Project Portfolio Management: A View From The Management Trenches

9.2. THE BENEFITS OF PPM

The potential benefits of pulling together a successful business case and, ultimately, successfully implementing PPM are:

• More of the "right" projects and programs being undertaken in terms of greater financial benefits and contribution to strategic targets and business priorities.

• Fewer of the "wrong" projects (as well as duplicate ones) started or more killed off earlier via active management of the project portfolio.

• More effective implementation of projects and programs via management of the project pipeline, project dependencies, interdependencies, and constraints.

• More efficient utilization of resources (people and assets)

• Greater benefits realization via active approaches to exploitation of the capacity and capability.

• Improved accountability and ability to demonstrate adherence to corporate governance requirements.

Foundational Principle The successful business case for PPM documents the benefits it can bring to the organization.

These benefits are backed by research evidence as well:

Kendall and Rollins (2003) identify four generic problems associated with the absence of Project Portfolio Management: too many projects; projects that do not add value; projects that aren't linked to strategy; and an unbalanced portfolio.

Cooper (2005) concludes that "exceptional performance in product development is no accident. Rather it is the result of a disciplined, systematic approach based on best practices." Organizations that adopt these practices were found ...