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PPM 101: Understand These 3 Ps
Tom Mochal, PgMP, PMP, TSPM is the president of TenStep, Inc., a methodology development, consulting and training company. Tom won the Distinguished Contribution Award from the Project Management Institute for his work spreading knowledge of project management around the world. He is a speaker, lecturer, instructor and consultant to companies and organizations around the world.
How do projects, programs and portfolios differ? How are they similar? And how do they interrelate in efficiently, effectively organizing and executing work that produces business benefits?
Done right, project portfolio management can do a lot of good for any organization. But it’s not easy, as many companies, large and small, have discovered. In PPM 101, an ongoing series by veteran project management consultant and author Tom Mochal, we focus on the fundamentals for organizations that are just getting started on the PPM path.
You have all heard these three terms — projects, programs and portfolios. All three refer to ways to organize work. If you and your organization are going to utilize these concepts to your best advantage, it is important that you understand the similarities and differences between them, and how they can interrelate.
Projects
Projects should be the most familiar term to you. Projects are temporary endeavors that result in the creation or enhancement of one or more deliverables. There is a point in time when the work did not exist (before the project), when it does exist (the project), and when it does not exist again (after the project). In addition, all projects are unique. They may be similar to prior projects but they are unique in terms of timeframes, resources, business environment, etc. Projects also have assigned …
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