Project Portfolio

Management
Playbook

Contents
Project Portfolio
Management Playbook
4 Project Portfolio Management
31 Project Management
69 Risk Management

Idea Portfolio
Thinking Portfolio Easy to use, fast to implement
Thinking Portfolio is a simple, yet powerful, solution for those who want to move from
spreadsheets to a professional idea portfolio management tool, but dont want to spend
years on implementation. In addition to idea portfolios, our SaaS based platform is used
for project portfolio management, IT application and service portfolio management.

[Link]

Thinking Portfolio

Thinking Portfolio
Aleksanterinkatu 15 B
00100 Helsinki
Finland
3

Thinking Portfolio
Seefeldstrasse 69
8008 Zurich
Switzerland

1. Project Portfolio Management

5

The Absolute Basics of Service Portfolio Management

How to Make an Ordinary Project Business Owner Great?

How to Make an Ordinary PMO Great

What Makes A Project Portfolio Difficult To Manage?

10

Positive Project Portfolio Management

12

5 Questions to Help You Maximize the Value of Project Portfolio Management

13

Five Ways to Communicate your Project Portfolio Inside your Organization

14

6 Key Points for Good Portfolio Management Leadership

15

Improving Strategy Deployment with PPM

16

Utilizing PPM for Constant Business Innovation

17

Are you looking at the competition through the windshield or the rear view mirror?

18

Tips on How to Define and Plan PPM Procedures and Guidelines

20

Additional Factors That Lead to Success with PPM

21

6 Project Portfolio Management Tips for Beginners

22

Back to Basics on Project Portfolio Management (PPM)

23

Optimizing the Use of Key Resources in a Project Portfolio

24

5 Ways to Improve Your Project Portfolio Management

25

How to be successful in project portfolio management development

27

Project portfolio management is part of change management

29

Put your ideas into a portfolio

The Absolute Basics

of Service Portfolio
Management
under three sub-processes including analysis, ap-

A companys service portfolio can be defined as a

group of services that are listed in terms of their value for business. This portfolio can include everything
from in-house services to outsourced ones.
Service portfolio management is the process of
managing and improving the business through careful assessment of quality requirements, associated
costs as well as their changing financial value. The
main goal of service portfolio management is to maximize the realization of value to the business and
meanwhile balance the risks with the costs.

proval/rejection and review. The objective of the first

step is to define the outcomes of the new proposed
or altered services and analyze the impact on other
services in the portfolio. The second step in managing the service portfolio includes submitting a formal
proposal anid having it authorized by the responsible
management team. The final step in the process is to
review the changes and assess the services periodically to ensure that the portfolio is being managed effectively and aligns with the service strategy.

How does service portfolio management help?

What does a service portfolio contain?

To manage your service portfolio successfully,

there are five questions you must always ask yourself. These five questions include understanding the
reasons for a client wanting to buy your services, why
they should buy it from your company, your price and
charge backs, allocation of capabilities and resources
as well as understanding your strengths, weaknesses,
risks and priorities. When it comes to successful service portfolio management, product managers play
an important role as they are expected to manage the
services and products throughout their lifecycle.
A product manager is also responsible for focusing
the project on important tasks and coordinating as
well as owning the service catalog.

Any service portfolio contains three subsets. The

service catalog is the section of the portfolio that is
visible to your customers and provides an insight into
the services and products your business delivers. The
service pipeline includes the list of services that are
currently under development or consideration for a
specific market or demographic. The pipeline also includes details of the projected growth of the portfolio
in the future.
The service pipeline can also include goals, priorities as well as short term and long term goals of
your business. The last subset of the portfolio is the
retired services that include products and services
that are soon to be withdrawn or have already phased
out. This section of the portfolio overlaps with service
transition.

Sub-processes of service portfolio

management
Portfolio management for services can be divided

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How to Make an
Ordinary Project
Business Owner
Great?
While some may think that factors like certifications in project management is crucial in a project
PMO lead, in fact it is among the most underrated
criteria while hiring one. What is seen as a far more
important attribute is the individuals ability to understand the project. This allows the PMO to initiate,
monitor and manage better, and see if it rings true
with the companys core goals and objectives. Here is
a look at some other attributes that can transform an
ordinary PMO lead to a great PMO lead.

truth is that there is more to the role of a PMO than

just an experience in resource management can offer.
A PMO lead who has a good track record in project
management roles, has a good understanding of the
general workflow in the department. While they wont
be micromanaging the projects, they will by managing the PMO resources. They will be setting up and
managing the PM software schedule, and imposing
the best practices to support fast project deliveries in
the organization.

Intra-organizational connections

Communication

The PMO lead should be have good connections

with the PMO team as well as the other departments
in the organization. There are times when the PMO
comes across situations in the course of the project
cycle where issues crop up right in the middle of a
busy schedule. Resolving these issues is a matter of
getting organizational assistance, and when the PMO
director is well-connected with the various departments it becomes easy to have these issues resolved
in a timely manner. Else, valuable time may be lost
in the process, which may just tip the project from a
success to failure.

Just as in the case of project managers, excellent communication skills are indispensable when it
comes to PMO directors. From in-office policies to
processes, the PMO lead should be easily able to communicate this information across the corporate chain.
The PMO lead should have the ability to communicate
convincingly with customers and clients, to enhance
their trust and confidence in the business.

PM experience
While there have been instances where corporate
executives who havent had an experience as a project manager have taken on the role, it has not always
been the best move for businesses to have their PMO
lead by inexperienced professionals. Many a times
businesses just settle for resource managers. The

Thinking Portfolio

How to Make an
Ordinary PMO Great
There are certain traits that set certain project
management offices apart from the rest, having them
garner success stories with projects. Here are some of
traits that make for a great PMO.

Coherent project and organizational

objectives
While each project has its own set of benefits to an
enterprise, a good PMO will ensure that the goals of
the project and the enterprise are on the same page.
As and when the corporate environment changes, a
good PMO will see how the prevalent projects will
have be dealt with to adapt to the business landscape,
whether they have to be shelved, turned down or
modified.

Good success rates

A sound PMO will ensure that the project is well
on track even before it has started, by allocating the
resources and budget effectively. The PMO will keep
a close watch on the project operations to see that it
does not run into any troubles, and offer solutions
that work well with everyone in case they do face any
hiccups. The PMOs role is to work in close quarters
with project managers to set the initiation, planning,
execution, control, reporting, and completion of the
project in place. The PMO offers useful project templates, and revises these templates when required so
the documentation is adept. The PMO will also make
sure that there are no confusions when it comes to
guidelines, and there are only the required number
of minimal documents for easy reference. The PMO

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acts as a partner who is a helpful resource, instead of

being an intimidating body that employees hesitate to
approach. A good PMO must be able to consistently
improve the execution capabilities of the team, so it
makes for a faster delivery. The PMO will make sure
that the project meets its target, and well in time as
well!

Competency
PMOs just like any other vertical in an organization need to evolve and stay competent. Activities
and skills related to project management need to be
revisited and improved over time through standard
certifications. A good PMO will also have mentoring
sessions for the various project managers so they can
foster a healthy culture. This is also when project
managers can seek guidance and build networking
relationships with the rest of the team. Members of
the PMO should also be receptive to feedback offered
by others in the organization and see when and where
it can be incorporated.

Project Portfolio
Thinking Portfolio Easy to use, fast to implement
Thinking Portfolio is a simple, yet powerful, solution for those who want to move from
spreadsheets to a professional project portfolio management tool, but dont want to
spend years on implementation. In addition to project portfolios, our SaaS based platform is used for idea management, IT application and service portfolio management.

[Link]

Thinking Portfolio

Thinking Portfolio
Aleksanterinkatu 15 B
00100 Helsinki
Finland
8

Thinking Portfolio
Seefeldstrasse 69
8008 Zurich
Switzerland

What Makes A Project

Portfolio Difficult To
Manage?
Project portfolio management is easier than it
looks. Businesses often face a number of challenges
when it comes to managing their project portfolio effectively. If you want to keep your project portfolio
under control it is important that you identify the difficulties of challenges that you are facing with your
project portfolio. Sometimes, there could be too many
issues that project managers end up confused about
what the real problem is. Here are a few challenges
that can make managing your project portfolio difficult.

Too many projects at once

One of the biggest challenges in portfolio management arises when there are multiple projects that
need to be taken care of at the same time. Sometimes,
lack of a PMO leaves the responsibility of project
portfolio management on the individual project managers. Sometimes, one project manager is left to handle multiple projects at the same time, which results
in lack of focus and a failure to deliver.

Lack of senior management support

At times, the lack of senior management buy-in
of the requirements as stated by project managers
can also lead to poor portfolio management. Senior
managements lack of understanding of the benefits
of having a PMO or necessary resources, manpower
or budget can also make it difficult to manage project
portfolio of the organization. Also, support for one
project and none for another can also make it difficult

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for project managers to manage their project portfolios efficiently.

Misallocation of resources
Lack of resources or sharing of the same resource
for multiple projects can also create trouble for project managers in an organization. Misallocation of
resources, especially when more than one project is
being handled by a project manager at a time, can
lead to misallocation of resources under or over allocation of manpower, tools etc to the project. This
can prevent one team from delivering results and can
hamper the overall productivity of the project manager.

In-house politics
The biggest challenge that a project manager or
PMO can face with project portfolio management is
in-house politics and the company culture. These two
things can prevent adoption of new and innovative
strategies and technology that can make project management easier and management of multiple projects
efficient. Resistance to the new technology or strategies, basically change, can prevent progress of a project or more, thereby making it hard for the organization to handle its project portfolio efficiently.

Positive Project
Portfolio
Management

Todays ever-changing business environment often presents numerous challenges, while positive
signs are few and far between. The project portfolio
and its projects are part of this business environment.
External and internal changes and improvements are
driven to completion according to plans, which can
at times take an emotional toll on the employees. By
adopting a positive, enthusiastic approach in how
we handle the status quo, business environment and
active projects can offer a completely different view
on matters. Now is the time to harness positivity and
open ourselves up to success and good ideas.
Positive project management aspects include,
among others, the following items:
1. Recognise projects that have reached targets that
have been set more successfully in the project
plans.
2. Among the projects completed during the previous quarter, nominate the best project and find
out from the project team and interest groups

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what their secret to success is. Share the secret

with the entire organisation and celebrate it!
3. Discuss which decision, brilliant analysis or new
aspect created via the project portfolio was the
best one during the last month. Discuss this and
get inspired to come up with another two analyses
or new aspects during the next month.
4. Task the project managers with identifying and
indicating successes they have experienced during their own projects, and encourage them to record the successes in the status report of the subsequent project.
5. In a group, nominate the most encouraging and
positive project manager and acknowledge their
impact in the organisation. Remember, anyone
can strive to encourage and inspire others.
6. Choose one project from the portfolio, and think
how you could contribute to the successful completion of the project. When it is for a good cause,
do it by any means necessary!

10

7. Nominate the top chairman of a control group

for the current year a person who others
should aspire to be like. Describe how that person has created an exceptionally positive atmosphere through control group work, or how their
personal efforts have helped the project manager and the team toward success!
8. Think honestly about what might be personally
hindering your success, and ask for help. Asking someone for help is a true recognition of the
peers skills and valuable insight you might
get a positive surprise!

This enables the recognition of top skill in the

organisation and the distribution of know-how
through peer-to-peer encouragement. Peer experiences and teachings should always be paid
attention to.
11. Share the list of positive feedback and encouragement methods, and remember to keep the
spirits up. Remember to ask the question What
is going well with the project? You might be in
for a positive surprise in terms of the answers
you will receive.

9. Make the decision to kick-start the next project portfolio summary and analysis meeting in
positive spirit. Each participant should indicate
what opportunities and successes they can perceive in the projects. Discuss the opportunities
and topics covered during the meeting. Create
the foundations and the atmosphere for success.
10. Identify top project managers and ask them
to coach and mentor other project managers.

Thinking Portfolio

11

5 Questions to Help
You Maximize the
Value of Project
Portfolio Management
As a part of a growing organization, you may be
faced with handling multiple business projects at a
time. To handle them efficiently, you could choose
software or rely on personal expertise. Regardless
of how you decide to manage your project portfolio,
there are certain aspects of management that you
should consider. If you have too many projects and
limited personnel, time or money, you can manage
your project portfolio by asking five important questions. These questions can help you maximize the
value of your project portfolio and increase ROI.

1. How can you maximize value and control

risk factors?
One of the biggest key factors that make a project
successful is handling risk factors the right way. You
can maximize the value of the project by integrating
business drivers like costs, returns, risks and strategies in one platform and objectively evaluate your
choices. You can choose from many dedicated software to run simulations and generate tables and
charts that help you make the right choice based on
mathematical calculations.

2. How can you track multiple projects

together?
Tracking multiple projects can help you keep a
grasp over each initiative and ensure that the right
projects are getting priority. Tracking these projects
can also help you channel resources in a smart and
planned way to get the best out of each initiative in
your portfolio.

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3. How you can prioritize budgets with

business metrics?
Apart from relying on experience statisticians
and your personal knowledge, you can rely on software that can help project ROI of your portfolio. You
should create multiple budgets to ensure that the
business metrics of each project are being met appropriately. You can create multiple business models
and explore different combinations and constraints
to get the best ROI from your project portfolio.

4. How can you align them with project

management?
A smart way to manage your project portfolio is
to assign clear cut signs and symbols for important
changes. For example, color coding and organizing
files can help you keep track of both major and minor
changes in the project and help you remain up-todate. Assign a baseline that aligns with your project
management guidelines and regularly compare your
projects to ensure that they are working in accordance with the portfolio.

5. How can you facilitate quicker results with

better decisions?
You can create interactive charts and detailed reports on your progress to minimize time wasted in
unproductive meetings. To get faster results, you
must use unique methods to speed up the decision
making process without compromising on making
educated and informed choices.

12

Five Ways to
Communicate your
Project Portfolio Inside
your Organization
Project portfolio management (PPM) is an effective internal organization tool which articulates the
nature and purpose of a project and also in determining the outcome. Here are some of the ways in which
you can communicate a PPM inside your organization.

with information in text, it simply becomes an info-

Power Point Presentations

Animation/Live Videos

This is a classic computer program that has been

the pitch-factor behind millions of successful projects across the world. Its popularity is rooted in its
user friendly interface and versatility across different platforms. PPT is often best used in combination
with a live speaker and a projector slide-show to a
live audience. A variant of PPT is the Windows Live
Movie maker which offers a slightly advanced functionality and output.

If your company can afford professional video

producers then youll have the luxury of one of the
popular story telling mediums for your PPM. Videos are interactive, entertaining and can bring every
member of your project on to the same page in just
a matter of minutes by helping you communicate the
most intricate details with a fluid narrative. If you
cannot afford a professional then you may even try
your best with a home camcorder and freeware video
editing program.

PPM Software
Information Technology has apparently all the
solutions for even the most uncommon applications.
It also has one for some of your PPM needs. This is
particularly useful for bigger organizations responsible for handling numerous projects. They provide
with a platform that lists the projects in order by
their priority, schedule, budget and other factors.
There are both commercial programs for purchase
and open source programs that are worth a try.

graphic. They can be shared on micro blogs, social

networks, emails and also a collection of them can
even be included into an e-book. The ease of availability and use of image editing software programs
makes it a good option for PPM.

Screen Recorder
This is the least known computer application
which actually has a great potential for corporate
needs being helpful in both interaction and economy. A screen recorder allows you to record your onscreen activity and store it as a video file. A popular
example of this kind of application is the Khan Academy Channel on YouTube.

Infographics
A picture can be worth a thousand words and when
formatted into a sequential layout in combination

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13

6 Key Points for

Good Portfolio
Management
Leadership
Good portfolio management can help businesses
achieve greater value making it a vital tool for success. It can help you make better decisions, execute
strategy and manage change across the organization.
It takes a few simple steps to adopt best practices in
product portfolio management.

Involve everyone
PPM is an ongoing activity and not a one-off event.
It is all encompassing. Good portfolio management
will involve people across the organization. With the
buy-in of the wider audience, its chances of being
more effective are higher. Business leaders may not
take kindly to having their control relinquished to a
more democratic approach. Nor will they like having
their work closely scrutinized. Be sure to get them on
board for good portfolio management leadership.

Have a clear portfolio management process

All projects must be evaluated for their contribution to business value. If it adds little value to the
customer or long-term strategic objectives it is likely
to fail. Update the databases regularly so all information is current and gives you an eye on ground realities.

Lay out clear performance measures

Cluster based on goals or purpose. Have multiple
portfolios to distribute funds appropriately and help
simplify decision making. When objectives are laid
down, it is critical to also have parameters to track
the extent to which a goal has been met. The mod-

Thinking Portfolio

els and parameters may need to be updated as the

information and understanding improves. Have a
scorecard for senior management to evaluate performance. This scorecard must cover financial and
non-financial parameters.

Recognize risk
Project Portfolio Management leaders know they
need to factor in risk. Knowing the possible outcomes and risks allows businesses to prepare for various eventualities. Risks at the portfolio level must be
clearly identified and quantified. A system to manage
the risk must be put in place.

Have a strong analytic software or tool in

place
A templatized data tracking software with robust
graphical and reporting capabilities help enable
quick decision making. A dashboard view with access
to all relevant stakeholders allows for a snapshot
view of the scenario. Such analytic tools must also
allow you to drill down to a project level. This helps
improve transparency and ensure that everyone is
kept up to date on all decisions. It also allows you to
track the impact of a decision centrally.
Actively manage the portfolio. After initial approvals, schedule regular reviews. This allows you to shut
down derailed projects and stem the financial loss.

14

Improving Strategy
Deployment with PPM
It is common for all businesses to start projects
and take up initiatives to achieve their different business objectives. However, not all businesses utilize
Project Portfolio Management (PPM) as a tool to
take decisions regarding the projects to be undertaken and executing them to accomplish strategic goals.
When PPM is used for managing projects, it leads to
an improvement in the deployment of strategy.
For several organizations, there are a set of environmental changes constantly taking place, such as
globalization, technological advancements, emerging economies and so on, which impact the operations of the business in many different ways. These
are challenges as well as opportunities to learn, grow
and expand.
How different businesses manage and lead with
this kind of environmental change reflects on their
strategy to deal with competition and various kinds
of complexities in an effective way.

Role of PPM in providing strategy

The aim of PPM is to provide a methodology to
transform strategy and goals into the most lucrative
projects as well as deals. It also involves a focus on
the management and implementation of projects so
as to deliver the desired business goals and objectives.
With the correct PPM practice, managers can understand how to prioritize their focus and efforts on
various projects so as to get the maximum positive
impact on accomplishing core objectives.

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A business decides to implement PPM based on an

analysis of whether it meets the overall objectives of
an organization. If the PPM tool is utilized correctly,
it enables the firm to meet its corporate goals which
ultimately contribute to the overall organizational
strategy.

Practicing PPM
Having discussed the role and various benefits of
PPM, it needs to be mentioned that putting it into
practice may not be very simple. It is the job of the
management to ensure that every project undertaken
is delivering results, which are in line with the strategic goals. Another objective of the PPM is clubbing
the various project initiatives into portfolios. This
leads to more effective management of projects and
greater efficiency. The decision on prioritization of
projects and allocation of resources is also part of the
PPM implementation plan.
Success can be achieved only when each stage
is executed properly. Any incorrect move can cost
funds and lead to wastage of time as well as resources. However, proper execution of PPM will bring increased rewards to the business.

15

Utilizing PPM for

Constant Business
Innovation
Leading multinational companies in many sectors
have already started using Project Portfolio Management to drive innovation into their business. Even in
difficult economic times, the major force behind increasing profitability, stock value, and gaining competitive advantage is product and service innovation.
With the correct portfolio mix, a business is able to
meet its own goals and objectives as well as those of
the customers. It also enables a business to adjust to
the various changes taking place in a dynamic business environment, so it can respond appropriately to
new and innovative industry trends.
With the help of solutions offered by Project and
Portfolio Management (PPM), a business can become equipped to incorporate and lead innovation
driven practices across the entire enterprise and also
take confident decisions.

Value of Innovation Doing the Right Things

Several organizations today are making efforts to
enhance their returns on investment made in innovation by emphasizing solely on the process of improving product manufacturing.
Most of these companies have invested in various
kinds of IT processes (such as PLM and ERP) or development of niche products, and there is a major
focus on enhancing the efficiency of processes, minimizing mistakes, and reaching the market quickly.
To gain competitive advantage and accomplish
business objectives, companies must understand
that innovation is not only about executing processes in the right way, but also about doing the right

Thinking Portfolio

things. This means that projects need to be delivered

efficiently, and more importantly, the organization
needs to invest in putting together the right mix of
resources to deliver stable and long-term financial
results.

Getting Adequate Return on Investment

It has been observed that even after making huge
investments in innovative business practices, businesses dont seem to get satisfactory returns. This is
mainly due to inadequate technological support for
the innovative processes undertaken by the business,
because of which some of the crucial issues such as
strategic forecasting and planning, management of
resources, and product portfolio management are
left unaddressed.
A direct result of this situation is that organizations do not get an overall detailed view of the innovation portfolio. This results in huge overheads with
regards to management reporting for the organization, which has to undertake manual collection and
consolidation of data. Key decisions regarding innovation investment opportunities are often due to inaccurate or incomplete records and data.

16

Are you looking

at the competition
through the
windshield or the
rear view mirror?
Project portfolio management can provide quite
concrete opportunities for companies. And not just
in terms of strategy. Project portfolio management
impacts the entire organisation and its ability to top
quality service to its clients. This involves particularly the development of the organisational architecture
from a business standpoint.
You must develop services that save the clients
time. You must provide services that are easy to utilise and beneficial to the client. Achieving this status requires significant changes that begin with the
current status and determining the ideal status. Operating plans must be aligned with the overall architecture of the organisation, and each project in the
portfolio must have a concrete connection to a strategic outline or solution.

Act before your competition

Provide better service to your clients by engaging
in business-oriented organisational development.
This should be an organisation-wide progress where
the project portfolio is utilised.
Make sure you act before your competition otherwise it may be too late!

project managers specialising in ICT projects.

2. A key element of a successful project is business-oriented requirement definition
3. Only an estimated 35% of organisations monitor
the successfulness of IT projects
4. Only around half of all IT projects are carried out
on time and on budget
5. Still almost a third of development work is carried
out without a project plan or a specially defined
project
6. In the future, IT project operations will continue
to trend towards becoming more networking-oriented
7. It is not enough to have sporadic success in projects
8. Over 30% of all projects end without any official
completion!
9. Less than 5% of organisations consistently achieve
the projected benefits

Avoid the following issues typically related to

project and change management:
1. Nearly 70% of all organisations lack experienced

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17

Tips on How to
Define and Plan
PPM Procedures and
Guidelines

It is important for an organization to manage and

categorize their project portfolio while handling several projects. Categorization helps in the alignment
of projects with the goals of the organization. PPM
or Project Portfolio Management is actually a management process. The purpose is to help the organization gain information using several methods so
that projects can be analyzed and sorted according to
certain criteria.

Some benefits of Project Portfolio

Management

PPM. Some of them include:

Evaluating projects using suitable and systematic

methods

Planning of resources

Performing a Cost Benefit Analysis

Getting timely access to required information

Preparing project reports on a regular basis

Important questions to be analyzed under

PPM
Managers who plan PPM procedures need to focus on essential questions that need to be addressed.
These include the following:

The organization is able to easily adapt to changes

in the business environment

Generation of higher returns as a result of constant updating and reviewing of projects

Is the organization making a correct investment

in the right project?

Enables the organization to focus on strategies

best suited to achieve targets

Is the companys capacity being utilized optimally?

Provides an edge over competitors

Is execution of plans actually taking place?

Tools for Project Portfolio Management

Can all the changes be successfully incorporated

by the organization?

An organization can use several tools for

Thinking Portfolio

18

Are all the estimated benefits being realized?

This model, addressing five vital questions with

regards to Project Portfolio Management, indicates
that the project manager should take an initiative to
answer these questions before the project begins and
also during the time of its execution. The successful
implementation of the project is highly dependent on
answering the above mentioned questions.

ation Metrics.
Once the process of defining as well as choosing
and executing the portfolio is in place, the organization can undertake important steps towards Project
Portfolio Management.
The aim of Project Portfolio Management is essentially to bring down inefficiencies and reduce potential risks while dealing with various projects.

Project Portfolio Management process

It is true that many organizations fail to put a Portfolio Management process in place. The following
steps can be taken to define a process for PPM:
1. A structure for portfolio management needs to be
defined.
2. A plan for Portfolio Management needs to be laid
out.
3. There is also a need to decide on the Basic Evalu-

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19

Additional Factors
That Lead to Success
with PPM
Management of projects and portfolios is something that happens in every organization. Whether or
not you take additional measures, new initiatives will
continue to roll out and new software will be built.
However, you should also know that more than 50
percent of all projects fail to a certain degree. This
happens mainly because companies do not pay attention to tools, processes, policies and structures
applied on the portfolio. It has been found that organizations that pay more attention to these factors
are more likely to succeed. To ensure that the success
rate remains consistent if not too high, there are several factors that should be considered.

Strong leadership
The success of any PPM relies on its leader. A PMO
director is a dedicated professional who can lead projects and deal with successes and failures. A strong
leader can increase the chances of success for a project portfolio by furthering the career of project managers and making sure that all tools and resources
are being used efficiently.

Defined processes
The right document shells, templates, policies and
processes that govern the PMO and the organization
should be in place to increase its success rate. With
repeatable and easy to use templates for similar projects, you can save a lot of time and can recognize the
reasons for success and improve upon these features.

In any organization, the PMO should have enough

visibility to prove that it will soon become an indispensible part of the company. In time, the PMO
should also become the go-to point for any project
related information, issues and undertakings. The
PMO should ensure that all projects go through it
and see that the internal organizations are equipped
to handle these tasks.

Executive backing
A major success factor when it comes to PPM is
executive backing. Regardless of your plan and the
structure of the portfolio, it is very important to have
the support of the executive and management team
of the organization. This is where all the funding
comes from and it is upto you to prove that your efforts are bringing your positive results.

Experienced personnel
Simply having a good leader or a plan is not adequate to ensure the success of your portfolio. It is also
important to have experienced employees who know
exactly how to handle different situations. Before you
spend most of your time looking for qualified project
managers, take some time out to put together a team
of talented and experienced employees who have the
potential and caliber to take your PPM methods to
success.

High visibility

Thinking Portfolio

20

6 Project Portfolio
Management Tips for
Beginners
Project portfolio management or PPM can be a
tricky proposition for beginners. While there are several set methods to go about setting it up, you should
follow a few tips and tricks that can bring you better
results. The following six tips can help you make the
best of your companys PPM and provide quick, profitable and tangible results.
1. Methodologies in project portfolio management can easily get outdated as they are
static in nature. Instead of focusing on methodology, give your attention to PPM processes
as well as best practices that can be scaled when
necessary. Depending on the size and type of the
project, these PPM processes should not just record the intended functions but also mark other
factors including the 5 Ws and 1 H that is, who,
why, when, where, what and how.
2. Ensure that the best practices and processes you use for PPM have caretakers who
regularly review and improve them. Whether through suggestions or periodical feedback,
process owners for PPM can institutionalize the
processes and improve best practices as well as
execution capabilities. It is better to choose people
oriented processes that serve specific functions to
promote consistency and efficiency in knowledge
sharing.
3. Dont wait for a problem to crop up before
you review PPM processes. Ensure that you
establish certain process owners and encourage

Thinking Portfolio

them to find better and more streamlined ways

to improve existing methods. Preparing for unexpected problems is an equally important part of
maintaining a positive and effective portfolio.
4. Do not adopt new processes for portfolio
management and project management
simply based on their current industry
popularity. It is important to first find out the
different processes that do or do not work for
your organization. When managing different PPM
processes, it is important to recognize and apply
practices that extend beyond the industry standards.
5. Apart from adopting the right methodologies, it is also important to create a secure
space to store important project information and documents. This includes information like the deadlines for project reports, different methods to store project data through a PPM
tool, risk analysis, earned value management and
so on.
6. Provide features and functions for collaborations in your PPM processes. Many organizations today want to use existing platforms
for enterprise collaboration instead of placing
information in additional repositories. Create
new tools and processes for collaborated work to
effectively manage multiple projects. This process
can also improve the workflow and efficiency of
the organization and lead to better management
of the project portfolio.
21

Back to Basics on
Project Portfolio
Management (PPM)
As an operating business, you may be required to
handle multiple projects at a time. To ensure that all
your projects are progressing smoothly and on time,
it is important to maintain a portfolio. Termed as
project portfolio management, this process can help
you organize and categorize projects based on your
organizational goals. It is also valuable when acquiring information and sorting out projects based on
criteria and priority. There are several tools and techniques you can use to measure the success and efficiency of your PPM model. Some popular techniques
used to measure PPM include the scoring technique,
visual mapping and heuristic models.

What are the objectives of PPM?

The objectives of PPM are designed to bring desired results from teams with several factors outlined for reference. The first objective of project
portfolio management is to create a descriptive document that includes vital project information like
the name, cost factors, business objectives as well
as estimated time frame. The second objective for a
PPM is to evaluate the project regularly and ensure
that it is able to meet its targets. This will ensure
that the project follows all quality standards and
remains on track in terms of deadlines. The third
objective of adopting a PPM system is to choose
the right team members. These players, with their
collective skill sets, will become major contributing factors to achieve the objectives of the project.

Thinking Portfolio

How you can benefit with PPM

PPM ensures that all your projects have objectives
and quality standards to bring about targeted results.
This method can also be used to change the structure
of the organization and improve methods for project
execution. Maintaining an efficient PPM will allow
your organization to tolerate and adapt to changes
quickly. Continual monitoring and reviewing of projects will ensure high quality deliverables and increase returns. You can also easily identify dependencies in your organization and remove inefficiencies
to gain competitive advantage over other companies.
A project portfolio management system will help you
focus on the right strategies to achieve your targets
rather than concentrate on the project alone.

Tools for project portfolio management

Several tools are used to make project portfolio
management a useful and efficient model. Some of
the most essential features of this process include
planned resources, systematic evaluation methods,
analysis of cost benefits, tracking of costs and benefits, information access to the right people, regular
progress reports, as well as impeccable communication solutions.

22

Optimizing the Use of

Key Resources in a
Project Portfolio
A project portfolio management system can help
you prepare and achieve your objectives and increase chances of financial profits. With the right
management system in place, you can remove a lot
of the guesswork and ensure that your executives
and management make the right decisions, whether
planned or during an emergency. The idea of a project portfolio management is fairly new and there are
several businesses who consider it to be confusing or
complex. To combat this, many companies have built
in-house cloud-based management systems to assist
them.
However, to make this system more effective, it is
important make optimum use of the key resources
involved in managing a project portfolio. In any project portfolio management system or software, the
following features play an important role in optimizing resources.

Portfolio management
Proper portfolio management can help you decide
what projects to take on and which ones to avoid.
They are also effective in tracking the current progress of each active project and can help you efficiently manage multiple resources including assets, employees and budget. Several factors are considered by
the management system when analyzing portfolios.

Financial management
Budget is an important resource that should be
handled carefully to increase ROI and to reduce risks.
Especially for larger businesses, budgeting involves a

Thinking Portfolio

lot more than simple profit or loss statements. This

is why financial management systems or tools can be
used to track associated costs for each project. These
systems can also project real time assessment and
performance indicators whether or not you are using
your financial resources in the right manner. Indicators of over spending and over allocation can be programmed into portfolio management software.

Problem management
Error reports as well as change requests are common for all projects and do happen in multiple stages
of the portfolio. A management tool with issue management features are beneficial as they help you prioritize and assist you in directing resources accordingly. These features ensure that your resources are
being used on the right project at the right time.

Resource management
One of the biggest resources for any business is its
employees. Any company that has more than five employees should ideally choose management software
that guides them in channeling the right skills into
the right project. An employee resource management
tool can allow you to deploy your staff and maximize
their investment and time on the right projects. Similar software will also help you understand the different projects that require or are consuming more resources than necessary. With this management tool,
you can ensure that the skill set and experience of all
your employees are being used optimally.

23

5 Ways to Improve
Your Project Portfolio
Management
Effective portfolio management is an important
element in the success and growth of business across
all industries. In fact, the 2012 Pulse of the Profession study conducted by the Project Management Institute proves just that. The report showed that out
of all the projects undertaken by organizations considering themselves as highly effective in managing
portfolios, 62% met or exceeded the expected return
on investment (ROI).
Whether its for increased customer satisfaction,
effective cost reduction, or better revenue growth;
even you could achieve your organizational goals by
improving your project portfolio management. Here
are five useful tips to help you out:
1. Training for senior management By improving the knowledge and understanding of
portfolio management at the highest level, you
could be on your way to success. This enables
senior management to ensure that the projects
are undertaken and developed according to the
organizational strategy. Eventually, you can focus
on spreading the knowledge across the organization. For gaining all the benefits of portfolio management, everyone involved should have a clear
understanding of the process, how it works, and
why it is necessary. In fact, the study also showed
that in 89% of highly effective companies, project
leaders and staff are educated on the process and
practices involved in portfolio management. On
the other hand, the number is just 25% in case of
minimally effective organizations.
2. Create a culture of prioritizing portfolio

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management For effective portfolio management, the process itself should be deeply rooted
and prioritized uniformly throughout the organization. This would involve executives showing
their support of portfolio management by way of
investment and communication.
3. Set aside resources for portfolio management Improving your portfolio management
would also involve dedicating organizational resources for effective solutions. It would be best if
you leave it to professionals, so you need to ensure
that the organization invests in the right talent.
4. Implement the right techniques and tools
For an organization, it would be much easier
to maintain a competitive edge by utilizing the
correct tools and practices for portfolio management. Make use of portfolio management software and applications in addition to other tools
for an efficient management system. Along with
this, you will also need to establish a set of practices for achieving your strategic goals. Standardizing portfolio management is a critical step for
improving effectiveness within the organization.
5. Establish an elaborate strategy To ensure
the effectiveness and success of your portfolio
management, prioritize on establishing a clear
and realistic strategy as well as your organizational goals in terms of portfolio and project targets.
This motivates the entire team to work efficiently
for portfolio management, as they have a better
understanding of the goals and constraints involved in the project.
24

How to be successful
in project portfolio
management
development - TOP 8
experiences

1. Keep it simple!

3. Development in phases

Keep things simple, always try to find the key elements in each development phase and simplify it.
The implementation of a typical strategic portfolio
management operating model and tools takes around
100 days.
Development processes which tend to drag on are
unlikely to yield positive results. According to our experience, the complicated way has never worked in
practice.

Utilize the operating models and solutions which

suite the maturity of the organization. According to
our experience, what works in one business unit may
not work in the entire organization.
Portfolio management should guide the entire organization, not merely the needs of only one business
unit or sector. According to our experience, different
business units can have several project management
tools, but the entire organization should only have
one simple portfolio management solution.

2. Earn the support of the management

In the event that management aspires to develop
their operative or tactical project management, they
often skip participating in the development process
while focusing on strategic matters.
You have to earn the support of the management.
According to our experience, portfolio management
has never been successful without the support of the
management!

Thinking Portfolio

4. Always from top to bottom

Project portfolio management is developed
through strategy. We have discovered in practice that
building project management from bottom to the top
does not bring portfolio management to the level of
strategic planning sought by the management.
Project management and portfolio management
solve different problems, which is why their related
operating models and processes should be distin25

guished from one another. The key interest groups of

strategic portfolio management are the management
and the decision-makers of the company.

5. Solve one matter at a time

When solving project portfolio management matters, it is good to keep in mind that you are not solving operative project management issues. If you aim
at too many targets at once, it is very likely that the
end result does not match the expectations and demands of the management.

6. Start with the operating model

By developing the project portfolio management
operating model, you do not have to solve all project
management practices.
You have to accept the fact that different business
units may utilize different project templates and
tools, but that the organization should have only one
clear portfolio management model.

Project portfolio management often requires years

of experience in business development. It is vital that
you bring along the best experts of the organization
and the most in-depth knowledge in the development. According to our experience, without the most
skilled people, failure is likely.

8. Good tools require no training

Select a solution which requires no training as the
support tool of portfolio management. The management can only spend a restricted amount of time per
project in a month, and they cannot spare more than
a few minutes for learning the support tool. According to our experience, good tools require no training.

7. Utilize the experience

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26

Project portfolio
management is part of
change management
Implementing changes thoroughly requires good
planning, execution, staff coaching and communications, and often other processes and tools as well.
Well-implemented change is not an incredible solo
act; it requires extensive cooperation throughout the
organization, where everyone has a role to play. The
management is responsible for enabling changes and
eliminating obstacles to development. Top and middle management tasks are vital in providing support
for practical measures. Interest groups are also important, and we should also see the changes from the
perspective of our customers.
If the changes are meant to produce additional
value and benefits to the customer, it is essential to
communicate this through all available channels to
the customers. Internal communication plays a key
role, and is known to almost always pose one of the
most significant challenges.
Change is always multi-layered; when we change
processes, product specifications or implementation
methods of a service, we also change the way our staff
thinks. Change is one of the most challenging and
risky elements for an organization.

Tools should be utilized as quickly as

possible during change
We have grown accustomed to having our working
appliances help us reach a meeting on time, approve
invoices or recognize projects that do not support the
company strategy, or whose business case is out of
date. This is commonplace to nearly all working communities. Tools should be implemented early in the
change process, so that their advantageous functions
can be utilized in supporting better, quality practices

Thinking Portfolio

and thereby enabling the company to be successful.

If the tools are not conducive to the organizations
efforts, the staff tends to resort to their own Excel or
PowerPoint software. If the staff is not provided sufficient information on organizational changes, they
will communicate via e-mails, hold unofficial meetings and take other measures to stay up to date on
matters. In a worst-case scenario, this happens too
late or with false information.

Successful change requires the right tool

Tools are not the be-all and end-all of success;
an organization also needs know-how and operating models. However, significant development and
change processes cannot be solely based on knowhow and operating models. Tools should be implemented early enough, so that staff can learn to use
them correctly. Tools provide cohesion to operating
models, thus supporting success in a multi-layered
and ever-evolving business environment, regardless
of whether the organization operates in multi-national business or public sector.

Good project portfolio management practices

are not rocket science
It should be clarified that good tools do not require
days or weeks of training and constant use. The best
solutions are often the ones that are the most simple
to use and easy to understand; todays tools are expected to be intuitive, not requiring advanced training. The best tools today are more like services that
guide users through various activities, facilitating
work and saving precious time, which will ultimately
benefit the end-customers of the organization.
27

Portfolio Resource Management

Thinking Portfolio Easy to use, fast to implement
Thinking Portfolio is a simple, yet powerful, solution for those who want to move from
spreadsheets to a professional project portfolio management tool, but dont want to
spend years on implementation. In addition to project portfolios, our SaaS based platform is used for idea management, IT application and service portfolio management.

[Link]

Thinking Portfolio

Thinking Portfolio
Aleksanterinkatu 15 B
00100 Helsinki
Finland
28

Thinking Portfolio
Seefeldstrasse 69
8008 Zurich
Switzerland

Put your ideas into a

portfolio
Many companies are drawn to large brainstorming
events, idea campaigns, and open innovation web forums. Some collect ideas as a continuous process. In
both cases, the management and post-processing of
ideas is a laborious task. Managing ideas as a portfolio makes this task easier and builds a bridge between innovation and implementation.

The concept of an idea portfolio

An idea portfolio is a method of collecting, scoring and analyzing ideas in a consistent manner. As a
technical solution it can be a website that allows its
users to post and share ideas and rank them according to predefined criteria. The collected information
is stored in a database from which it can be retrieved
for analysis and post-processing.

How to get good quality ideas

An idea portfolio can retrieve information from
both internal and external sources. However, how
you define what kind of ideas you are looking for is
not irrelevant.
Julian Birkinshaw, Cyril Bouquet, and Louis Barsoux recently conducted a three-year study of group
innovation practices in 13 leading global companies
(Source: MIT Sloan Management Review, Winter
2011). Their findings revealed that online innovation
forums yield the best results when the problem is
well defined and narrow. Conceptual questions dont
work: e.g. We are looking for radical new approaches to customer service in our retail bank any ideas?
You must provide some raw material for people to

Thinking Portfolio

latch to. An analogy, for example, could do the trick:

How could we make our retail bank more like your
favorite restaurant? Technical questions that focus on certain tasks in a process or specific uses of a
product are also a good choice.
The study also indicated that people are not very
keen on building upon other peoples ideas on web
forums. In-person brainstorming is better suited for
that. Our own experiences support that view. Furthermore, it is easier to get people to take part in a
time-limited campaign than asking them to regularly
revisit a forum.

Idea management needs a system

In 2006 IBM launched a 72-hour Innovation Jam
to uncover new business opportunities. The online
campaign attracted 57,000 visitors employees,
clients, and partners and produced 30,000 posts.
Even much smaller companies can generate hundreds of ideas during similar events. But without a
proper system in place, finding the best ideas from a
large mass is time-consuming.
The experience of UBS Investment Banks Idea
Exchange illustrates the challenge. As one of their
managers put it: Preliminary sorting, then scoring
and giving feedback on such a large number of ideas
took a huge amount of time and effort by category
owners and subject matter experts. The ideas coming
through were good, but if we are to do it again we
need a repeatable, dashboard-style reporting system
for quantifying results and keeping the momentum
going.

29

TOP 5 Benefits of using an idea portfolio

You get ideas that are focused on the right issues

Idea generation becomes an open, transparent,

and systematic process

You can manage a large number of ideas with reasonable effort

Idea generation integrates seamlessly with project portfolio management

People participate eagerly when they see how ideas lead to action

Our clients experiment

In 2010 we organized an idea campaign for a professional services organization. They invited their
staff of 300 to the online event and asked them to
generate ideas on how to support their clients sustainability efforts. The outcome was over 120 ideas.
A team of experts chose 20 that they considered to be
the best for voting.
All employees participated in the voting process.
Finally, the three ideas that received the most votes
were awarded. The organization not only gave the
winning employees recognition, but they also got resources for working out solutions from the ideas. Another result of the campaign was a database of categorized and evaluated ideas that our client could use
in the future. Based on the positive feedback, they are
now considering involving customers and partners in
future campaigns.
For the event we used our own online tool. It al-

Thinking Portfolio

lows the attendees to post their ideas on a simple,

but visual form, and see what others have posted. Attendees can then vote on ideas or evaluate them, e.g.
based on business potential and ease of implementation. As a result, the tool creates online charts for
analyzing the results.

Turning ideas into successful projects

As bottom-up ideation is becoming increasingly
popular, critics argue that formal executive screening could hamper innovation. There are examples
of great ideas that the top management rejected at
first. However, Birkinshaw, Bouquet, and Barsoux
claim that, at some point all these innovations were
picked up and then prioritized by top management.
Successful innovations, in other words, need both
bottom-up and top-down effort, and very often the
link is not made.
Once you have the ideas categorized, ranked, and
analyzed according to your portfolio criteria you can
select the ones that are worth pursuing. A feasible
idea offers a desirable solution to a compelling problem. If you can describe the value, costs, and risks of
implementing the solution, you have a business case.
A business case study should use the same evaluation criteria as the project portfolio of the organization. That way the top management can see how
well the proposed project serves the strategy of the
company. When you are able to connect idea generation with project portfolio management you can be
confident that your organization is focusing on the
right things.

30

2. Project
Management
32

6 Things that a Successful PMO Wont do

33

6 Things that a Public Sector PMO Needs

35

Define the PMO of 2015

37

PMO and Communication Skills

38

Six Common Ways to Be a Better Project Management Office

39

Five Tips for Customer Enthusiastic PMO

40

Evaluation of Project Management Office

41

Why CIO Needs a PMO Approach?

43

Making Your PMO Tasks Effective

44

6 Characteristics of an Effective Project Management Officer

45

Top 5 Skills of a Project Management Officer

47

Five Most Critical Skills IT Project Managers Should Possess

49

How to Make an Ordinary Project Manager Great

51

How to Get Results Fast in an Internal Development Project

52

How to Succeed in Internal Cross-Functional Development Projects

53

How to Use Business Development Projects as a Learning Opportunity

54

Creating Commitment in Internal Development Projects

55

Identifying the Business Benefits of an IT Project

56

6 Things that Successful Project Managers do

58

What Makes Women the Best Project Managers

59

The Critical Role of a Project Manager

60

The Deadly Sins of Project Management

61

Six Lessons that Project Managers Could Learn from Elephants

62

5 Questions Business Owner Should Ask About a Project Business Case

63

The Benefits of Following Up on a Completed Business Project

64

Identifying the Business Benefits of an IT Project

65

Project resource management problems are side effects of other issues

67

IT vs Corporate Project Portfolios

68

How PMO Is Adding Value to a Project Manager

6 Things that a
Successful PMO
Wont do
Running a successful Project Management Office
(PMO) may seem simple enough. After all, with a
good system and an experienced team, what more
could one need? But bad project management can
boil down to things that seem right on the surface,
but could have extremely negative repercussions in
the long-run.

Not knowing who is right for the job

Having the right people on point positions is key.
Poor resourcing decisions can snowball into project
delays and even failure. On the flip side, a good project manager will never allocate a task that someone
is unequipped to handle. This will allow them to focus on the bigger picture and step away as the team
takes charge of their individual tasks.

Expecting miracles from technology

Having a good process in place for project management is important. A bad project manager might feel
his job ends at allocating tasks and setting up a system. After all, the system is built to trigger alarms for
big deviations. Not so. The onus of managing these
systems falls on the PMO. A successful project manager monitors for adherence and reviews milestones
and data to take corrective action mid-course. This
helps prevent bigger, potentially disastrous events
getting triggered.

Having a Project Manager who micromanages

Sometimes, a wonderful person can also be a bad
project manager. An attempt to help out team members and bail them out of tough spots can be detri-

Thinking Portfolio

mental to the cause. Individuals thrive on challenges

and must cope with issues that crop up. This will help
them with their professional growth, and by stepping in for them, you are denying them the chance
to learn.

Being over ambitious

Taking on too many projects at one go can cripple
a teams ability to function efficiently. Add to that inflexibility and youre guaranteed to fail. Good PMOs
know never to agree to impossible time-lines and
over ambitious projects.

Being inflexible
Just as bad as being a yes-man, is being completely inflexible. A successful project manager will never
close the door on change. As projects progress, risks
change, influencing factors change and so too, should
the project approach. Being adaptable is a virtue in
project management offices.

Not communicating enough

Regular meetings and reviews are important.
Without this, a project manager and his team operate
in silos. When problems crop up, it takes inordinately long to spot and fix them. By being non-communicative, a project manager closes lines of communication both ways. Team members will hesitate to
approach him for counsel or to own up to problems.
It is important to keep all stakeholders in the loop
and get buy-in from senior management. A successful PMO has everyone on the same page.

32

6 Things that a
Public Sector PMO
Needs

Project Management Offices (PMOs) are underutilized in the public sector, but can have significant impact on the efficiency of these government agencies.
As the public demands more for its tax dollars, and
governments put in place austerity measures, public
sector organizations have had to tighten up. With a
good PMO, an agency is able to deliver more, with
greater efficiency.

Close alignment to organizational goals

Unless a PMO is aligned to the agencys overall
strategy and goals, it is destined to under-perform.
The team must first identify the role the PMO is expected to play in the organization. Once done, its roles
and responsibilities can be clearly laid out. Strategic
PMOs now function as businesses with the business,
allowing them to bring private sector efficiencies and
methods to otherwise bureaucratic environs.

Project plans
Public sector enterprises often work with budget

Thinking Portfolio

constraints and limited resources. A good project

plan with all variables factored in can help accurately
estimate spends and spot attention areas. It will also
estimate the resources needed to execute a project.
This helps with budgeting and planning for the future.

Centralized project management software

With several stakeholders, bureaucracy and a lot
of red tape to cut through, public sector PMOs can
save themselves a lot of time and money with a robust software system for project management. With
the relevant systems online, accountability and
transparency are also taken care of.

Measures and metrics

The PMO in a public sector set up, as with its private sector counterparts must have a way to track
projects. Monitoring projects to check for deviation
from timelines and goals becomes even more important in the face of budget cuts and possible public ire
33

from delays. These metrics and measures must be

mappable to executive friendly reports so that updates can be shared from time to time.

know-how, he should also have credibility within the

system so that he (and the PMO) get the respect and
leeway they need.

Regular communication

His influence must cut across agencies in the public sector organization. These units may traditionally
have operated in silos, with minimal interaction. For
complex projects involving inter-dependencies, the
PMO leaders role will be to get lines of communication going so collaborative projects can work. He
will also need to keep the public interests in mind
while ensuring seamless execution of projects, even
with changes of senior level leadership in agencies.
He will need to be the glue that holds it all together.

Listening to the customer is as important in public sector undertakings, as it is for private firms. Present plans to possibly skeptical customers and actively engage them in discussions. See if the plan aligns
with their needs and overall organizational goals. Be
open to listening. Review and adapt the plan to factor in their feedback. This will also help you get their
buy-in and approval on projects.

A strong leader
The success of public sector PMOs hinges on having the right people. And none is more important than
the person who steers the boat on the PMO front. A
good leader needs to be assertive and should be able
to hold his own with people in positions of authority. Besides his own negotiation skills and technical

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34

Define the PMO of

2015

In 2015 Project Management Offices will have to

face new challenges while delivering value to their
organizations. The project management office is
geared towards establishment and accomplishments
of goals linked to stakeholders needs. As firms move
from traditional processes towards more agile operations, PMO has to play an active role in the process
by making their leaders more adaptable to new technology.
In todays challenging business environment project management is a combination of hard decisions
and soft management skills to improve business and
have a definite growth path. The goal of PMO is to
guide project managers so they understand strategic
importance of decisions taken by the organization
and play an active role to improve performance and
profits.
Different schools of thought have defined PMO of
2015 in their own manner, depending on the importance of work assigned to them.
1. PMO of today is a multi-project entity Ac-

Thinking Portfolio

cording to a recent white paper published by Dr.

Brian Hobbs of University of Quebec, PMO is an
integral part of an organizations project management structure and are linked to multiple activities at a single point of time. These PMO have low
number of resources who are experts in their field
and can manage multiple projects and are elite
groups with limited decision making responsibilities.
2. Corporate culture managing group According to a recent article, project management
office has to implement regulations within a corporates work culture to reduce inefficiency and
lack of responsibility. The PMO will establish a
culture of process improvements to facilitate strategic planning and management of intellectual assets within an organization.
3. Creating value and enhancing corporate
performance A PMO creates and enhances
value of its employer by organizing a set of per35

formance standards for accomplishing all activities within the organization. It sets up key process
steps and applies performance metrics to project
activities thereby enhancing overall corporate
performance and value.

6. In the modern business environment PMO is a social unit comprising of complex structures which
make up an organization and is constantly evolving to face business challenges.

4. PMO as central nervous system The PMO

of 2015 will be a strategic point which will control all vital function of an organization related
to people, time, money and effort applied. It will
work like a central nervous system by constantly
improving reflexes and performance.
5. Evolving role in dynamic business environment In todays global business environment
wherein companies are facing new challenges related to technology, business processes and regulatory changes, PMO has to play an evolving role.
The PMO of 2015 has to be dynamic with ability to
take on diverse responsibilities and carry on give
meaning to project management.

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36

PMO and
Communication Skills
A project managers office or PMO is the focus of
all activities that are being carried out in an organization. A project management team has to plan, track,
manage and report progress of work being carried out
within an organization. Team managers and coordinators have to coordinate with their team members
and project office about requirements and expectations to ensure that work is done as per client expectations and instructions are not misunderstood.
An effective project manager is able to manage
different teams seamless towards common organizational goals and maintain cordial relationship
between management and workers. Though professional certifications are a big plus for project managers, practical experience is more important as it
helps them manage people of varied work cultures
together and motivates them to achieve the common
goals.

Importance of communication skills in PMO

The staff of PMO office has to manage relationship
and communication between different groups working on a project and have to be proficient in interpersonal communication skills, making presentations
and also in managing customer relationships.

Interpersonal skills
This ability will help to exert influence on different levels within the organization to get work done in
time and on schedule. The have to build relationship
with team managers and communicate management
decisions and expectations effectively to build consensus on operations. These skills are not inherent

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and are acquired with time depending on the roles

that each staff member has been assigned and also by
training imparted to them after induction.

Presentation skills
PMO duties do not end with assignment of responsibilities to each group but extends further to communication of specific requirements of each task on
a project by project basis. During this phase a project
managers oral and written communication skills are
put to test as they have to identify ideal people fit to
do the tasks and explain them clearly to avoid confusion and mishaps. The project management team has
to draw out detailed a plan of implementation which
will be communicated to the team.

Managing customer relationships

PMO staff has to lay focus on implementation of
deliverable which will lead to achievement of customer delivery goals. They have to be in constant touch
with customer project team to understand their requirements and sync them with organizational activities to maintain delivery of each project phase on
schedule. Managing amicable customer relationship
throughout the project development phase is critical
for the successful delivery of completed project as
per customer specifications.
For a project management office to work effectively the management should provide them with professional work environment and technical expertise
with competitive salary.

37

Six Common Ways to

Be a Better Project
Management Office
Managing projects is a second nature to many
managers, in spite of not having a proper structure
to do it. Every day is hectic with new initiatives, new
software being built, tested and launched constantly.
All these are projects ultimately depend upon their
managers for success. The leaders who have a proper and structured project management office have an
undeniable edge and advantage over the others.
Listed below are the ways in which you can make
your project management office much better.

1. Leadership
A good PMO needs, first and foremost, a good
PMO director. He/she must be dedicated and strong.
He/She must be given enough time to do complete
the project. He/She must be responsible for the development of the project managers and the one who
handles all the tools related to the project.

2. Experience
Just looking for certified employees is not enough.
Consider their experience and their track record.

3. Expert and executive backing

The backing of the executive management team is
critical. The funding depends on them and it is what
the customers see.

portance and realize that it is to be approached for all

project related undertakings. All project information
should pass through the PMO, so it project members
should be assured and informed that it is fully capable to handle the various responsibilities. In absences
of the assurance, it would fail as no one would believe
in its chances survival.

5. There must be defined processes, policies

and templates
The policies and protocols of the PMO should be
clear and defined. With proper templates in place,
your organization will be all set to taste success. You
will not be leaving anything to luck. With them the
required tools in place, you can record, track your efforts, analyze the result and know what was responsible for it.

6. The PMO must have the authority to take

action
PMO must be given the strength and authority to
make any important key decisions and take the necessary actions. The executive management must support its every move. The PMO director must have the
last say to make the critical decisions and must be
able to communicate it to the project managers. It
would insure that the important projects dont have
to wait and can proceed unimpeded.

4. Visibility
The PMO must be bestowed with high visibility in
the organization. Everyone must understand its im-

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38

Five Tips for

Customer
Enthusiastic PMO
When discussing about project management offices (PMOs), one of the most important factor is often
left untouched- customer service. Outside the world
of PMO, customer service is often associated with
sellers who are trying to escalate their revenues by
adding as many customers as possible. Their aim is
to attract all kinds of prospective buyers to purchase
their products and services.
The fact is that PMOs should operate in a similar
fashion. However, they need to focus on reducing
costs rather than increasing revenue. Their emphasis should be on consistently delivering value rather
than aimlessly acquiring more customers.
PMOs are essentially service groups who carry out
the sale of products and services to customers. These
include the various PMO divisions, IT departments,
project groups and business teams. PMOs should
never sell processes, especially the complex ones.
The PMO is seen as an expensive exercise from the
business point of view when there is too much focus
on the process.

How PMOs should help Customers

PMOs need to add value to every project and deliver the products/services to various categories of
customers. Here are some ways through which PMOs
can help their customers:

Make Life Easier for Customer: In order to

achieve this, a clear and well-formulated value
proposition must be offered by the PMOs. This
could be a direct statement of benefits of the PMO

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accompanied by the approximate cost to be borne

by each category of customers to enjoy those benefits.

Delivering Value: Concrete and visible value

should be delivered by PMOs when selling products and services to customers. Various important
outcomes are a direct result of this process like
better execution of project, higher productivity,
better investment decisions, greater value, reduction in cost and so on.

Segmenting Customers: PMOs work very well

when they divide their customers into various
segments and deliver products and services specifically to meet the requirements of a particular
segment.

Minimum involvement of Senior Members: It is not necessary to involve senior members as their real interest lies in making sure that
the investment in a particular project leads to
competitive business advantage.

Targeting Products: It is extremely crucial that

the PMO focus on the products that it is selling to
a particular customer segment. The right segment
must be addressed with the right product at all
times. It saves both time and cost.

It is important to standardize and correctly size

the solutions offered under PMO. This helps in both
building customer relationships and lowering the
overhead costs of the project. Last but not the least,
good leadership is extremely important to build a
customer enthusiastic PMO at all times.
39

Evaluation of Project
Management Office
A project management office is essential for any
organization that is handling more than one active
projects at the same time. It is required to ensure
that the projects and their execution are done with
the same guidelines to which, the organization adheres.
It is also important to evaluate the project management office from time to time. This helps an enterprise keep up with the standards of the project
execution. It also allows to keep the management
as well as employees at all levels of the organization
work to their best abilities.

What are the advantages of evaluating a

project management office?

what went wrong with the project execution and

how the same can be avoided in the future. It is
also helps a company understand what is right
with the project and how to continue doing it.

How is evaluation of project management

office done?
The evaluation of project management office is done
in many ways:

The evaluation can be conducted by the organization or through external agencies.

If the organization is handling the evaluation,

then either the people who worked on projects
are involved in the process or other employees are
included in it. At times stakeholders also get involved in the process if there is a requirement for
it. At other times stakeholders do the evaluation
along with the project team. The project team is
involved in the evaluation so that the members
can understand what went right or what went
wrong with the project handling and help the organization with their experience.

External agencies are asked for project management evaluation if the organization needs the
help of an expert or some technical support. If the
organization feels that peer evaluation could be
biased for some reason, it can opt for evaluation
from external agencies.

Evaluation of a project management office is needed

to ensure its efficacy. Here are some ways a project
management evaluation evaluation helps:

A project management evaluation helps an organization know if the program is still effective.
As the wants and size of the organization change,
the project management office might also need an
overhaul. Also, with the change in project sizes or
change in management, an evaluation of project
management office might be the need of the hour.

A project management evaluation also is an important tool for stakeholders to hold the management accountable, in case there are problems in
project execution.

A project management evaluation helps the management as well as the project team understand

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40

Why CIO Needs a

PMO Approach?

For years now, IT departments of companies have

been struggling to execute multiple projects within
the given budget and time period. Today companies
are all about getting in more business and so, numerous projects run simultaneously, each needing
detailed monitoring by the IT department. This has
made several departments adopt the PMO or Project
Management Offices approach as a means to enhance
IT performance, reduce costs, improve quality and
speed up the delivery of projects.

panies to keep a close check on the expenditure incurred on a project along with its progress.
According to Andre Spatz, who was a former CIO
at UNICEF, the CIO plays a critical role in the governance methodologies related to management of
projects. In serving at the CIO position from 1997
through 2006, Spatz made sure that he took the
co-ownership of every project along with the business managers whose organizations were accountable for results of efficient project execution.

How PMOs can help CIOs

Case study: CIO Dennis LHeureux uses PMO

for Rockford Health

CIOs can make effective use of PMOs as they help

in determining the structure which leads to standardization in terms of project management and also
gives way to portfolio management of IT projects.
Another key driver is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. This
requires the disclosure of investments by companies,
including major projects which are likely to have an
impact on the operating strategy and performance
of a company. This act makes it imperative for com-

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Like many other CIOs facing similar situations

today, Dennis LHeureuxs IT firm is being burdened with more projects than it can actually execute. LHeureux, says that they are unable to meet
the ever growing demand. He has been serving as the
Rockford Health System CIO for the last 14 years. He
maintains that business managers have to be consistently told that their demand surpasses the companys

41

capacity to deliver.
To structure and organize the various projects
being handled by Rockford Health, a project management office was created by LHeureux sometime
back. It is the job of the PMO officer to suggest which
employee should be put to work on which project,
forming different project teams. LHeureux on the
other hand manages the communication with the
senior management with respect to the staff required
for the various ongoing projects. He also determines
the time period for which the services of each of those
people should be utilized for the projects allotted.
According to LHeureux, his role as CIO in project
management is a delicate mix of several fields -politics, art, resource identification and the likes. He
carefully shadows the business managers who have
been given the role of project heads. Their failure
makes him accountable and their success makes him
bask in glory.
From LHeureuxs experience, we understand how
it is the responsibility of the CIOs of companies to

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establish discipline standards with regards to project

management. They need to communicate the goals
and objectives clearly in a manner that is understood
by the business managers and the working staff.

42

Making Your PMO

Tasks Effective
Project Management Office is basically a body
that has various responsibilities with respect to the
centralization and coordination of projects under its
realm of work. These responsibilities could be related to providing support facilities for management
of project or undertaking direct supervision and responsibility of a project.

How do PMOs help organizations?

Many organizations globally are now allotting
large sums of money to the execution of various programmes and projects. The successful management
of change has slowly become an important factor for
the overall success of any organization. Also, an integral part of this success is the investment in various kinds of projects. Several organizations still find
it difficult to properly execute all their projects and
strongly believe that allocating money and effort for
the implementation of PMOs has made a huge difference to their success story.

Creating a clear plan for a project

It is important to understand and comprehend
what type of PMO you need for your organization.
There are different types of PMOs. There is usually
a specific goal at the center of all Program Management Offices. For example, it could be delivering a
project that adheres to the standards of governance.
Most PMOs at the enterprise level cover a work portfolio and are usually given reports from the various
division offices.
It is crucial to establish early alliances and work on

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a communication plan. Involve your stakeholders in

various kinds of informal and formal talks to get an
idea about the type of authority or sway they have.
The project agreement needs to be filled out with all
kinds of preliminary data and other relevant information. Make sure that you have a strong plan for a
business case. The idea is to invest enough time in
the PMO, thinking of it as a project in itself.

Review the project charter

Once you have finished working on the project
plan/agreement, take a step back and get some reviews from your peers in the organization. You could
get some needed support as well as feedback for a
successful launch and get a step closer to the desired
result.
It is important to ensure that the C-level executives are in agreement with your project charter for
long term success. Try to be realistic with setting of
goals and time lines. A PMO implementation usually involves a big change task. It is advisable to have
healthy expectations and have your assumptions
supported by a premeditated degree of confidence.

43

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6 Characteristics of
an Effective Project
Management Officer
Project management officers are vital to any business as they can take important decisions that lead to
great ideas. While good PMOs are hard to find, great
ones are even rarer. However, all good PMOs share
certain traits and characteristics that make them an
effective and valuable part of the team. Here are six
of the best traits you should cultivate to become an
effective and profitable project management officer
in your organization.

1. Transparency
PMOs today have great insight into the cost and
progress of a particular project. They are also knowledgeable in handling and allocating the right resources for the right projects. An effective project
management officer can distribute resource information, schedule and talk about costs to the intended
stakeholders to keep all involved parties abreast with
the latest updates.

2. Consistency
Good PMOs have consistent and repeated practices for project management that are continually used
throughout the organization. To become a success,
all projects are regarded with the same quality standards and other requirements. Good PMOs also eliminate redundancies and bureaucratic practices that
affect projects.

3. Flexibility
The ability to adapt to unique portfolio and project
needs is a telltale sign of a good PMO. Project de-

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livery styles are largely determined by organizational

structures as centralized PMOs bring many benefits
to the business itself.

4. Communication skills
Communication skills is considered to be one of
the most important traits of a successful executive,
whether the CEO or PMO. By creating a stable and
transparent line of communication between the technical team, managers, executives and stakeholders,
a good PMOs abilities are judged based on his/her
capability of communicating clearly and honestly.

5. Organization
Organizational skills are critical for a PMO as they
are responsible for scheduling and budgeting in the
project. The ability to prioritizes tasks, assess as well
as allocate resources and keep a constant tab on the
budget is key to the success of any project. With the
right organizational skills, a PMO can remain in control of the project and ensure that no resources are
being wasted or misused.

6. Problem solving
Regardless of the nature, size and urgency of a project, mistakes and problems are bound to emerge. Instead of panicking or playing the blame game, a good
PMO determines the cause of the problem and takes
immediate steps to rectify the mistake. By effectively handling difficult solutions and taking brave decisions, a project management officer can make a big
difference in a projects outcome.
45

Top 5 Skills of a
Project Management
Officer
Each business has a separate department for project management and while the roles and responsibilities vary, some skills remain a prerequisite. The
job profile of the project management officer changes
from company to company and mainly depends on
the size and nature of the business. It also depends
on the stage of project implementation. Regardless
of these differences, here are five essential skills that
are important for any PMO.

Organization
Needless to say, the job of a project management
officer requires a fair share of multitasking. Apart
from handling different aspects of a single project,
you may be required to supervise multiple projects
at a time. With the right organizational strategies,
you can manage and monitor tasks, statistics, and
information in a simplified manner. By staying up to
date on all of the details necessary for each project,
you can prevent a number of problems in the future.
Apart from handling larger and more significant
tasks in a project, you should also take organizational
measures to address minor requirements and tasks
that are often important.

Problem solving
It is important to exercise as much control over
a project as possible. It is understandable that as a
project management officer, you may not have complete control, but you must possess the skills to resolve problems and ensure that the project is on
track. Problem solving skills are not just handy when

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problems arise, but can be used to foresee potential

effects and obstacles of the project and steps can be
taken to prevent these drawbacks.

Communication
Communication skills take precedence for any
project management officer, as it is necessary to relay
important information to different personnel in the
company. You should be aware of the expectations
from the project and report all positive and negative
developments to the necessary authorities.

Awareness
If you are an experienced PMO, you are already
aware that your role never remains constant. Requiring evolution at each step, it is important to keep
up-to-date with the latest techniques and resources
used for project management. By being aware of the
recent developments, you can incorporate new and
more effective methods into your organization for
greater success rates.

Negotiation
As a project management officer, you are required
to network and build relationships with different
professionals to complete the project as intended.
Working hand in hand with other professionals and
negotiating with them can ensure favorable results
from your endeavors, making it an all-important skill
if you are a PMO.

46

Five Most Critical

Skills IT Project
Managers Should
Possess

While some IT professionals are natural leaders,

others work hard to instill certain skills that are essential to handle any project. Apart from tending to
the smallest details of the project, IT project managers are required to focus on the big picture and
keep pace with the impending deadlines. Here are
the most essential and critical skills that IT projects
managers should have.

Analysis
Also referred to as impact analysis, project managers should possess the ability to understand and
analyze the impact of the project and the subsequent
resulting changes. It is important to be able to analyze and manage the project while making changes
to it as required. These analytical skills will also help
you keep the project on track without overlooking essential changes.

Communication

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As an IT project manager, it is imperative to communicate with your team as well as stakeholders

to keep the project running as smooth as possible.
These communication skills include conveying problems and risks to the responsible individuals as soon
as they are detected, scheduling regular meetings to
discuss and resolve problems, listening to the issues
presented by your team and stakeholders, and keeping your seniors updated.

Teamwork
Team building is an essential skill possessed by
a good IT project manager to keep the operations
smooth and running. Since most projects are often
hectic and long, it is important to keep the team
together and motivated. Some examples of team
building include regularly speaking with the team
members, taking them out on recreational activities
like dinner or drinks, and engaging in activities and
games that are likely to create a stronger bond within

47

your team.

Time management
IT project managers handle and juggle several duties and responsibilities at a time, from managing
the team, looking into minute details, understanding
the big picture, and meeting deadlines. To be able to
handle these tasks with ease, it is very important to
manage your time seamlessly. To understand how to
manage your time effectively, you can read inspirational books on time management, employ software
and apps, or even work with a fellow employee to
make time for all the essential tasks surrounding the
project.

project. These skills include understanding the different sides of the conflict and listening to the issues
posed by different parties, setting up meetings, and
taking the initiative to reach a consensus before the
project faces any significant delay.

Conflict management and problem solving

Managing conflicts and crisis in projects is perhaps one of the most difficult and despised tasks undertaken by project managers. However, it remains
one of the most important skills when heading any

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48

How to Make an
Ordinary Project
Manager Great

Did you know that only two percent of project

managers in any workforce are rated as excellent by
both their co-workers and clients? It does not come
as a surprise that project management requires much
more than just managerial skills to give the desired
results.
So, what makes a project manager a great one?
Here are some traits that ordinary project managers
need to develop to become better at their job:
An ordinary project manager takes care of
scheduling, communication and production.
Great project managers get involved in strategic vision execution and team building skills.
Best project managers change themselves according
to the changing requirements. They are cognizant of
the techniques which will bring the best out of team
members. A great project manager is also sufficiently
flexible, so that the team can adopt changes quickly and make incremental progress, which can be
achieved as well as measured.

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Ordinary project managers stay on the road.

Great project managers understand that
there will be bumps on the way and formulate
solutions in real time.
Smart project managers understand that the top priority of any project is to satisfy the customer and that
definitions of success can vary over time. They understand that certain projects may have higher aims
and they strategize based on long-term goals.
Ordinary project managers worry about accomplishing the tasks. Great project mangers
know that negotiation, problem-solving and
collaboration are very important for successful results.

49

Great project managers have excellent negotiating

and collaborating skills. They are proficient in the
four negotiation related phases:

Collecting documents, facts and data so that the

case can be presented well

Disclosing required information with the team

Concentrating on common objectives and interests

Ensuring that all the stakeholders are firmly on

the board

Ordinary project managers tend to hire talented

team mates. Great project managers how to use an
individuals skills in the correct manner at the right
time. They know the importance of having everyone
on board to extract the best teamwork, which is essential for a successful project.

Ordinary project managers get anxious over

outcomes. The great ones are confident of
their ways to secure a solution.
Great project managers are very particular when it
comes to being aware of the challenges of a specific
project. They ask the right questions. Answers that
they obtain, are evaluated and then collaborated to
get best solutions without any second guessing.

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50

How to Get Results

Fast in an Internal
Development Project
Any company, regardless of its niche, has two types
of projects that include internal and external development. External development projects are known
to cater to customers and clients and are expected to
make money, whereas internal projects are known to
utilize this revenue to benefit the company. While it
may appear that internal projects are not critical or
valuable, you should not ignore the potential benefits provided by them. Just like profit-driven external projects, internal development can bring about
change and require dedication and attention.
You can channel the money generated from external customer projects to help you bring results like
competitive advantages, increased revenue, as well
as cost saving. The planning and execution of these
internal development projects are crucial and there
are several methods and ideas you can adopt to get
better results faster.

Adopting the right steps to get results

A long term change management program does
not usually attract commitment or urgency. If your
internal development project is a long term one, it
is best to break it down to sizeable tasks and impose
deadlines. This will ensure that you get favorable results as fast as possible without affecting other initiatives. The results derived from smaller tasks and
projects are visible, measurable, and more concrete
compared to waiting for the entire project to be completed. Apart from breaking down the project, you
can also start by allocating a small section of your

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employees daily deadline to complete the internal

development project.
In most companies, employees are required to juggle external and internal projects and without adequate time, you can expect them to provide tangible
and quality results. Allow them to dedicate one day
a week or any suitable schedule where they can concentrate only on the internal development project.
Another tactic you can adopt is to include project
models that are simple, clear, and precise. Similar
to external projects, even your internal development
project can be approached in an organized and
streamlined manner with a simple yet adequately detailed model.

Maintain employee relationships

Some of the most important factors that influence
the outcome of a project include proper communication and credit. It is important to highlight the benefits and functions of the internal project to allow your
employees to dedicate and commit to it. If you want
to make changes or adjustments to the project model, ensure that you communicate the same to your
employees and the management. Above all, ensure
that you give due credit to the employees and follow
up on the internal project to ensure that it is still viable and helpful to your business

51

How to Succeed
in Internal CrossFunctional
Development Projects
If your business is expanding, you may have to
work on cross functioning development projects
more often. In simple terms, a cross functional group
can be defined as a team of professionals with different fields of expertise working together for a single
goal. A cross functional group of professionals can
include people from different departments including marketing, sales, finance, operations, human resources, or IT and can range from all employee levels
within the organization. In some cases, cross functional teams can come from outside the company in
the form of suppliers, customers, consultants and
partners.

Managing a cross functional team

Cross functional development teams generally
function as self directed groups that are assigned
tasks unique to their expertise. However, as a manager you are required to keep tabs on all groups within the project and ensure that the teams are working
in sync. One of the biggest benefits of cross functional development teams is the promotion of creative,
innovative and out of the box solutions. Since members from different expertise approach a single task
in different ways, you can take advantage of multiple
perspectives to the same problem and reach the best
solution. In todays competitive business world, innovation is given importance as it can give your business a competitive advantage.
With cross functional development projects, you
can initiate a creative collaboration. These teams

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are equally useful for both special projects as well

as day-to-day business processes within the organization. While the end benefits of a cross functioning
team are well worth the effort, managing and leading
the team can become a challenge. If you are planning
on leading a cross functional team, it is important to
have enough working knowledge of all processes to
communicate, understand and lead the team to find
solutions. Apart from directing multiple team members in various disciplines, leaders are also required
to channel variations of input into a single consolidated output.

Benefits of managing cross functional teams

Self directed teams of cross functional professionals have become more influential in the decision
making process in many business structures. It has
managed to change several traditional business processes by making decision making a multi-directional
process. Instead of channeling the process in just one
direction, businesses today are choosing to diversify to enhance the deliberation and decision making
process. Cross functional teams provide a bigger
scope for information with greater depth, helping the
business reach larger demographics. Additionally,
todays decision making process is less goal dominated and focuses on making the best choice with multiple perspectives.

52

How to Use Business

Development Projects
as a Learning
Opportunity
Every organization has a business unit that solely
caters to business development, a section that creates long-term plans for profitability and growth.
Roughly divided into three main objectives, business
development projects are executed to fulfill one or
more of these purposes. The three pillars of business
development projects include increasing customer
base and its value, establishing and expanding the
business in new markets, and creating lasting and
meaningful partnerships with clients, other businesses, or customers.
If you want to become successful at business development, it is important to foster a number of
qualities and master roles in marketing, sales, networking, negotiations, contract review, as well as
project management. Working with business development projects provides you with a world of experience when you deal with a multitude of business
units within the organization. Another reason why
business development projects are exciting and educational is because these projects affect the growth of
the business and are based on the recent market and
business trends.

Putting business development into practice

Regardless of the niche or size of your company,
building a business development program is a core
area in building the growth strategy. Even if your
company is a start-up or recently established, it is a
good idea to employ at least one professional to handle business development. The ideal candidate for
business development is someone who is well con-

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nected to the marketing and sales departments of

your company. A detail-oriented, smart, motivated,
and enthusiastic person can best handle business development as they can effectively sell your companys
products.

Research and development for business

development
One of the most important skills you will pick up
working with business development projects is that
of research. Before you plan your strategies for the
companys growth, ensure that you understand the
industry, its clockwork and the current trends. To
gain a stronger hand over research, start by figuring
out the current state of the industry, competition, external threats, current sales, business opportunities,
and potential use of new technologies.

Analysis of data from your research

After you have gathered essential data and information on current and future trends, you should
move on to analyzing it. Start by identifying the best
opportunities to increase sales or find new customer
markets. Ensure to make important considerations
like competitions, demographics, market opportunities, return on investment, core strategies and the
reason as to why this niche would prove to be profitable. You should also evaluate your core product and
service model to determine whether or not it caters
to the customers needs and gives them something
original.

53

Creating Commitment
in Internal
Development Projects
To ensure the success of any project whether internal or external, commitment from the team is important. When your team holds the project in high regard and gives the project adequate time and effort,
they are committed to the success of the project. If
you are planning an internal development project
for your company, building commitment from your
team and employees is essential. Committed individuals ensure that they follow-through and stick with
the project to generate momentum and finish the job
as intended.

What makes commitment so important?

Creating commitment within a group or an organization is akin to strengthening its core. Commitment
among employees and core members has many benefits including an increase in efficiency and cooperation. If your group acts as a single entity, working
in unison, you are more likely to generate profitable
results. Committed employees also ensure that the
project does not lose momentum and power through
difficult times. There are higher levels of cooperation
in teams that consist of committed and determined
individuals.
While working together on the same project, individuals often find efficient methods of achieving
results. They cooperate to figure out better strategies
and correct any mistakes made during the planning
or execution process.

Thinking Portfolio

When can you build commitment?

Creating a sense of commitment and responsibility among employees is not a one-step process but a
recurring one. When teams cooperate and take decisions as a group, the employees tend to feel valued
and go the extra mile to show their commitment.
Overcoming obstacles, working through project conflicts, and appreciating each others contribution can
strengthen the core team and increase their chances
of success. Additionally, respecting the project manager and cooperating with each member of the group
brings better results, rather than indulging in petty
arguments and highlighting others mistakes.

How you can build commitment

Groups that learn from their previous setbacks
and mistakes in an unbiased manner are likely to
succeed, as the team members try not to repeat the
same mistakes. A great way to bring a group together
and build a sense of commitment is to highlight the
goals of the project, your vision, the time invested in
completing the project, as well as the purpose of the
project.
After presenting your project to the intended core
team, you should move on to individual and collective responsibilities and highlight the importance of
each member of the core team. When employees understand their role clearly, you can expect them to
show enthusiasm, cooperation, and commitment to
your internal development project.

54

Identifying the
Business Benefits of
an IT Project
To be successful, all business projects should have
a clear objective, practical implementation, and deep
understanding of all the related costs and benefits
of the project. While it may seem relatively simple,
understanding and defining business benefits can
be tricky sometimes. To break down the concept in
a simple and comprehensible way, business benefits
can be divided into three major types soft benefits,
hard benefits, and productivity.

Determining and measuring hard benefits

These benefits include measurable firm commitments in terms of savings or revenue. Your business manager may claim hard benefits due to an
increase in revenue or savings. He may make additional changes to the project, like increasing revenue
growth by increasing sales and expanding market
shares. Additionally, other changes like cost reduction in terms of electricity and other resources, and
eliminating unnecessary employee positions can be
made.

Understanding the soft benefits

Soft benefits are usually anticipated benefits in
any business project, and are generally not accompanied by solid statistics. These benefits sometimes
carry a small amount of risk, because of which business managers are hesitant to make adjustments in
the budget. If savings or revenues are based on unsubstantiated estimates or educated guesses, business managers may not prefer soft benefits. Howev-

Thinking Portfolio

er, they do provide considerably in terms of benefits.

An important type of soft benefit is cost avoidance,
an automated process that allows businesses to increase processed transactions without increasing the
headcount. Although you may not have made any
adjustments to your current budget, productivity
improves without incurring any additional expenses. This makes cost avoidance an important benefit.
Risk-oriented benefits for business projects are considered in terms of anticipated growth, whether for
revenue increase, cost reduction, personnel reduction, or cost avoidance.

Increasing productivity
IT projects mainly consist of automating manual
business processes, and streamlining or simplifying
complex ones. When fewer employees and lesser
time are required to complete a job or to generate
good results, you are increasing productivity within
your organization. Productivity benefits are considered as reduction, since the effort required to complete a task is greatly reduced. Generally, full-time
equivalents (FTEs) work about 2,000 hours a year.
Productivity is generally considered as a soft benefit, since increase in productivity cannot always be
achieved in the same way as revenue generation.
Many times, your company may be unable to cut
down on employees or resources, which in turn limits the productivity. But an increase in productivity is
considered as a benefit because it reduces overtime,
headcount, and subsequent costs.

55

6 Things that
Successful Project
Managers do

Project management doesnt end with handing out

responsibilities and organizing meetings. Nor should
it mean you are the one fixing the tiniest of issues that
crop up. Good project managers know how to enable,
empower and manage their teams to efficiently deliver business driven goals.

cusing on the bigger picture. Have regular meetings

so you are in the loop but do not get into the nitty
gritty. Put the right people on the job and dont second guess them.

Have a business driven approach

Online project management tools are an effective

way to monitor the team and milestones. Know what
technology tools are available and pick the right software for your needs. Ensure you know the system inside out and use it to improve project efficiency and
timeliness. Remember, collaborative software cant
do your job for you. A good project manager doesnt
substitute tools for human interaction. Use it as a
complementary tool.

A great project manager doesnt just need good

business acumen, he needs to be business focused.
Motivated by the strategy of the organization and
aligned to customer needs. Understanding business
drivers helps project managers achieve better success rates. Ensure you completely understand project
objectives. Identify risks upfront. Have plans in place
to limit risk and action plans to manage each eventuality. Periodically review.

Oversee, dont micromanage

While it can be tempting to get involved in the details, a good project manager steers clear, instead fo-

Thinking Portfolio

Set systems in place, dont be afraid to use

tools

Set clear goals, hold people accountable

Set regular milestones that act as markers to tell
you when your project goes off track. This allows you
to correct course before things flare up. Clearly set
56

out responsibilities from the start and dont leave

room for speculation. When something goes wrong,
a successful project manager knows exactly who to
hold accountable. Monitor and take action when
needed.

Be assertive

the chain. Play on peoples strengths and give them

guidance when needed. Cultivate an atmosphere that
is open and where communication is encouraged.
This will reduce chances of a problem going unreported and will help you be more responsive to the
customer.

There is nothing worse than a project manager

who doesnt have the respect of his team. Being able
to assert yourself in meetings with stakeholders is vital. If you need to push back on unrealistic time-lines
or expectations of senior management, you must be
able to do so. Resolving challenges during a project
requires firm, decisive action. Dont sit back and wait
for a solution to present itself.

Get everyone on board

Having the buy-in of all stakeholders is central to
project success. Work your interpersonal skills to the
bone. Ensure team members have healthy working
relationships. Establish a good rapport up and down

Thinking Portfolio

57

What Makes Women

the Best Project
Managers
Project Management a largely male dominated
domain until recently, is now seeing more and more
well qualified women taking the helm.

Being great communicators

varied point of view can be critical in project management. Sometimes, what seems an unnecessary
stretch on the surface of it, may turn out to be very
crucial as a business driver.

Keeping it simple

Women can use their communication skills to get

an edge over men in project management. Being assertive without coming off as abrasive, and using gentle persuasion to get buy-in from senior management
helps the team and PMO. Regular conversations with
stakeholders help the PMO align to business goals
and get everyone on board. It also helps them keep
lines of communication open with team members.

By steering clear of technical jargon designed to

impress superiors and subordinates, a women project manager is able to simplify the complex. There
is little scope for misinterpretation if things are kept
straightforward. This way, discussions tend to be
more efficient and everyone has a clear, common
sense of purpose.

Creating an environment for people to thrive

Multitasking

Women project managers are able to groom their

teams well. Their innate ability to nurture and help
their teams build up their skills translates to better
career growth for individuals. Providing them with
the right inputs and training that they require, as and
when they need it is important. Collaborative projects tend to work well with women leaders. They are
able to get people together to work towards a shared
purpose. This means less project delays and better
on-time performance.

Women are inherently good multi-taskers, having

done this on a daily basis all their working lives
juggling home and work. Project managers can use
this skill to handle multiple deliverable and process
myriad project requirements all together.

Seeing the other side

Women in general, are believed to be more sensitive and empathetic. Female project managers
can use this to their advantage. A successful project
manager has the ability to look at things from a macro perspective. Understanding the other side or a

Thinking Portfolio

Dealing with challenges

A non-judgmental atmosphere helps the team be
open about their needs and challenges. An astute
women project manager might actually uncover simmering problems before they turn into raging fires.
A high emotional quotient helps spot interpersonal
conflict before it flares up. Combined with good communication skills, a woman PM can help tackle issues
quicker and manage risk better.

58

The Critical Role of

a Project Manager
Today project management is fast becoming a necessity for every business organization in all industries. So, the role of a project manager is gaining immense importance and is becoming a chosen career
path among several young professionals. Those professionals who have taken up project manager roles
usually have skills that can be utilized in all kinds of
industries, right from IT to FMCG to other business
services.

Project Manager skills

Every project undertaken by a business organization is very crucial as it requires leadership skills and
expertise of the manager handling the particular project. Thus, the role of the project manager in aligning
IT goals and business objectives and meeting timelines for completing the project is very crucial .There
is a set of skills that are required to be possessed by
him as he takes the lead in a project.
One of the primary skills required to be a successful project manager is strong communication and excellent organizational qualities. You should be able
to handle multiple activities and tasks at the same
time and have a clear understanding of the roles of
various departments across the entire organization.
As you decide to become a project manager, you
must try and get the correct education for the role.
There is no specific degree or qualification that defines the role of a project manager. However, you do
need to have some sort of specialization and training
in the particular field that you wish to work in. Certification from the industry will lend you a competitive

Thinking Portfolio

edge in getting the best jobs available in the profession.

Why is the Project Manager role so vital?

Here is a look at the various tasks that need to be undertaken by a project manager in executing a project:

A project manager needs to establish the direction

and execute the management of the entire project.

She needs to clearly define, lay plans and manage

the scope of the particular project for his entire
team

She needs to undertake a cost and time analysis

with regards to the project. This includes creating
a schedule, determining time-lines, distributing
resources and budgeting .

The project manager also needs to pay close attention to the various quality aspects of the project including the process itself. She has to set
various parameters for quality measurement at
regular intervals.

A manager also needs to pay attention to the people working in his team by encouraging and motivating them from time to time so that everybody
moves in the right direction.

59

The Deadly Sins of

Project Management
The success of an organization depends upon the
quality of project it is able to undertake and deliver
successfully on schedule. Sometimes even with the
best of efforts and intentions projects get delayed or
do not work the way client wants them to resulting
in disrepute to organization and team members. So
what is the difference between success and failure
and what measures should an organization take to
complete every project successfully? Both professionally managed private organizations and bureaucratically managed public organizations are vulnerable to project failure and in current scenario of tough
competition from local and global brands the situation has become more risky

Six deadly sins of project management

1. Inexperienced project managers The success of every project is determined by the experience
of project manager assigned to complete it. If he/she
does not have the required qualifications or experience to manage people and resources they will not be
able to convey client requirement effectively leading
to slow down at every stage due to mistakes.
2. Poor training Every organization and its managers should have specific rules about work culture
and deadlines which make it easier for people to
communicate during projects. Formal work training
should be a vital part of every business as rate of success and failure between trained and untrained project teams is nearly 70 percent.

Thinking Portfolio

3. Lack of formal project management process

Every project should have a structured management process for project managers to track success at
each level and plug loopholes in work. A systematic
work schedule ensures that all tasks flow seamlessly
into each other and can be measured at each level.
Without a formal project process things will be done
in a chaotic manner and collating everything at the
end will be a messy affair.
4. Poor communication Instead of having a
hit or miss communication channel leading to misunderstanding and shifting of responsibilities upon
each other have a formal channel of communication.
This will ensure that all team members are in sync
and there are no chances of miscommunication or
missing information within the ranks.
5. Fluctuating expectations Draw out a clear
delivery schedule and get acceptance from all stakeholders to avoid problems during final delivery.
Avoid changing work schedules and commands on a
regular basis as this will lead to uncertainty within
the team.
6. Unreasonable deadlines Have realistic project schedules and keep them instead of accepting
what clients blindly without understanding your limitations. Though taking on a challenging project and
trying to complete it on time is an exciting prospect
it, abnormally tight deadlines can be detrimental to
an organizations reputation.
60

Six Lessons that

Project Managers
Could Learn from
Elephants
Elephants are majestic creatures that have remained mysterious to humans though they have been
domesticated thousands of years ago. Tales of their
bravery and intelligence have been carried through
generations which can teach us a few things about
community life. Startups with brilliant plans and experienced project managers sometimes fail to implement their tasks or time or fail to recognize business
opportunities and fall behind others. Here are a few
lessons that project managers can learn from these
intelligent animals who have managed to survive for
centuries in the midst of harsh environmental changes and pressure from human settlements.
1. Learning from mentors Like a calf learns its
first lessons humbly from its mother and other senior cow elephants in the herd and hones its survival
instincts, project manager should also display humility before experts more experienced than them.
Expertise and experience of seniors will help project
manager avoid problems and maximize potential of
success.
2. Awaiting recognition The present trend
among people is to work hard and achieve success
at a faster pace to be considered as achievers in society and workplace. In this thirst for recognition and
quick fame people fail to take time to appreciate efforts of others which have helped to bring them to
this level. The ideal work culture should be to let your
work speak for itself instead of hankering after glory.

Thinking Portfolio

3. Developing a thick skin People in general lack

a healthy attitude towards criticism and comparison
and tend to develop negative reactions. The right approach would be to develop and thick skin like an elephant which is extremely tough and take criticism in
a positive manner to improve work standard and use
it as an enriching experience.
4. Optimal use of strength Just as an elephant
uses its massive strength to pull a tiny shrub or a
large tree with the same deftness a project manager
also should know where to use their expertise. Each
individual is endowed with strength and ability to
perform tasks and project manager has to recognize
these abilities of team members and put them to effective use.
5. Effective communication Elephants communicate with each other continuously to stay in
touch and also to discuss about vegetation and water
resources. In digital age man has much more tools
of communication in hand to share ideas and convey
progress reports. The key lies in sharing details at appropriate times to manage project progress.
6. Surviving against adversity As firms grow
and expand there will be bigger challenges for project managers as they will have to compete against
bigger brands and people more experienced than
themselves. Strong managers have to develop survival instinct to give a fair fight to all opponents and
complete project successfully.
61

5 Questions Business
Owner Should Ask
About a Project
Business Case
Project management is all about understanding
what the client wants and delivering it as expected.
To understand, a project business owner or manager must not hesitate to ask questions. Whether you
are an IT business project management consultant or
company catering to the needs to diverse clients from
across industries, here are 5 questions that you must
ask your client to achieve success.

What does the business aim to achieve with

the project?
Before you accept a business project case, you
need to ask the client what they wish to achieve with
this project. Every business project has specific requirements and is aimed to achieve a specific goal.
Only if you know what the goal is will you be able to
create a plan, choose a methodology and use the right
resources that will take you through the right path.
The biggest risk you would take by not asking this
question is working towards with something that no
one really wants.

What resources do we have?

Once you know what your goal is, your next question should be about the resources. What resources
do you have manpower, technology, space, and
permissions etc to get started with the project? No
matter how good your business case plan is, you will
not be able to go through with it unless you have the
right resources.

What are potential roadblocks to this project?

Thinking Portfolio

Every project comes with its set of risks. So what

are the possible risks and roadblocks to your project? Learning about them will enable you to develop
strategies to get around them or thwart them from
preventing your projects progress. Discuss the possible risks and barriers to the project with the client
and always keep them in loop. Sometimes the business owner may have the solutions you need to go
around these roadblocks.

What are the methodologies I can apply for

this project?
Every business project case is different from the
other. Therefore the methods and strategies you use
for project development will also differ. The next
question should be about what kind of strategies or
methodologies you must apply in order to make the
project a success.

How does the success or failure of the project

affect the business?
This is perhaps the most important question you
must ask. There is always a possibility that the project can go awry and fail in achieving the results you
expect it to. The question is can the business afford
it? How bad will the consequences be if the project
fails? And how can you minimize the damages should
the project be unsuccessful.
Obviously, you will not start on such a negative
premise, but knowing the consequences the failure of
the project has on the business will help you develop
a contingency plan that can reduce the losses.
62

The Benefits of
Following Up on a
Completed Business
Project
Despite being an important step in any venture,
follow-up on completed business projects are often
overlooked. After a project has been completed, follow up is an essential component in the evaluation
and monitoring phases. Post-completion, follow up
ensures the sustainability of the project, and allows
you to monitor and communicate the developments.
You can perform follow up by spinning off new projects based on the original, or conduct internal supervision to continually monitor the progress and
make necessary improvements.

Why should you follow up?

Following up on a completed project can serve
many purposes and provide a number of benefits.
One of the main purposes of following up on a business project is to control the impact and functions of
the project, through verification and implementation.
It is also important to maintain flexibility in decision
making and using an adaptive approach. This can be
achieved through feedback from regulatory agencies,
and project managers in charge of the venture.
Another key purpose to follow up is to improve
technical as well as scientific expertise, especially if
the projects were based on specific scientific methods. You can also evaluate the efficacy and utility of
these methods through different tasks, better understand them, and adopt newer technologies. This form
of follow up helps improve the overall quality of the
project. Follow up is also necessary to create public
awareness for different projects and evaluate the response gathered by the intended demographic.

Thinking Portfolio

Supervising follow up on completed business

projects
Following up on your project allows you to bridge
the gap between planning and implementation of
ongoing and future ventures. This practice not only
determines and predicts the consequences of the
project, but also provides your company the opportunity to evaluate the negative effects. You can start a
follow up supervision program at your company with
six simple steps. Start by determining the scope and
needs of the follow up, and understand the goals and
objectives you intend to accomplish with the program.
Next, define the time plan, methodologies, as well
as the tools you will use to conduct follow up. These
tools and resources can include anything from interviews with stakeholders, tests, visiting the project
site, and any other activity relevant to your project.
After you have determined the necessities of the program, move to financing the follow up. After your
budget is ready, assign responsibilities and roles to
different members of your group. After your employees have completed their tasks, gather and evaluate
the data to represent them in a comprehensive report.

63

Identifying the
Business Benefits of
an IT Project
To be successful, all business projects should have
a clear objective, practical implementation, and deep
understanding of all the related costs and benefits
of the project. While it may seem relatively simple,
understanding and defining business benefits can
be tricky sometimes. To break down the concept in
a simple and comprehensible way, business benefits
can be divided into three major types soft benefits,
hard benefits, and productivity.

Determining and measuring hard benefits

These benefits include measurable firm commitments in terms of savings or revenue. Your business manager may claim hard benefits due to an
increase in revenue or savings. He may make additional changes to the project, like increasing revenue
growth by increasing sales and expanding market
shares. Additionally, other changes like cost reduction in terms of electricity and other resources, and
eliminating unnecessary employee positions can be
made.

Understanding the soft benefits

Soft benefits are usually anticipated benefits in
any business project, and are generally not accompanied by solid statistics. These benefits sometimes
carry a small amount of risk, because of which business managers are hesitant to make adjustments in
the budget. If savings or revenues are based on unsubstantiated estimates or educated guesses, business managers may not prefer soft benefits. However, they do provide considerably in terms of benefits.

Thinking Portfolio

An important type of soft benefit is cost avoidance,

an automated process that allows businesses to increase processed transactions without increasing the
headcount. Although you may not have made any
adjustments to your current budget, productivity
improves without incurring any additional expenses. This makes cost avoidance an important benefit.
Risk-oriented benefits for business projects are considered in terms of anticipated growth, whether for
revenue increase, cost reduction, personnel reduction, or cost avoidance.

Increasing productivity
IT projects mainly consist of automating manual
business processes, and streamlining or simplifying
complex ones. When fewer employees and lesser
time are required to complete a job or to generate
good results, you are increasing productivity within
your organization. Productivity benefits are considered as reduction, since the effort required to complete a task is greatly reduced. Generally, full-time
equivalents (FTEs) work about 2,000 hours a year.
Productivity is generally considered as a soft benefit, since increase in productivity cannot always be
achieved in the same way as revenue generation.
Many times, your company may be unable to cut
down on employees or resources, which in turn limits the productivity. But an increase in productivity is
considered as a benefit because it reduces overtime,
headcount, and subsequent costs.

64

Project resource
management
problems are side
effects of other
issues (TOP 5
perspectives)

1. Resource management is not a solution for

productivity

for reacting to changes in predictions rather than a

method for making the predictions themselves.

Productivity is a common objective of resource

management. While productivity is an appropriate
measure of operational efficiency, it should not be
seen as the focus of resource management. In fact,
resource management is often quite far removed
from the input-output ratio focused on producing the
maximum amount of satisfactory output in the least
amount of time. This often calls for changes in key
processes rather than resource management.

3. Other problems may lie behind challenges

to resource management

2. Resource management is not a solution for

project predictability
Predictability is achieved through an understanding of changes in the operating environment and customer needs. If operations are managed and predicted from a resource-oriented perspective, the focus
will shift to the issue of how to produce goods and
services that meet expectations and requirements.
In this sense, resource management is a mechanism

Thinking Portfolio

A common problem is that one key person is required to work on too many projects simultaneously. In such cases the problem is not one of resources,
but of decision-making. The resource problem can be
mitigated by starting fewer projects. It should also
be noted that a greater focus on change management
could likely eliminate 80% of problems, which means
that it is more effective to invest in improving change
management rather than spend time and money on
managing problems. Perhaps a significant proportion of resource management problems can be solved
simply by starting fewer projects?

4. Resource management fails to produce the

expected benefits
Resource management yields different benefits in

65

different areas. In internal development projects, it

can help provide a deeper understanding of the share
of internal resources of annual development investments in relation to cash flow and delivery projects.
In many cases, resource management needs to be
linked to knowledge management and personnel expenses. The expected benefits will not be achieved
without these links to HR and financial management. Another frequent problem is failing to define
the goals for developing resource management and
the relevant metrics used to gauge benefits. Has your
organization defined effective metrics for measuring
benefits?

cases the assessment of monthly rather than daily

figures is sufficient. It is worth remembering that if
resource management at the monthly level requires
one unit of a given resource, reliable resource management at the weekly level requires 10 units of the
same and resource management at the daily level requires 100 units. It should also be noted that the cost
of resource management tools represents less than
5% of the total, while the life cycle costs of resource
management represent 95%. It is important to have
a clear business case for resource management. The
monthly level is often the most effective time span
for decision-making and corrective action.

5. The implementation of resource

management is too focused on the individual
level
Resource management is often implemented all
the way to the level of the individual employee. However, analyzing the situation at the level of individual working days is not always necessary. In many

Thinking Portfolio

66

IT vs Corporate
Project Portfolios
My first encounter with Project Portfolio Management (PPM) sprung from the needs of our clients IT
departments. They were inundated with all sorts of
development projects. Some were directly attributable to the IT department, but the majority of the initiatives came from business units. The solution was to
create an IT project portfolio which included projects
that the IT department was involved in. Soon it became evident that almost all projects had a connection to IT.
IT departments have often been the prime movers
in PPM because they try to optimize the use of their
limited resources. Prioritizing projects is one of their
most essential portfolio management tasks. Prioritization happens at least once a year during budgeting,
but in the ever-accelerating pace of change project
decisions must be done constantly.
There are basically two types of criteria for project decision-making: strategic and operational. My
experience is that the IT managements view of PPM
is more often operational than strategic. Their main
concerns are:

How to spend investment money in different

technologies and solutions,

How to manage resources so that the most critical

projects can be done in time and budget

Internal customers are not satisfied if project

spending is dictated too much by the capabilities
of their IT department. They expect a more business-oriented decision process.

Thinking Portfolio

Many of our corporate IT clients have identified

the dilemma and have tried to incorporate business
and strategy-related criteria in their project portfolio. They can, for example, try to evaluate how projects contribute to achieving the companys strategic
goals. They are also able to visualize how balanced
the portfolio is according to selected business criteria.
We have seen how the initiative of the IT department to take the project portfolio to a more strategic
level has lead to an increased interest in the business
owners of the IM systems. They have concluded that
all internal development would benefit from the use
of PPM and want to implement it corporation-wide.
This implies that every project must be evaluated using the same corporate criteria.
Are there grounds for having separate IT project
portfolios? Some of our PPM clients have solved the
question by having a portfolio structure that allows
augmented content for IT. The enterprise architecture-related criteria are used corporate-wide, while
the IT management specific content is visible to those
who are directly involved in IT decisions.

67

How PMO Is Adding

Value to a Project
Manager
The Project Management Office is slowly making its way to mainstream project management. Although a number of companies are opening up their
PMOs, not all have been able to truly reach their full
potential. Companies that have actually benefited
from project management offices are those which
had the PMO and the project manager working in
sync. PMOs can add significant value to the work that
project managers do, but only when the processes are
followed as defined.
Here is how PMO can add value to a project managers role in a company.

PMO improves the chances of success

With the implementation of PMOs, the probability of a project failing has gone down significantly,
project managers have noted. Just as the failure of a
project can impact the project managers reputation
as well as credibility in a negative way, success of the
project can boost his or her standing in the company.

Delivery under budget made possible

At a time when completing and delivering the project without exceeding the budget is difficult, PMO
enables project managers to deliver their projects
well under budget, according to some studies. The
standards that the PMO creates and maintains within the business are what make it possible for project
managers to deliver the project under budget.

Reduced cycle time, more projects to handle

PMO can make multi-tasking better which ul-

Thinking Portfolio

timately leads to reduced project cycle times. With

standardized project processes, teams will be able to
deliver real results in terms of the overall project cycle time. This means the business can handle more
projects and deliver quality work in less time.

Better productivity
PMO makes it possible to employ resources in a
cost0effective manner. Proper allocation of resources will enable each and every member of the project
to deliver their best, which eventually will improve
overall productivity in the company. Not only can
PMO improve productivity, but it can do so while ensuring that the project gets the necessary attention
and resources it needs for completion.

Standardize processes
PMO can standardize the methodologies and process that make the project managers job a lot simpler, but no less significant. Standardized processes imply consistent performance and also make IT
project portfolio management more effective. The
PMO supports and delivers the standards and tools
that the project manager also contributes to, so that
the company can perform and deliver better results.
Also, as mentioned earlier, standardized processes
68

3. Project Risk Management

70

Making Decisions Based on a Good Business Case

71

Manage your Business Environment Risks with Project Portfolio

73

Mastering Risks with PPM

74

IT Portfolio Management Could Be Your Early Warning System

75

Riskiness as a viewpoint for categorizing projects

76

How to get comparable risk estimates

77

When Should You Consider Terminating An IT Project Prematurely?

78

Top Mistakes in Project Portfolio Management

79

Top 6 Critical Security Issues for a PMO

80

Today is also a good day to do the project portfolio stress test

81

Aligning IT Projects and Strategies through Project Portfolio Management

82

Project Portfolio Management Mistakes that You Should Avoid

Making Decisions
Based on a Good
Business Case
Any business must make a decision which will ultimately produce some kind of product that can be
either goods or services. An important decision can
affect the company, the products and its employees.

Plant: The decision to invest in new factories, or

in upgrading the present ones

Products: The decision to start new lines

People: The decision to invest in the form of development and training

Most decisions are dependent upon its predictability. A distinction exists between non-programmed
and programmed decisions. The programmed decisions are routine, straightforward and repetitive
and can be managed by formal patterns, like stock
re-ordering by the company. In contrast, non-programmed decisions are consequential, novel and unstructured. There is no single solution for managing
the situations that have not been encountered earlier. In general, three levels exist when it comes to
decision making within a company.
1. Short term operating control decisions:
These involve frequent predictable and short term
operations.
2. Periodic control decisions: They are made
less often and concerns the monitoring of how
effectively the organization is when it comes to
manage its resources. To give an example, these
can include review of the pricing strategies ap-

Thinking Portfolio

plicable for a few products, and the reviewing of

problems which occur in a continuing company
budget. These also include the re-appraisal of
methods of using the sales force. These kind of
decision involves checking and rectifying problems that are concerned with meeting the company goals.
3. Strategic decisions: These decisions concern
the overall strategy. They frequently need substantial utilization of judgment by group or person who are entrusted with making such decisions. This is due to the fact that such decisions
will invariably require considerable analysis, and
important information chunks will often be missing, therefore presenting the involvement of risk.
Such decisions could involve new product development, investment in new marketing strategies
or new plants.

Decision Trees
These are named like that as there is a way they
separate into a number of branches or outcomes
from the original stem or decision. These trees are
techniques for tracing all known outcomes when it
comes to a specific decision so that all the possible
consequences can be drawn out.
In any decision tree, the points at which the decisions are made are represented through squares
or decision forks. The points where the probability
or chance comes into effect are represented through
circles.
70

Manage your
Business
Environment
Risks with Project
Portfolio

A business is subject to multiple environmental

risks including market, legal, operational and strategic risk as well as risk from factors like governance
and hazards like terrorism, civil unrest and more. An
effective Project Portfolio Management (PPM) strategy can help a business be prepared for multiple contingencies, allowing the management team to make
more informed decisions. Project Portfolio Risk
management can help identify some of these risks in
advance to determine what the likely impediments to
successful project completion are likely to be.

The benefits
Managing business environment risks with the
project portfolio empowers companies to be able to
negotiate fair contracts, make better decisions, and
even improve collaboration between teams. Well
managed portfolios with robust risk assessment
plans are less likely to face project delays or budget
overruns.
Knowing the possible financial impact of a cer-

Thinking Portfolio

tain risk factor, as well as estimating the likelihood

of this event can help with more accurate estimates
of project ROI (return on investment). PPM software
estimates can also help in cost benefit analysis vis a
vis environmental risks. What-if scenarios can help
with more accurate estimates. For instance, an unstable economic environment, and a prolonged recession can result in overcapacity in the market. This
increased competition drives prices down.
A robust PPM strategy can enable a business to react to market pressures quickly and price products
competitively in the face of competition. It can also
give a business better control over price fluctuations
across the supply chain. Internal transfer of production to low cost locations becomes possible if this
contingency plan has been worked out in advance.
A change in the business environment, from an increase in input costs that can negatively impact profit margins, to an environmental calamity that can
hamper projects, are contingencies that need to be
planned for. Managing this environmental risk well
71

improves the ability of a business to be agile and of

the management to take quick decisions so that projects may be successfully completed or alternative
measures taken.

Implementation of a sound risk management

strategy for the project portfolio
A stepwise approach to assessing and controlling
project risks must be followed:

Identifying possible risks: This step may require

brainstorming to visualize all possible risks in the
business environment from market risks to legal
and environmental risks. Background research on
recent events and regulatory changes must also be
taken into account.

Analyzing the risks: Each risk factor must be explored in detail to see the likelihood of its occurrence and the outcomes if it does happen.

Managing the risk: This step requires the team to

look at how the company would handle a particu-

Thinking Portfolio

lar event.

Periodic reviews
Identifying portfolio risk at a project as well as
portfolio level are core to a successful PPM strategy.
Periodic risk assessments/reviews are needed to factor in new developments and take corrective action
quickly.

72

Mastering Risks with

PPM
Well-designed project portfolio management
(PPM) tools and methodologies go a long way in
helping an organization cope with multiple projects,
deadlines and gauging of performance levels. Risk
management is an invariable aspect of PPM, and
without the former, PPM will fall flat.

Varieties of risks
To understand how to master risks, one must understand what constitutes a strategic risk. Simply
put, it is a system of analyzing potential opportunities or problems which are crucial to the organization. There are many kinds of risks that could affect
projects, including market risks, strategic risks, operational risks, legal risks and risks from external
sources. While project risk management is based on
probability and linear events and reactions, strategic
risks take into consideration complexities of organizations, systems and external environments. Strategic risks need greater focus on management of opportunities and dont respond to tools of probability.
Strategic risks are present at the programs, portfolio,
operations and projects levels.

Good communication matters

ization and PPM team are looking for would help in

the search for risks or opportunities.
Risks should be split into branches where all the
categories or details are looked into, so as to analyze
the big picture. How the risk might unravel itself later should be understood in great detail. Other techniques that can be employed are concept mapping,
pattern recognition, and spotting problems beforehand. Carrying out frequent reviews and updates are
crucial tools of risk management and the whole staff
should be involved. If all these efforts are made part
of an everyday routine, overheads can be minimized.

Ways to manage risk

There are four ways to manage a risk that has been
identified within an organization. They include acceptance, avoidance, shifting and mitigation. Acceptance does not require any further steps and seems
to be the easiest. Avoidance comes into play when
one particular vendor is replaced with another, for
instance. Shifting is all about transfering a risk to a
third party, essentially outsourcing a task to someone with expertise. Risk mitigation would mean taking up programs or steps that can lower the probability of risk.

Effective strategic risk management involves

several steps. Checking the kind of communication
present in an organization is a vital element. There
should be a platform for debate and a culture of
openness. The team should be able to take ownership
of the risk process as a collective unit. Helping all the
staff members understand what it is that the organ-

Thinking Portfolio

73

IT Portfolio
Management Could
Be Your Early
Warning System
The crux of IT Portfolio Management lies in analyzing the right areas/projects a business should
invest in, to gain maximum Return On Investment
(ROI). The multi-layered methodology for implementing IT Portfolio Management ensures that resources, such as financial and human, are invested
in projects which deserve them the most based on
the value and criticality of each project towards the
smooth functioning of the business as a whole. It
is the effective investment of the organizational resources that result in building and sustaining projects that reap maximum ROI for the business and
also give organizations the competitive edge to excel
in the respective business areas.

Risk Profile Analysis

A very important aspect of IT Portfolio Management lies in the Risk Management and Mitigation
part of the process. As a part of the whole process
of managing the portfolio, it is imperative to analyze
the risks involved in each venture or project that a
business undertakes. It not only helps in determining
the potential threats to successful completion of any
project but also helps the organization to prepare itself for such eventualities by having a mitigation plan
in process.

IT Portfolio Management Strategic Decision

Making Tool
For the overall organization, IT Portfolio Management can provide clear data on the investments made
on various projects and help the management make

Thinking Portfolio

strategic financial decisions at the right time. At

any given point in time, a well managed IT portfolio
should be able to give clear understanding of the ROI
and risks involved in any of the project investments
made by the organization. Such a system can help an
organization take strategic and informed decisions
such as stalling the riskier than anticipated projects,
re-budgeting for projects which need financial boost
as their ROI is higher than anticipated and so on.
An effectively implemented IT Portfolio Management system serves a crucial role in an organization
by providing critical information and raising timely
flags to take corrective measures while arresting any
eventuality which may cost an organization dearly, if
ignored in the absence of any such governance model. Thus, it is important that IT Portfolio is managed
by following the industry standard methodology that
can be tailored for each organization depending on
its business model and requirements. IT portfolio
management provides the much needed governance
for the investments made by the organization and
plays a crucial role in not only maximizing the profitability of each business unit but also helps the organization as a whole gain a competitive edge in the
market by being able to deliver on high value projects
each time.
74

Riskiness as a
viewpoint for
categorizing projects
Understanding of the overall risk level of a project is important from several aspects. It can provide
background information of significance for different
decision-making needs. For example, in the early
stages of a bidding process, a company must make
bid preparation decisions. This is often done by comparing and contrasting different options.
Look at the following figure. It presents the estimates of overall risk levels of three different project
options. With respect to their overall risk levels, our
possible reasoning is illustrated by certain animals,
whose characteristics are associated with the overall
risk estimates. The Ant project is equipped with
risks that seemingly can only cause minor disturbing
and insignificant impact. The T-Rex project is rife
with possibilities for a catastrophic problem, but its
occurrence is unlikely. The Lion project is the most
serious one, since likelihood of a disturbingly severe
problems is high.
Generally, this approach of categorization of projects based on their qualities is beneficial. Often, we
tend to use the word project in too loose a manner, blurring the focus of our intent. Thus, it can
be difficult to properly articulate and communicate
the characteristics and qualities of each project in
question. Unfortunately, the project management
textbooks and standards generally omit the categorizations of projects, despite the apparent benefits of
such categorization.
Therefore, I encourage everyone interested in
top-quality risk management solutions to focus
on project categorizations, based on each pro-

Thinking Portfolio

jects riskiness. Such categories can provide vital structuring of data for communication and
further decision-making. This can be of significance particularly for project portfolio management, where the manager constantly needs to understand the positions and priorities of projects.

Figure: Visualizing the overall risk level of three different project options.

75

How to get
comparable risk
estimates
My earlier discussion under the title Riskiness as
a viewpoint for categorizing projects pointed out the
significance of defining and understanding the overall risk level of project, and how this forms a starting
point for categorizing projects, which is necessary
when comparing and contrasting different project
options. Naturally, this is one of the key tasks of project portfolio management.
Credibility of the overall risk estimates is essential, but it can be difficult to achieve. The focused and
measured comparison of risk estimates is one of the
key aspects behind this credibility. Particularly, risk
estimates of projects of interest (typically prepared
by a variety of people) can be challenging when targeting comparable estimates. It is a well-known fact
the individuals can have clearly different understandings of risks, in terms of qualities and resultant
priorities. This makes preparation of comparable estimates a challenging task. Therefore, the methodological soundness is vital in the preparation of overall
risk estimates.
However, results from various psychometric studies are encouraging and helpful in this situation.
These results show that cognitive structuring of risk,
using qualitative terming, is rather similar across nations and irrespective of cultural background. Therefore, the use of carefully selected qualitative terms as
a basis for risk analyses can result in risk estimates
that are sufficiently comparable with one another.
The risk analysis approach of Thinking Portfolio
Risk Analysis has been developed according to the
principles explained above. The terms explaining the

Thinking Portfolio

severity of impact and risk likelihood are each composed of six qualitative ratings. Basically, this approach has shown its potential and gained merits in
numerous cases and earlier applications.
In addition to the comparability aspect, the credibility of overall risk estimates includes additional aspects, as well. These will be covered in my upcoming
discussions.

Figure: Thinking Portfolio Risk Analysis tool uses

of qualitative terming as a basis for targeting comparable estimates

76

When Should You

Consider Terminating
An IT Project
Prematurely?
An IT project manager of a company will have to
take several serious decisions that make or break a
project, or even terminate the project entirely. While
most projects are terminated on completion, some
have to be severed prematurely if certain aspects of
the project are undesirable. Terminating a project
prematurely can result in strained relationships with
the stakeholders, clients, and leave a black mark in
your career. However, such terminations are sometimes necessary.
While the decision of terminating a project has
negative connotations, sometimes they are the
soundest judgments you can make. Project termination is an organized business process like any other
aspect of project management, and it requires clear
communication, detailed discussions with the project management team, and a mutual decision, which
considers the effects of the move on all members of
the organization.

Reasons that lead to unavoidable project

termination
Ranging from technical failure, to lack of support
from the parent organization, there could be many
reasons to terminate a project. Some of them are

Technical snags

Unrealistic, ambiguous specifications or requirements

Drastic changes in project requirements

Lack of planning, risk management or obsolete

results

Inadequate tools, materials and human resources

Lack of support from parent organization

Thinking Portfolio

Natural disasters

Lack of support from management or customers

Miscalculated profit markets i.e. significantly lower profit margins than expected
While the reasons are many, even the process of
terminating a project requires intensive participation by the IT project manager.

Minimizing the ill-effects of premature

project termination
By keeping your company informed of the latest
developments in the project, whether positive or negative, you can minimize the risk of terminating the
project in question.

The project strategy must be communicated within the organization, including reasons as to why
these strategies are being chosen. You should also
determine the conditions in which the project
may or may not support the intended strategies.

It is important to set goals and criteria for project

success as well as project termination. These criteria can be included in terms of budget, schedule
and scope.

Organize open discussions with the board on

confronting the problems and finding solutions for the project. If you are left with no
choice, discuss the termination process.

As a responsible IT project manager, you can take

several steps to ensure that the negative effects and
consequences of a project termination are kept as
low as possible. The key to achieving this feat is clear,
continuous and honest communication.
77

Top Mistakes in
Project Portfolio
Management
Project Portfolio Management is at the heart of the
success of any organization. Any business that has its
PPM in places and corresponding execution tasks to
back it, has got the success recipe right for the most
part. Then again, it isnt as easy as it sounds, as many
businesses cant seem to quite master PPM. Heres a
look at some PPM mistakes that businesses can avoid
to get there.

Emulating best PPM practices without

assessing your business
When it comes to PPM, merely mimicking the industry leaders and their implemented strategies does
not help you make the cut. In fact, most small and
mid-level businesses are not in position to implement
these practices right off the bat. Lets take the example of a mature business versus a start-up; the former
has consistent evaluation protocols to measure how
various projects are impacting the business, while the
latter has to still set up ways to obtain this information whether its resource estimates or ROI, let alone
analyze it. What this means is enterprises will have to
adopt PPM strategies only after getting a fair assessment on their standing.

Thinking in terms of just funds and budgets

does not qualify as a good PM strategy with regards

to the corporate goals. What businesses need to do
is review the requirements for specific projects, and
lay down strategies accordingly, for smooth project
management.

Sidelining risks and returns

Many businesses overlook potential negative developments while managing portfolios. Not weighing
the risks and returns on projects is as good as turning
blind-eye to a potentially bad project.
The one way this issue can be addressed is by
classifying projects into separate groups, and seeing
where they stand with respect to the broader business
goals. For instance, key projects would translate to
ones that are essential to keep your enterprise afloat,
while support projects are necessary but do not have
a crucial role to play when it comes to your corporate
success. Then again, some projects may come under
strategic category, which have a potential to drive
your business forward in the future. This type of a
clear assessment should help evaluate returns in the
long-term and short-term, and watch out for potential risks.

Funds and budgets are among the first few attributes that businesses use as a benchmark to make a
priority list. So what project management comes
down to is prioritizing projects that have adequate
funds, while the ones without funds are just postponed. When you look at the big picture, this clearly

Thinking Portfolio

78

Top 6 Critical
Security Issues for a
PMO
The project management office staff faces security
theft issues from the time a project is accepted till
the time it is delivered and as it passes through various stages of development. Projects in every industry be it software, manufacturing, research and even
construction can suffer if security breaches are recognized and information is stolen by rivals. Depending upon the criticality of project, the team members
have to be careful about varied security issues ranging from information theft to sabotage which can
spell disaster for organizations reputation. Companies can follow a proactive approach to security issues by installing firewalls and restricted entry into
project area or a reactive approach by trying to secure a breach after information has been stolen.

Common security issues of PMO

1. Identification of security flaws In todays connected world wherein information can be downloaded into USB or smartphones and transferred
within seconds firms have to close all loopholes
in their security process. Regular audit of projects
under process can help identify if there are any
flaws and plug them immediately.
2. Monitoring work schedules Information handling is a critical part of project and by ensuring
that work is handed to actual person on schedule
will keep it secure. Information is generated at
every project level and has to flow through regular
channels for security.

Thinking Portfolio

3. Allowing only authorized personnel Industrial espionage is a real threat in todays cut-throat
competitive business world and companies can
keep their information secure by providing personnel with identification which cannot be duplicated.
4. Usage of copyright information In carrying out
their work companies buy tools and information
from patent owners at high cost which can be misused by personnel if these are not secured by project managers. Most organizations have a need to
know policy during these situations and protect
access to these kinds of sensitive tools through
passwords.
5. Slowdown in Project process When two or more
companies are working on competitive projects
then they may try to slow down each others progress by unscrupulous means. This can be avoided if project management office allots realistic
time bound tasks to all personnel so work gets
done well before schedule.
6. Security of personnel When a company is working on defense projects which can affect the safety and sovereignty of the nation then it becomes
more critical for PMO to also ensure safety of its
personnel. If they are working on sensitive projects enemy forces may harm them to secure information about their projects so their security
becomes the PMOs responsibility.

79

Today is also a good

day to do the project
portfolio stress test
Typically the stress test comprises a number of
What if? calculations which are used to analyse,
in different situations and scenarios, prerequisites
which help to cope with any difficult times in future.
Portfolio management includes methods which can
be applied as a part of project portfolio analyses and
management.
You can start the project portfolio stress test by
tracing a situation where you have to make cuts to
the development investments, 30% off, for example.
The starting point of the project portfolio stress test
is the fact that the scenario to be analysed is possible.
The stress test can also be used to analyse how big
a cut or squeeze the project portfolio can bear before the entity loses its power. The portfolios power
is formed from different development programmes
and projects which often have strong connections
between them. The project portfolio stress test is important for future preparations. We receive daily new
ideas and Business Cases for analysis, and by identifying the stress level the project portfolio can bear we
can also observe the entity against which new ideas
and Business Cases are assessed.

projects which have lost their Business Cases even

in the last stages of the project. This means that an
up-to-date Business Case is just as important as the
projects budget and timetable.

Priority must be given to the development of

project portfolio management
An organisation without a project portfolio is adrift
this is why it is especially important to act fast and
implement at least a simple method of project portfolio management. Spread sheets are a good place to
start and many have already done so. After listing the
project we can move on to a more illustrative tool.
One of the quick-to-use, cost-effective and easy to
understand tools is the popular Thinking Portfolio
project portfolio. At its best the Thinking Portfolio
project portfolio can be utilised as a cloud service
within one month. Finally I quote the view of a consultant in the Bank of Finland: These results are like
a five-day weather forecast not the final truth, but
on such firm basis that they are interesting.

A glance from the project budget to the cash

flow it produces
It is important that cash flow is strongly observed
in project portfolio management. A project which is
realised only within the budget and the timetable
does not bring business benefits if there is no need
for its final results at the time of completion. With a
view to the future it is important to terminate these

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80

Aligning IT Projects
and Strategies through
Project Portfolio
Management
Project portfolio management or PPM is a business
process that allows and prepares companies to align
a number of components like IT projects, application
development, resources, and initiatives. Transforming companies to operate as project-oriented groups,
project portfolio management allows you to treat IT
as a financial asset. With project portfolio management, you can seamlessly integrate scope, pipeline,
time, skills, cost, procurement, reporting, forecasting, communication, as well as risk management.
Similar to managing a portfolio of different types
of investment like bonds, real estate, and stocks PPM
allows you to easily manage multiple projects. This
process allows your company to maintain a balanced
portfolio, increase your rate or return, and minimize
the risks involved in individual projects. Through
PPM, managers and executives can closely manage
and monitor project portfolios to align with the business objectives and schedules as well as to identify
risks and address them immediately.

Why should your business adopt PPM?

Whether your business is an established one or a
newly launched start-up, project portfolio management is equally beneficial. Here are some reasons
your company should adopt PPM.

Improved governance for IT assets: Many

start-ups and IT companies lack accountable departments that handle consistency and decision
making. Through project portfolio management
you can create a framework, which ensures that

Thinking Portfolio

all IT decisions are in alignment with the overall

strategy adopted by your business. PPM allows
you to set business goals, establish quality standards, as well as prioritize investments.

Improved success rates for projects: It is a

well known fact that clarified business objectives
and support from the executives increases the
success rate for a project. With project portfolio
management you can achieve both these requirements and significantly improve the success rate
of all IT projects undertaken by your organization.

Limited resources and IT budget: If your

company is a start-up, you may often face budget
constraints as well as limited resources. By managing existing resources through project portfolio
management, you can make the best of your situation and increase productivity. This improvement
in productivity can be made in terms of tools as
well as employees.

Some of the biggest advantages of adopting PPM

include better governance of IT and resources, reduced cost, increased productivity, as well as predictable project outcomes. Additionally, companies can
also align closely with the project requirements and
make informed decisions that consider all important
aspects of the project. PPM also allows you to make
better decisions when it comes to staffing and allows
you to monitor all developments in the project.

81

Project Portfolio
Management Mistakes
that You Should
Avoid
As project managers, it is important to create
plans that effectively cover all aspects of project lifecycles. Despite experience and knowledge in the
field, some common mistake and errors may arise.
Here are some of the most common mistakes made
when managing IT portfolios.

No tangible investment strategies

It is a common practice in many IT companies,
whether start-ups or larger corporations, to directly
start with budgeting and funding. The projects scoring higher on the priority list are picked off based
on the budget until the funds have been completely
exhausted. The remaining projects are simply postponed or backlogged. When prioritizing projects, it is
important to understand the individual needs of different business units and then create strategies that
are helpful in achieving broader business goals.

Ignoring return profiles / risks

A common mistake made by many companies in
managing IT portfolios is ignoring the risk factor.
Lack of planning and assessment for returns as well
as risk profiles is an essential part of management as
it allows your company to be prepared for any negative developments. Not giving risk assessment and
return profiles enough importance can lead to initiatives that are low on risk as well as returns, starving
your organization. With the right assessment, you
can make use of innovative, as well as game changing
IT initiatives.
When it comes to IT portfolio management, you

Thinking Portfolio

can categorize projects into four broad categories

that include strategic applications, key operational
applications, support applications, as well as high
potential applications. While planning for the first
three categories are commonly addressed in companies, many tend to consider high potential applications owing to lack of research and planning in risk
assessment.

Focusing on lists instead of the big picture

Companies also tend to simply make lists of IT
projects rather than considering the big picture. It is
important to take a holistic and strategic approach to
portfolio management. If you simply evaluate a project based on budget or time, you are not addressing
the core business values and understand very little of
the portfolio objectives.

Overlooking budgeting for mundane projects

It is not advisable to include only new and/or important initiatives in your companys portfolio. Ensure that ongoing projects that are often sidetracked
are also given enough time and budget to provide
overall benefits. With the right initiatives and strategies, you can enable your company to monitor and
use resources in an appropriate manner. These resources include everything from investments, business processes, IT portfolio etc and should be used
with minimal duplication.

82

Project Portfolio
Thinking Portfolio Easy to use, fast to implement
Thinking Portfolio is a simple, yet powerful, solution for those who want to move from
spreadsheets to a professional project portfolio management tool, but dont want to
spend years on implementation. In addition to project portfolios, our SaaS based platform is used for idea management, IT application and service portfolio management.

[Link]

Thinking Portfolio

Thinking Portfolio
Aleksanterinkatu 15 B
00100 Helsinki
Finland
83

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8008 Zurich
Switzerland