|
As your organization becomes more project oriented, are you experiencing problems in allocating people and resources across multiple projects? Are new projects created without a unifying vision or theme? Do you know exactly how many projects your organization is currently undertaking? And do you know why? Do project team members complain of being "whipped around" by multiple responsibilities and unclear priorities? Read on for some know-how, tips, and advice on managing multiple projects.
- Click here for Burning Questions and know-how on Managing Multiple Projects
- Among our templates on Portfolio Management that you can download from our Templates and Checklists know-how area:
- MEMBER Q&A
Our newsletter readers respond to a question we posed on behalf of a fellow Project Manager: "How Can I Keep the Execs From Derailing My IT Funding?" The full list of member responses can be read here.
- PAPER
In many organizations, functions are king and getting work done cross-functionally is difficult at best. For years companies have tried to solve this problem by changing the culture or restructuring, but functional silos still don't necessarily cooperate with one another. Business processes are riddled with rework and long cycle times; projects are late and don't satisfy their customers. The paper "Matrix Management Reinvented" by Paula Martin, who has extensive field experience with matrix organizations, discusses what it takes to make it all work, including getting alignment around goals, projects, and roles, achieving collaborative management, and what's required of individuals.
- ARTICLE (offsite link)
Thinking of starting a PMO, or already have one and wondering if you've got everything covered? Office Discipline: Why You need a PMO from CIO Magazine says that companies seeking more efficiency and tighter monitoring of IT projects are opening project management offices in growing numbers - but they shouldn't expect a quick fix, easy metrics or an immediate payback. Read the article for examples of what different companies are doing and why, and what results they see.
- BOOK EXCERPT (offsite link)
If you're wondering how to make sure only the best and brightest project ideas get approved (and eliminate the "projects materializing out of thin air" phenomenon), check out this book excerpt on the Product Planning Process. It's applicable in general to the approval and orderly launching of any new project. This excerpt covers documenting new project ideas, refining them, how to run an approval process, what a Marketing Requirements Document should contain and how long it should be, and details on how to run a product planning meeting to review, approve (or not) and officially launch new projects.
- BOOKS
See our book list on managing multiple projects.
- PRESENTATION
The presentation "Portfolio Management in an AT&T Project Management Office" is a great intro for companies thinking of implementing or in the process of implementing portfolio management for the first time, or companies who are thinking about how to use online resources to support managing their portfolio of projects. Dave Davis from AT&T gives his take on how portfolio management maps to a company's project management maturity - specifically how good you need to be at project management to have most success with a portfolio management process. He then covers important characteristics of a good portfolio management process, including project lists, project sponsors, understanding project value, and more. Finally, Dave covers a case study of how his group implemented an online "home page" for the portfolio, providing a web-based framework of the master project portfolio list and central access to key project documents and status.
- PAPER
For ideas on how executives should be enlisted in your company's process for starting and managing multiple projects, see our presentation "The Role of Executives in Effective Project Portfolio Management" (contributed by K.C. Yelin of ICS Group). It compares the role of a project portfolio manager to that of a "financial portfolio manager," and the executive to that of a client with a personal financial portfolio. It discusses how to use this model to get executives involved at the right level of decision-making in your portfolio of projects.
|
Return to Top