{"id":11830,"date":"2020-02-28T14:25:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-28T20:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.planview.com\/?p=11830"},"modified":"2020-02-12T10:58:19","modified_gmt":"2020-02-12T16:58:19","slug":"how-savvy-pmos-keep-score-to-improve-demand-management","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.planview.com\/how-savvy-pmos-keep-score-to-improve-demand-management\/","title":{"rendered":"How Savvy PMOs Keep Score to Improve Demand Management"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"How<\/p>\n

A shared services mandate challenged a major university to merge three central IT organizations into one. To meet service delivery goals, they had to redefine and implement their IT operations and internal processes. In addition, they needed more than 800 employees to adopt them! Working with IT, the PMO started with demand management and has now reduced approved projects by 75 percent, created a visible pipeline of demand, reduced staff workload, and improved performance.<\/p>\n

This example shows the power of demand management to streamline work requests and focus on work that matters to the business \u2013 regardless of your industry. In our first segment in this two-part series about improving demand management, we covered the first two guidelines:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. How to capture initial work requests, and<\/li>\n
  2. Develop a strong work intake process.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Once you\u2019ve gotten some work requests in the system and fine-tuned your process, it\u2019s time to categorize demand, put the work in motion, and determine the results.<\/p>\n

    That\u2019s right: The Savvy PMO keeps score to ensure that all work contributes to strategic goals and that the system is running as smoothly and effectively as possible. Guidelines three and four are all about instituting a consistent prioritization process based on business objectives and tracking results to demonstrate success as well as continuously improve the process.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    3. Evaluate and Generate Key Work Items<\/h2>\n

    Savvy PMOs use prioritization scoring to compare and evaluate work intake requests. Some even establish the prioritization process concurrently with a demand management process for maximum effect. The important point is to select the highest-value initiatives for your organization, based on key business factors.<\/p>\n

    You can assess and categorize demand in one of two ways:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. A simple calculated score of key data, or<\/li>\n
    2. A scoring model to represent business metrics.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Have your appropriate gate approvers and stakeholders score on quantitative factors such as return on investment (ROI), or on qualitative ones such as strategic fit, impact, or risk. You can also weigh these factors based on their relative importance.<\/p>\n

      Use these scores to identify which requests should move forward and be turned into work efforts such as a project, task, action item, or a combination of these. You may decide to delay, set aside for now, or perhaps even reject requests that don\u2019t meet your organization\u2019s scoring criteria. Customize your processes as you see fit, ensuring consistency and continuous improvement throughout the process.<\/p>\n

      4. Audit, Track, and Improve<\/h3>\n

      To constantly enhance demand management, Savvy PMOs examine the process, determine the results, and then take action. Here are five ways to evaluate how your demand management function is performing \u2013 both the work intake process and the completed work \u2013 and then make improvements:<\/p>\n

      A. Analyze Flow:<\/strong> Analyze the number and velocity of requests flowing through the work intake process and adjust as needed to prevent:<\/p>\n