Project Portfolio Management: A View From The Management Trenches

6.1. DEFINING CHANGE

An hour later John closed the door to his office, put his phone on speaker, and dialed a number. Bill's voice filled the small room.

Bill started to talk. "So you need to know how much change is too much for your organization, right? Presumably you're also wondering what to do about it once you've worked out what's going on. Well, John, you've come to the right place." Even over the phone, John could detect the grin that was creasing Bill's face.

"Bill, you're the man! So, let me tell you what's really bugging me right now. How can I measure change? How can I get a handle on what impact all these projects are having—and are going to have— on the organization? I mean, it feels like too much change, but how can I demonstrate it to Hannah Choi, our CEO, who doesn't like anything that doesn't have hard numbers to back it up?"

Bill responded, "As in any problem-solving exercise, the first thing is to get your arms around the problem itself. It will help to define all this change in simple terms, remembering the principle that when managing a portfolio, all you need to model reality is just enough information to satisfy the needs of strategic planning. Do not allow yourself to become sucked down into the detail."

"There's change that impacts technology, there's change that impacts physical assets (such as real estate), and then there are the changes that impact people. It's this last category that matters—it's only people who really get unsettled by change. Technology ...