefits. [7 min., 30 sec.]
Two seasoned project management professionals share their real-world insights on 1) how to create a project management office to develop and instill a consistent project management approach, and 2) the role of project portfolio management in maintaining a successful PMO. [17 min.]
Who is responsible for tracking and capturing the business benefits of projects within a portfolio? Is it the portfolio management office, which can take a long-term view, or the project sponsors who create the business case in the first place? Here’s a comparison of these two models.
A portfolio manager’s role can vary depending on the organization. Should portfolio managers be responsible for the success of individual projects — a point person for problems and resolutions? Or should they focus on hiring good people and installing good process, leaving execution and benefit realization to the project managers and sponsors?
In establishing portfolio management processes, your organization must first answer a fundamental question about the scope of the portfolio. Do you want to manage your work at the enterprise level or a departmental level?
Portfolio management processes help ensure that organizations allocate scarce resources to the work that produces the most value. But what constitutes “work”? Projects are the most important work for many organizations, but they may represent only a fraction of the money and resources that are allocated. Should you include other work in your portfolio management process, or focus only on projects?
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Tom MochalPresident, TenStep Inc
Tom Mochal, PgMP, PMP, TSPM is the president of TenStep, Inc. (www.TenSt…
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John D'EntremontProject Manager, PMP
John D’Entremont, PMP, is a project manager in the financial services in…
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Ty KiiselWork Management evangelist and host of TalkingWork, AtTask
Ty is a work management evangelist; “accidental” project manager and mar…
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Dave PriorPresident, ProjectWizards Inc.
Dave Prior, PMP, CST, MBA is President of the U.S. arm of ProjectWizards…
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Janis RizzutoContributing Editor, ProjectsAtWork
Janis has been writing for ProjectsAtWork for more than a decade, starti…
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Aaron SmithEditor, ProjectsAtWork.com
Aaron has been the editor of ProjectsAtWork since 2001, leading its evol…
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Last time we talked about what a great vehicle for learning social media provided. I thought it might make sense to share some of my favorite people and places in social media where you can learn f...
Posted in: The Social Project Manager
Last time we talked about what a great vehicle for learning social media provided. I thought it might make sense to share some my favorite people and places in social media where you can learn from...
Posted in: The Social Project Manager
"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants" —Sir Isaac Newton
Newton is considered one of the most influential men in human history. His contributions ...
Posted in: The Social Project Manager
We've often covered "green-by-definition" projects - those where the ultimate deliverable is reduction of waste, generation of renewable power, preserving biodiversity, and so on...
Posted in: People, Planet, Profits & Projects
EPM Live provides easy to use Microsoft SharePoint Project and Work Management applications for everyone in an organization, from teams that want to work within individual workgroups, to organizations that want to utilize enterprise tools.
Innotas is a leading provider of cloud-based IT Governance, Project Portfolio Management & Application Portfolio Management solutions and has been ranked a ‘Strong Positive’ in Gartner’s 2011 MarketScope for Project and Portfolio Management Apps.
Changepoint helps businesses gain competitive advantage and increase profitability through complete portfolio visibility, planning insight, process automation, and improved resource utilization throughout a customer’s lifecycle.
AtTask: the only project and portfolio management software that meets the business intelligence needs of executives, the planning needs of managers, and the collaboration needs of project teams, helping organizations get jobs done on time, on budget.
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Ty K: "Thanks for contributing to the blog Ojiugo. There are a lot of very smart PMs ou…" on Building Project Management Knowledge with Social Media
May 14, 2012
Ojiugo A: "Excellent article,these days experience is no longer the only teacher but great …" on Building Project Management Knowledge with Social Media
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Ty K: "These are all great ideas. I think retrospectives are critical for any team, eve…" on Fresh Retrospectives
May 11, 2012
Anju A: "It pains a lot when some very common review technique are termed as "Alternate A…" on Agile Code Reviews
May 11, 2012