Project Portfolio Management: A View From The Management Trenches

11.9. PROCESS APPROACH

Now that we've defined a few high-level committees and described their roles, we have to establish how they function and interact. The underlying reason for their existence is to ensure that resources are deployed optimally for the greatest return, working on the projects aligned to the corporate goals. To start off, it's perhaps a good idea to take stock of the inventory of "work." We use the term "work" and not "projects" because, unless you're able to account for all of the work that is occurring in the company and have an inventory of all the resources available, it will be difficult to match your capacity (resources) to the demand (work).

11.9.1. Stage 1

To get started on this daunting journey, it's best to take baby steps, letting the PPM system slowly mature by giving each stage time to stabilize before moving on to the next. So, first have the sponsor of the PPM create a PPM process recommendation committee. Have this committee be chaired by a senior executive who is eloquent as well as an advocate of the PPM process. The committee should be composed of key leaders from IT, profit centers, service centers, and the PMO. Have the committee work together as a group to develop a PPM process framework. Also, have this committee recommend the composition of the governance committee, the executive steering committee, and the project management standards committee. Have this group set expectations for each of these committees. After the process framework ...