Project Portfolio Management (PPM): Complete Guide

Managing each of those 10 projects individually is completely different from managing all of them as 10. They may look great on paper, yet so many companies burn through their time and resources on projects that do not move the business forward. Sound familiar?

This is exactly where Project Portfolio Management (PPM) comes in. It is not some fancy corporate buzzword. It is just a matter of taking a step back and asking yourself, "Are we working on the right stuff? Working on the right stuff is not something most companies do. They are spread so thin with so many initiatives. They juggle with what seems like so many different goals, and in the end, they create a bottleneck that slows the pace of work down exponentially.

Would you ever dump all of your savings into one stock? Of course not. You would diversify, rebalance, and make smart and strategic decisions that would give you the best chance of success. This is exactly what PPM does. If you want to gain a stronger understanding of PPM, we recommend you seek out a PMP certification training because they have the tools to help you succeed in the real world.

Let's address some more jargon-free aspects of PPM. PPM means managing all of your projects as a collective rather than individually. You're making decisions based on your business objectives.

I've noticed it happen many times. Marketing wants to redesign the site. IT has to upgrade the servers. Sales needs a new CRM. Finance needs new reporting tools. All of these are great projects, right? The caveat is that there is a limit to what can be completed. There may be 5 developers, 3 designers, and a limited budget.

PPM is about figuring out which projects get approved and which remain on hold. It is about aligning your PPM to the company's trajectory. If the strategic goal is customer entrenchment, that means the CRM project takes precedence over the site redesign. These  project selection methods  are pivotal in making these decisions based on facts rather than subjective biases.

A fundamental characteristic of Portfolio Thinking is clarity and transparency. Once you articulate clear and visible portfolio objectives (the 'why'), it becomes easier to remove silo mentalities. Teams stop competing for the same budget because there are unambiguous processes for budget allocation. Instead of fighting over the available budget, projects receive the focus and resources they require.

These terms are often mixed up and used interchangeably.

Recognizing the program vs project dynamics adds further complexity. Every project is temporary and has specific objectives. Programs are a collection of related projects. Portfolio Management is the highest level of management and ensures that everything aligns with the broader strategic goals.

Let's get to the point. The benefits of project management grow exponentially when looking at it from a portfolio perspective. I have seen organizations improve project success rates from the 60% range to the 85% range by simply improving their project portfolio management (PPM).

Getting everyone working toward the same goals is critical. Without effective portfolio management, pet projects survive simply because someone of importance is pushing for them, regardless of the value created. PPM solves that problem. Every project has to defend its existence against true business objectives.

People are still on the other side of the resource optimisation statement. You have lived through resource hell. The best developers pulled in multiple directions, projects stalled, and deadlines slipped because of overloaded resources. PPM solves this problem by aligning your project commitments with your real capacity.

Risk management is more balanced as well. Rather than putting all your eggs in one basket, you are able to spread your bets more evenly across the portfolio. You can have high-risk innovation projects, along with lower-risk operational improvements. You are protected either way. Decision tree analysis for project management helps quantify the trade-offs, so decisions are more than a gut feeling.

Decisions become easier. When pitching a project, there is a new set of questions to answer. Does it serve the strategic goals? What is the ROI? Do we have the resources? Can we afford it? Project management metrics, like KPIs, answer the questions and provide solutions to political issues.

Start with a strategy

What does the business want to achieve this year? What about the next three years? Generalizations like "grow revenue" are unhelpful. More specific goals, like "Increase customer retention by 15% through improved service delivery," give you a better foundation to create a project. There should be a goal and a plan for every project.

Develop a systematic approach to capturing ideas

Create a process so people can submit project proposals, and there will not be a loss of order. Simple project intake forms are useful. Answering the questions, "What is the problem? What is the business impact? What is the cost? How long will it take?" reduces bad ideas.

Evaluate thoroughly

A good idea is not enough to deserve funding. Scoring models are useful to measure strategic alignment, financial benefit, resource demand, and risk. If you can only handle ten projects, be honest. Trying to take on 15 will mean all of them will fail. Strong project leadership makes these calls.

Before a project can be committed to, certain factors should be checked to determine if the project is feasible; a project that scores highly is still of no concern if it is not feasible at the moment to execute it. Do you have the people to do the job? Is the budget plausible? Does the technology to do the job exist? If these problems persist, a project management plan will be needed to manage these problems for each initiative.

Stay flexible

Changing markets and priorities require projects to be altered. Don't get trapped in the sunk cost fallacy. If a project isn't delivering value, it is a good decision to stop pursuing it and to re-allocate the importance to something else. This is not a failing decision; it is smart.

Resource Constraints

Like with all other projects, the lack of available resources will create problems. Your leading developer can't work on multiple projects at the same time, no matter what the executives tell you. The only thing that seems to work is the over-direct honesty about what is left to work on and letting the higher management make the decision. It is not a comfortable thing to do, but it is necessary.

Resistance from Project Managers

Getting project managers to have faith in the project is hard. Most of them think that the position of the manager is to cause delays and make the other managers work harder. When the priorities are defined and the resources are not shifting all over the place, the improvement will surface. It will not take a presentation to demonstrate value; it will be the small achievements that do it.

Data Quality Issues

It is completely understandable to be frustrated by problems concerning data quality. The lack of ability to effectively manage a project portfolio due to half of the projects reporting a "green" status prior to suddenly changing to a "red" status is a significant issue. One needs governance. This means having regular checkpoints and consistent definitions for what "on track" means. This type of governance takes discipline, but the results will be worthwhile.

It is best to begin with the simplest possible approach.

You can avoid spending lots of money on software at the start. Starting with a basic spreadsheet that includes projects, along with strategic alignment scores, resource requirements, and status, is a good starting point. Demonstrating the value of what you have created comes first.

There are PPM tools that assist with capacity planning, scenario modelling, and dashboards, but nothing can fix the problems created by a lack of process. First, and foremost, the fundamentals must be put in place.

Having the ideal plan is not as important as having the ability to be flexible. Look at your portfolio at least once a month. Market and strategic priorities change. The portfolio can not be frozen because "that's what we decided in January." An adherence to responsive planning and the other concepts will come naturally after you have worked your way through the PMP certification and other related frameworks.

Most issues can be avoided by having clear communication. If everyone understands why Project A got funded, but Project B did not, there will be no resentment or the politics that tend to surround the situation. Explain the criteria and the process. Let everyone understand the efforts that went into making the decisions.

PPM is not concerned with completing more projects in shorter timeframes. It is about completing the right projects successfully. This is the key distinguishing factor.

Whether you are new to the practice or looking to enhance existing ones, the fundamental principles remain the same. Everything must be aligned to the strategy, make the best possible use of the resources available, manage risk at the portfolio level, and continuously ask the question whether any given project is worthy of its position in the portfolio.

To get started, select any 15 of your best projects and conduct a basic prioritization analysis. This will give you immediate visibility into the existing deficiencies and will give you the opportunity to improve. Organisations that excel at PPM focus on making a commitment to mindset changes, and not just the methodology.