Project Portfolio Management: A View From The Management Trenches

Chapter 11. Implementing PPM

All functioning organizations have PPM in some shape or form. If you look closely, all companies prioritize projects and assign resources to projects for what they think will yield the best returns. This chapter will discuss the maturing of PPM either by improving the existing PPM components or by implementing new components to complement the existing ones to arrive at a more efficient system.

So far in this book you've read about all the elements that make up project portfolio management. You've read about the value and the process in developing a business case and the considerations for PPM design. It's during the implementation phase that the rubber meets the road. The techniques in implementing sustainable PPM are dependent on various factors, such as size of the company, organizational structure, type of incorporation, and so on. Please remember that there is no one standard way to implement PPM. Implementation is a combination of art and science. The PPM design and the development of supporting templates and tools constitute the science portion of the equation. As mentioned earlier in this book, at the end of the day you cannot push PPM without the people who participate in the process. You facilitate the process by effectively managing people.

In the United States, public companies are governed by laws such as Sarbanes-Oxley to be more transparent and to hold officers more accountable than their peers in private or mutual companies. Shareholders ...