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Saturday, 6 April 2013

Project Portfolio Management

By Adrian Hepworth

PPM compared to project management is still in its infancy and there are still lots to learn, although there are still many organizations out there that have not grasped project management as a core competency or moved through a transitional stage to keep up technology, market and emerging market trends (Lampel, 2001). Organizations that have plunged into the style of transformational leadership and management have come through the other side unscathed, but leaner, more efficient in leadership and with the competitive edge and advantage over other organizations. It is a natural transitional lifecycle that has happened in the past and will happen again in the future. Organizations that are considering adopting PPM or want to upgrade efficiency of an existing system should look at lessons learned and benchmarking from other organizations that have moved through the transition. Knowledge is already out there it’s a case of researching and adopting some best practices already in place, not mirroring another organization but building a model from many or a few that have sustainable best practices in place, one such best practice as I suggest, the weekly/monthly/milestone reviewing process that can be adapted for singular or multiple project reviews, Kerzner (2010) supports this theory.  I agree with your theory on the reviewing process as a whole for the portfolio to manage impacts to other projects. In addition single projects should go through the milestone review process that is supported by the PMO. The PMO and the project can then make necessary changes from lessons learned during the project lifecycle.    

Further to the PPM knowledge area, project management, PPM & the PMO have all been tried and tested by organizations that have the investment and want the competitive edge in the market, such as IBM, COMAU and PETROFAC, the common amenity is adopting project management as the core organizational competence and platform for all organizational processes (Kerzner, 2010). Crovasce, (2010) the corporate PMO manager at COMAU, suggests that standardization of process across all the business units, fostering knowledge transfer, the implementation of the project program based on leadership traits, tailored specifically to improve project teams within COMAU and foster a positive attitude that is the driving among all employees. Furthermore organizations need to create the vision and the strategic roadmap that all employees share in and bolster achievements.

Changes at any level is better supported by senior/mid management, this reduces resistance throughout the layers and improves implementation, better still change is accepted more when resources are involved and engaged in the planning and process of the change, and thus, making the difference is engaging the resources that the change will affect and impact. Please review the article by (Smet, Lavoie & Hioe, 2012), the article discusses change leadership and agents for best practices. Let me know if you have problems finding the article, I can email it over to you if needed.

Thoughts?

Adrian

References

Crovasce, V. (2010) 'Common Ground', PM Network, 24 (1), pp.28-29, EBSCOhost, [Online]. Available from: http://ehis.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.liv.ac.uk/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=d0de051f-ccc3-4200-a902 -73ff0e62e0b6%40sessionmgr111&hid=115 (Accessed: 6 April 2013).
Kerzner, H. (2010) Project management best practices: achieving global excellence. 2nd ed. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley.

Lampel, J. (2001) 'The core competencies of effective project execution: the challenge of diversity', International Journal of Project Management, 19 (8), pp.471–483, ScienceDirect, EBSCOhost, [Online]. Available from: http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.liv.ac.uk/science/article/pii/S0263786301000424? (Accessed: 6 April 2013).
Smet, A., Lavoie, J. & Hioe, E. (2012) 'Developing better change leaders', Mckinsey Quarterly, 2, pp.98-104, Business Source Premier, EBSCO Host,[Online]. Available from: http://ehis.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.liv.ac.uk/eds/detail?vid=2&sid=1cb9f007-9796-4fc8-ae1b-9a32f36513b6%40sessionmgr15&hid=2&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#db=bth&AN=74756221

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