5 Goals To Set For Your Project Portfolio Management Software In 2012

You have started the year with promises of personal improvement: get to the gym more often, get your finances on track and eat more vegetables.  Have you given thought to improving your project portfolio management  (PPM) processes?

If you have Project Portfolio Management Software in place, there is always room for continuous improvement and re-evaluation of process.  Here are some areas to continually review and improve, not just at the start of the year:

1. Improve Project Resource Management:

   This can be done in a couple of ways.  First, ensure you are capturing allocation to non-project activities, to ensure you are seeing the ‘whole picture’.  Non-project activities would be all of the daily work that must be done to keep the organization running.  Secondly, you should start using generic resource types in your PPM tool to capture resource demand.  This will lessen the likelihood of continually over-allocating named resources.   Resource types should be synonymous with the skill sets that reside within each organizational unit.  Resource Managers can then apply the appropriate resource types to named resources in your PPM solution.
   
   

2. Time Track Actual Project Effort:

   
   Get a clear sense of where time is being spent by tracking time.  If you have not been doing this, begin with communicated and training staff to demonstrate the value of time capture.  Tracking time right in your PPM tool allows you to compare planned vs. real effort.  Once you have a sense of where you are spending time, you will be able to better estimate for new projects and understand if and where there is capacity to take on more work.

3. Empower Project Team Members To Update Project Status:

   
   Give your team the ability to update their assigned tasks and make it part of their weekly routine.  Communicate the importance of having project status up to date.  Having the up to date project information will give you a clear snapshot of exactly  how your project and portfolio are performing and will give you the power to make informed decisions.

4. Incorporate A More Formal Process For Project Prioritization:

   
   A project portfolio management tool can improve the efficiency of processing project requests, evaluating budget and resource requirements and scoring projects based on RIO and risk.  Creating and enforcing a prioritization process tied to your PPM tool will help automate the process. 

5. Capture And Share Lessons Learned:

   
   All lessons should be captured in your PPM software to make reporting simple.  Encourage your project managers to document lessons learned throughout the project lifecycle, not just at the end of the project.  At the project closeout stage, capture any last lessons learned and delete any obsolete or irrelevant lessons.  The PMO should produce and publish a list of lessons learned on a semi-annual basis and communicate key submissions to Project Managers, Resource Managers, and Senior Management.   See a previous blog for tips on how to overcome challenges of a traditional approach to lessons learned.

What other areas have you decided to focus on this year in regards to managing your portfolio of projects?  Share them below.