Project Portfolio Management

Project portfolio management is a process that ensures your company spends its scarce resources on projects that will deliver the most value to your organisation. It is a particularly important process for validating the costs involved in a project.

Similar to an investment portfolio, the project portfolio aims to improve the return on investment (ROI). This requires an understanding of the current value of the project portfolio to the business and relies heavily on the business case and ROI data (information that is often missing).

Benefits of Project Portfolio Management

A good project portfolio management process will assist with the selection and balance of projects to ensure your organisation’s business goals are met. It also provides essential executive support for decision-making.

Ensuring your company employs good project portfolio management will boost your bottom line.

The value of Project Portfolio Management can be summarised as:

Improved reoucrse allocation Improved alignment of work Improved balance of work Changed focus from cost to investment Increased collaboration Enhanced communication Improved support for decision-making Increased focus on when to exit

Project portfolio management entails gathering the relevant information and making strategic decisions about which projects your organisation will focus on.
At the highest level, the process can be summarised as follows:

• Gather a list of projects:

significant early benefits can be achieved by gathering a complete list of projects

• Evaluate Projects:

Identify and align projects with your company’s strategic objectives

• Prioritise and select projects:

most organisations have more projects than they can resource or fund

• Manage the portfolio:

support is provided by the project management office (PMO) for executive decisions

As with all business improvement projects, there is a cost and a benefit. It is up to you as to whether project portfolio management is a worthwhile investment for your company.

The first step is to define the terms of reference and the scope of the project portfolio management for your organisation — PM-Partners group can help.

PM-Partners group’s Project Portfolio Management Services

PM-Partners group offers education and consultancy services in project portfolio management.

For more information or to speak to one of our consultants, please contact PM-Partners group on 1300 701 314.