TABLE OF CONTENTS Among the countless factors that contribute to success in portfolio-based project management, these are the most important ones to consider:
Cultivate project-oriented staff
Nurture the SPO
Provide outside assistance
Establish common language and procedures
Build communication infrastructure
Immerse senior management
Impose program-centric strategic planning practices
Given below is a brief discourse on each of these success factors.
Firms must develop the brain trust needed to keep project-focused work alive and vital. It is absolutely critical that time and money be invested in developing personnel with the necessary skills. As skill sets mature, a project-oriented culture will emerge. In time, project portfolios will be the way in which work is organized and project execution will be the way work is done.
SPO personnel are the keepers of the project portfolio, and they are the glue that keeps the project management structure together overseeing execution and coordinating initiatives. It is of great importance that the SPO be fully supported by the senior management team. Its work must be respected across the organization, and every staff member should be made aware of the vital role that the SPO plays within the enterprise.
Establishing a common project management language across an enterprise is quite a task. But that is exactly what a Belgian-based telecom operator set out to accomplish. Historically, the organization embarked upon over 70 cross-company initiatives per year. Nearly a thousand of...
