Examples of portfolio in project management

Executive management struggles to prioritize projects, allocate resources, and achieve optimal efficiency. This is where project portfolio management PPM comes to the rescue. Project portfolio management PPM is a strategy that evaluates potential projects by their prospective successes and risks, then designates staff, resources, and timelines in a way that maximizes organizational performance. One portfolio may consist of several accounts.

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Examples of portfolio in project management

Content:

• 9 Steps for Implementing Successful Project Portfolio Management
• Basics of a Project Portfolio?
• 3 Key Components of Successful Project Portfolio Management
• Project Portfolio Management (PPM): Key Elements, Benefits and Best Practices
• Portfolio and Project Management
• Project Management/Portfolios/Programs Management

9 Steps for Implementing Successful Project Portfolio Management

A Portfolio or a Project Portfolio is a collection of Projects and Programs that are being run by an organization, a department or a Portfolio Manager. Project Portfolio Management is the management of a Project Portfolio in order to effectively select the right projects to execute and efficiently delivering on them.

Somebody stated the difference between Portfolio Project Management and Project Management very nicely:. As noted in the definition above, a Portfolio can have both Programs and Projects within it. Thus, a Portfolio is a higher level collection. Thus the constituent projects and programs would roll up to the portfolio. In fact, in a more complicated structure, a Portfolio could have many Projects and Programs under it, and these Programs could then have Sub-Programs and other Projects under them.

And that multi-level structure could continue up to many levels — depending upon the size and structure of the parent organization and its Portfolio Management Strategy.

It may we way easier to understand the structure of a Portfolio through a diagram. This portfolio consists of a Portfolio at the top and a number of projects under it.

Noticeably there are no Programs under the Portfolio. This structure will be observed in a small and simple organization running a handful of projects without any strategic bonding to necessitate formation of any Programs. Below is a three-level Portfolio. This structure of a Portfolio is relatively more common and is found in mid-sized organizations that have decided to take on the plunge into creating some Programs to delivering strategic objectives in an efficient manner.

And finally, here is a multi-level, more complicated Portfolio. Here comes in the form of Portfolios normally observed in bigger organizations where Programs have been broken down into sub-Programs which may even further be broken down and Projects.

Portfolios generally operate at the organizational level. It allows the organization to get an overarching view of all the projects the organization is executing or is planning to execute. This allows the organization to better align its project plans to its strategic objectives, to better schedule their deliveries and be more efficient with their executions. Reviewing all the Projects within the Organization through a single lens and planning them under one Portfolio provides many opportunities.

Below are some examples:. Organizational strategies generally need many initiatives to bring them to fruition. The strategies and the related initiatives are many-a-times interrelated and inter-dependent. And in order to deliver on those initiatives, the organization needs money and resources. For any organization, thus it is not possible to deliver on all the initiatives at the same time.

A strategy execution plan needs to be developed, a plan that schedules the initiatives according to when the organization needs them delivered, while taking into consideration the inter-dependencies between them and availability of finances and resources. Portfolio management is a method to this madness. It allows to get this strategy execution plan created while taking all dependencies and constraints into consideration.

Have you been in a project where you are very dependent upon a resource or a team and there are two other projects that are dependent upon that resource? Yes, for sure. And then it ends up being a fist-fight between the projects to get hold of the resource. Risk Management in a Portfolio is risk management at a very different level — at the organizational level. First of all, it allows the organization to better manage organizational risks, that could impact individual projects.

Next, it allows the organization to use different strategies to manage risks by using different type of risk management opportunities through different projects. For instance, one project may transfer the risk to another, while the second one includes steps to completely mitigate it. This sort of a play is almost impossible within a single project. It may not cover all cases, but will give you a good idea:.

A software company has three products on the market that serves its customers through. There are five major enhancement projects currently in execution mode, that would bring major changes one or more of these products. Meanwhile there are two projects to build two new products for release before the end of the current fiscal. The projects were being run under different departments and resulted in a lot of conflicts for resource and budget scheduling.

Most of the time the projects related to the existing products won those battles as existing revenue streams always becomes the highest priority. This resulted in starvation and very delays to the projects working on launching new products, which were a big part of the future strategy. The company then formed a Portfolio Project Management unit to manage all existing and upcoming projects. This resulted in a shift in the organization towards a more balanced approach to ensure budget share and resource share of projects aligned with the organizational strategy.

In this case, the Portfolio consists of all the ten projects being executed by the company, plus any new that may come through. A public transportation company has a number of projects that its executing through a Project Portfolio in its Project Management Office. It is working on expanding of three of its current train lines by adding five more stations in aggregate.

And then it has just secured a project to build a light rail transit system in a satellite city to connect to its main commuter lines. Due to the recent uptick in project work, it had to delay the replacement of a portion of its bus fleet with new buses by another year.

In this post we discussed what a portfolio is, what it constitutes, and why is it needed. Hope this has provided you a good idea about the topic and thoughts about how to make project management more effective through Portfolio Management. Basics of a Project Portfolio? Structure of a Portfolio As noted in the definition above, a Portfolio can have both Programs and Projects within it. Three Level Portfolio Below is a three-level Portfolio.

Multi-level Complex Portfolio And finally, here is a multi-level, more complicated Portfolio. Why do we need Portfolio Management? What does Portfolio Management Constitute? Below are some examples: Strategic Alignment and Scheduling Organizational strategies generally need many initiatives to bring them to fruition.

Resource Planning Have you been in a project where you are very dependent upon a resource or a team and there are two other projects that are dependent upon that resource? Risk Management Risk Management in a Portfolio is risk management at a very different level — at the organizational level.

It may not cover all cases, but will give you a good idea: A Software Development Company A software company has three products on the market that serves its customers through. A Public Transportation Company A public transportation company has a number of projects that its executing through a Project Portfolio in its Project Management Office.

Conclusion In this post we discussed what a portfolio is, what it constitutes, and why is it needed. Project Management Sid Barthakur August 24, project portfolio , definition. Project Management Sid Barthakur August 19, project, operations.

Basics of a Project Portfolio?

Creating a project portfolio is the first step to eliminating the problems predictably created by project-by-project decision making , and taking that first step may be rewarding in and by itself. Here's an often-cited example:. Schlumberger, the world's largest oilfield services company with businesses in 85 countries, was conducting at one time separate information technology IT projects. Anticipating a need to be able to better explain and justify the company's substantial IT investments, Jane Walton, the project portfolio manager for IT projects, took the simple step of having information for all the company's IT projects entered into a single project database. The portfolio perspective was a game changer. Walton found that 80 percent of the organization's projects overlapped, and fourteen separate projects were attempting to accomplish the same thing! Solving the problems associated with project-by-project decision making including too many small projects, resources spread too thinly, poor project choices, excessive project delays, inability to kill failing projects, and insufficient innovation , requires shifting focus from the project to the project portfolio.

3 Key Components of Successful Project Portfolio Management

Portfolio management or Project Portfolio Management - PPM is about grouping two or more programs or projects that may help business to achieve its strategic goals. Example of portfolio could be to lower costs by improving some facility's services. Program management is about grouping two or more projects that have similar objectives and will get more benefits if managed together, instead of alone. Program management helps in resolving issues constraints and better direction alignment. A project is a temporary endeavor, having a defined beginning and end usually constrained by date, but can be by funding or deliverables , undertaken to meet unique goals and objectives, usually to bring about beneficial change or added value. The temporary nature of projects stands in contrast to business as usual or operations , which are repetitive, permanent or semi-permanent functional work to produce products or services. In practice, the management of these two systems is often found to be quite different, and as such requires the development of distinct technical skills and the adoption of separate management.

Project Portfolio Management (PPM): Key Elements, Benefits and Best Practices

A business thrives when each project is delivered successfully. With the ongoing diversification , enterprises are expanding their horizons and undertaking multiple projects to form a portfolio. However, it is not as easy it sounds. When there is an entire portfolio to supervise, it becomes challenging to monitor every project metric diligently.

Portfolio and Project Management

Project portfolio management. Portfolio management. This process is all about scheduling, prioritizing, budgeting and managing multiple projects at once. Due to their names, many people still confuse PPM with project management. Although there are some important differences. With some simple definitions and real life examples of project portfolio managers.

Project Management/Portfolios/Programs Management

Each portfolio of projects needs to be assessed on its business value and adherence to business strategy. To be successful with project portfolio management, you should select and initiate projects based on your organizational capabilities and goals. To do this, you should have a systematic method and decision process. A good way to start is with your current projects by gathering a Project Inventory. Examples of information you will want to capture are the goal of the project, project dates, resources being allocated to the project by role and other criteria, the risk of the project may be as simple as High, Medium, or Low ; the expected return of the project, and who benefits from the project alignment to strategy or customer.

Managing multiple projects can get confusing. You can end up mixing deadlines, details, and processes if you are not too careful. To help you approach your portfolio in a strategic and methodical manner, you should consider using project portfolio management tools for your business. Project portfolio management PPM software offers tools to streamline and optimize your workflows.

Easing those challenges, clarifying priorities, and proactively avoiding bottlenecks are the key benefits of Project Portfolio Management PPM. Want access to the number 1 ranked Project Portfolio Management software? Click HERE to get started! The point of portfolios is to maximize profit by deducing the way and order in which resources should be devoted to each project.

A Portfolio or a Project Portfolio is a collection of Projects and Programs that are being run by an organization, a department or a Portfolio Manager. Project Portfolio Management is the management of a Project Portfolio in order to effectively select the right projects to execute and efficiently delivering on them. Somebody stated the difference between Portfolio Project Management and Project Management very nicely:. As noted in the definition above, a Portfolio can have both Programs and Projects within it. Thus, a Portfolio is a higher level collection. Thus the constituent projects and programs would roll up to the portfolio.

Project management is the process of designing, implementing, and measuring a project while dealing with its every aspect: labor, budget, goals, efficiency, etc. Organizations are increasingly using project management to maximize their efforts, and make sure individual projects are being run with a quality control and overarching vision that meets long term organizational objectives. To disambiguate, project management portfolios are different from project portfolio management.