An Introduction To Project Portfolio Management

project portfolio management

What is Project Portfolio Management (PPM)?

Project portfolio management (PPM) is the end-to-end centralized management of projects within an organization. These projects might not be or might be related to each other but they are still managed as an all-in-one solution, called a portfolio. This portfolio helps the managers in overseeing and managing any competing resources. 

It also helps to identify potential projects, authorize them, assign them to the project managers, and to make them a part of the overall portfolio. 

Wondering why project portfolio management or ppm software is important? Read on to find out. 

Benefits of project portfolio management

The improved project selection process

PPM helps in selecting the right set of projects based on the business goals, risk, availability of resources, and other criteria. The basis of processes in a PPM lifecycle is to evaluate and pick projects that offer maximum value to your organization.

It uses a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods such as ranking methods, scoring models, and other methods. This makes sure that go/no-go decisions are based on well-processed approaches rather than ambiguous factors. 

Align project goals with business strategy

One of the major goals of any organization is to meet the strategic and short-term goals. Every project that an organization undertakes is a step closer to its goals.

Therefore, it is important that the project managers should ensure that the projects are well-aligned with the business strategy and objectives. If they don’t, it may lead to project overload, wastage of resources, and workforce efforts. 

PPM helps project managers put things in perspective and supports making tough decisions for the betterment of the company. 

Better communication 

Checking your portfolio of projects altogether and not individuals will not only help you prioritize, select, and sustain projects but also enhance communication with corporate management. How? You can talk about the portfolio as a whole and break the barriers between sub-portfolios.

It will also widen the portfolio overview to help manage work as a more cohesive team. 

Increased success in project delivery 

As you know, unsuccessful project delivery always leads to definite project failure. It can be due to many reasons such as schedule delays, cost overruns,  lack of strategy, poorly defined requirements, technical limitation, or other such factors. PPM helps the organizations in ensuring that these factors are minimized to the best possible extent.

Successful PPM software helps organizations in executing more projects approximately by 30% and reducing project failure rates up to by 60% according to a survey by PMI.

PPM tools help the organization in increasing the project execution success, leading to an overall increase in the business value. 

Financial optimization

Lastly, let’s talk about money. After all, it is at the crux! A PPM software will help you in selecting the most valuable projects from the perspective of a financial return. Also, the budget management features will help in optimizing budget allocation across projects and portfolios. PMOs can use it to ensure that everything is in control and perform adjustments if needed. 

So, why don’t you try out PPM software and the magic yourself?