Portfolio Management: Lamborghini Body on a Plymouth Horizon Chassis

Having attempted rolling out project portfolio management at several organizations I can state with confidence that the portfolio management process fails to deliver on its promise to streamline an organization’s project pipeline and provide high value. However, it is not the fault of the portfolio management process. Rather, I have found that the fault resides primarily with how organizations are structured (refer to a prior blog post titled Portfolio Management: Is Modern Management Practice Compatible?). Another major issue is a lack of education and understanding of portfolio, program, and project management at the upper management level (think C-suite). It’s easy... Read More»

Do You Always Under Estimate Your Projects?

I got a request the other day looking for someone to do a workshop on estimating. Some engineers were interested in what projects really cost and how are these costs developed. It sounded like they were doing the estimating and were always wrong. If you do not understand what goes into an estimate and the process involved you will always end up with a poor estimate. In this article I want to give them, and you, the detail that goes into an total installed cost (TIC) estimate for a complex project (multi-disciplined project). This is an estimate that covers the... Read More»

"Manage That Pipeline!"

OK, so for those of you that manage the Project pipeline, I'm sure that many if not most of you have experienced those Charters that don't get approved, or die. The documentation gets completed, it goes to the powers that be, but somehow even though it doesn't get an OK2GO, it doesn't die either. It seems to perpetually stay on hold, but it keeps on getting brought up during the Steering Committee meetings, and six months or a year after its initial pitch, it is decided that the documentation should be reviewed, updated and reviewed again by the team for... Read More»

Portfolio Management: Is Modern Management Practice Compatible?

I sat anxiously in the PMO Director's office waiting to present my proposal for an organizational portfolio management process implementation. I had spent the previous several months drafting the process and holding reviews with several key company stakeholders. My homework was done and I knew I would hit this one out of the park. The presentation spanned the next thirty minutes. What seemed like an eternity of silence had passed, but in reality was probably only 10 seconds, the PMO Director finally spoke his verdict. "Am I the only one that has major heartburn with this process," he stated. My... Read More»

Why Not Link Projects to Strategy?

Barriers to Implementation It is relatively easy to develop models for selecting portfolios of projects that are thorough and integrate objective and subjective data. When all is said and done, however, people may throw out the results and make a different decision. Sometimes the reason is a hunch, an instinct, or simply a desire to try something different. Sometimes people have a pet project and use the process to justify its existence, or a hidden agenda may be at play—perhaps the need to maneuver among colleagues, trading projects for favors. Politics at this stage cannot be ignored, nor are they... Read More»

Project Portfolios in Turbulent Times

Growth in organizations typically results from successful projects that generate new products, services, or procedures. Managers are increasingly concerned about getting better results from the projects under way in their organizations and in getting better cross-organizational cooperation. One of the most vocal complaints of project managers is that projects appear almost randomly. The projects seem unlinked to a coherent strategy, and people are unaware of the total number and scope of projects. As a result, people feel they are working at cross-purposes, on too many unneeded projects, and on too many projects generally. Selecting projects for their strategic emphasis helps... Read More»

Meetings and Process - How Much Is Enough?

Over the past several months, I must admit that I've not been my usual self. In the interest of being liked, I put aside some assertiveness and have bowed before the whims of others. I've been working with a company recently where the culture welcomes meetings in all shapes, forms, and sizes. Meetings are very commonplace. I suspect you may be thinking that I work at your company. As project managers, we are often tasked with leading and implementing projects that will usher in change. We must be able to stand up and support positive change. I have never been... Read More»

Prioritizing Project Work

Any attempt at leading change in how an organization links projects to strategy is bound to meet resistance. The concept of prioritizing receives almost unanimous intellectual support. Implementing it into the heart and soul of all people in the organization is another story. Forced prioritization goes against the cultural norms in many organizations and conjures up all kinds of resistance if the values it espouses are not the norm in that organization. The path is full of pitfalls, especially if information is presented carelessly or perceived as final when it is work-in-process. A model used to prioritize project needs to... Read More»

THE CRUCIAL ROLE OF PROJECT PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT

More and more organizations are worry about why its strategy fails. Strategic plans are developed by upper managers, but a big gap exists between strategy and execution. Lack of involvement, discipline and follow up are common mistakes found in several companies.The reality is that they don't have the right project portfolio management process in place. When a project portfolio management process is in place,a project portfolio manager must exist;and the portfolio manager looks for ways to improve the return on investment.However, a portfolio manager would run into problems if he or she could not answer the questions, "What is the... Read More»

Assumptions: Your Get Out of Jail Free Card?

"The worst mistake of first contact, made throughout history by individuals on both sides of every new encounter, has been the unfortunate habit of making assumptions. It often proved fatal." -David Brin "What a man believes may be ascertained, not from his creed, but from the assumptions on which he habitually acts." -George Bernard Shaw You must stick to your conviction, but be ready to abandon your assumptions. -Denis Waitley I really enjoy quotes if you haven't already ascertained that fact. Above are three quotes about assumptions that I really enjoy and hit the mark-especially from the project management perspective.... Read More»