Portfolio Management

As Chris Walters writes in the foreword to my new book ‘Leading Successful PMOs’ (Gower) – ‘The role of the PMO leader is one for a particular breed of individual. Be clear: this is a very senior position in any organisation that takes project delivery seriously – the days of co-ordinating project administrators are over. PMO...
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In part 1 of this posting we were discussing the question of if portfolio management can improve the chances of organisational success?  To answer this I began exploring the OGC guide Management of Portfolio™. Having explored the guide, it: Provides a language for the ritual “A Portfolio is the totality of an organisations’ investment (or segment...
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I was with a colleague recently; discussing the question of can portfolio management improve the chances of organisational success? The insight that my colleague gave me was based upon the quotation that I had never heard before by Brian Quinn (“Strategic Planning R.I.P.”). “A good deal of corporate planning …… is like a ritual rain...
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In my last posting I focused on when we should “pull the plug” on a project?  When you are faced with at least one or more of the following three conditions.  1. The business objectives can’t reasonably be met within time, cost, and resource constraints identified at the outset.  2. Other alternatives have a better return...
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Pity the cat: it only has 9 lives.  Some projects, however, have many more than that.  Chances are, you’re responsible for one or more of these; and a recent bit of research says that you should kill it. But do you have the “chutzpa?”  Don’t feel bad if you don’t, you’re in good company.   Consider...
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When I last posted a couple of days ago, I was following my client on his journey to implement Portfolio management within his organisation.  Read on for what happened next… Having started the implementation effort as recommended by the CEO of his company, my client was kind enough to divulge some of the ‘secret’ ingredients,...
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If we recognise that Portfolio Management gives the answers to the questions: Are we doing the right initiatives to achieve organisational strategy? Are we doing initiatives that deliver the business benefits? Could we better invest our limited resources, stopping some initiatives and investing in others? Why then are some organisations more attuned to these processes, systems, governance arrangement...
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