At its core, adaptive project portfolio management (PPM) is largely about two things.
On one hand, adaptive PPM helps ensure that companies are pursuing the right projects—those that are aligned with their objectives and goals. That’s your project prioritization. At the same time, adaptive PPM is also about ensuring that projects are done correctly and efficiently—and in a way that generates ROI. Effective projects start with a streamlined intake process to ensure you set the right expectations from day one.
Accomplishing both of those goals requires knowing where to assign resources, and picking the best times to start the work itself. For many organizations, that is much easier said than done. With so many projects going on at once and resources scattered in every direction, it can be difficult to get a clear picture of where things stand at any given point in time.
The good news is that—with the right tools and the right approach—teams can navigate resource constraints and make the best use of company resources. In doing so, they’re able to see the bigger picture and realize the full promise of PPM.
How to Select the Right Projects
To select the right projects, there are two things you must do to prepare for success. You need to get a full view of each project so you can see what’s going on right now and what’s in the pipeline. Once you’re able to see every project, you can begin making the business case for each and prioritize them to match your organizational goals.
In addition, you’ll need to get a full view of asset and resource allocation across the organization. You don’t want to sign off on a project only to find out that the people, tools, and funds you need are tied up elsewhere. So ask yourself the following question: What resources are available today—and what will be available in the future?
Once you’ve done that, you should have a better idea of which projects make sense to prioritize. But at the same time, your business is perpetually in flux. Even if you make the best decision today, your needs might change overnight—and you may be forced to reassess.
In other words, you need to continuously examine your project intake and prioritization to make sure that you’re focusing on the right things at the right times. If this all sounds like a tall order, that’s because it is. But with the right processes and tools in place, it doesn’t have to be.
When PMO leaders take the more traditional role of governance and process enforcement, prioritizing projects can become a massive undertaking. By investing in a powerful adaptive PPM solution, however, organizations get the clarity they need to objectively pick the right projects every time. An adaptive PPM solution will provide you with the intelligence needed to make an informed decision based on the alignment of strategy to outcomes, rather than past behavior.
How to Onboard Projects the Right Way
Successful projects start with efficient project intake. Once you’ve implemented a process that helps you ensure that you’re prioritizing the right projects—and, of course, continuously reassessing to make sure your selections are still the best when needs change—it’s time to start looking into how you can onboard projects the right way.
To help your organization meet its goals and get to the next level, you need to make sure that every project turns out high quality results and reaches its intended objective. You also need to make sure your team members are completing projects in a cost-effective way—and that they’re sticking to the schedule, too. Even if a team does great work, you can’t afford to run over budget project after project.
By giving you deep insight into all projects across your organization, an adaptive PPM solution can help you make sure that you are kicking off projects effectively and that they stay on course throughout their lifecycle.
Once again, because customer needs and business needs are always changing, you can’t just glance at the data and sign off on the fact that you’re “doing projects the right way.” You also need to continuously assess where you stand and devise ways to constantly improve the effectiveness of your teams over time.
Project Intake and Prioritization Done Right with PPM Tools
With the right approach to PPM, you can streamline project intake and prioritization, making sure that your teams are focusing on the best projects at the most appropriate times—and tackling those projects in an efficient and cost-effective way that delights your clients. By investing in an adaptive PPM solution, you equip your PMO with better transparency across portfolios and streamlined intake processes, which leads to better decision making and improved productivity.
It’s a win-win for both your PMO and your clients.
If you’re interested in learning more about how to accelerate your PPM process, make sure you check out our new PPM summary guide.
