A New PM Role in the Portfolio
Andy Jordan is President of Roffensian Consulting S.A., a Roatan, Honduras-based management consulting firm with a comprehensive project management practice. Andy always appreciates feedback and discussion on the issues raised in his articles and can be reached at [email protected]. Andy's new book Risk Management for Project Driven Organizations is now available.
The role of the project manager is evolving in organizations that embrace portfolio management. The ‘new’ PM will be expected to understand, protect and serve strategic goals that go beyond their own initiatives. That will require business acumen and comfortability with change, among other skills.
Projects are at the heart of any portfolio. They are the vehicles that deliver a subset of organizational goals and objectives, ensuring that plans are converted into reality so that benefits can occur. If an individual project isn’t successful the chances of the portfolio being successful is reduced, and if multiple projects fail then it will be virtually impossible for the portfolio to succeed.
It follows that project managers are a critical element in successful portfolio execution; good project managers can rescue troubled projects or prevent projects from going wrong in the first place. However, portfolio-driven project execution requires different management skills than those possessed by many project managers, and if those skills aren’t present, the projects and portfolio will suffer.
It has been readily accepted for some time that project managers can be more successful if they understand the purpose and business drivers for the projects they are managing. This helps them understand the context and provides a foundation for decision making that …
Please log in or sign up below to read the rest of the article.
|
A mind once stretched by a new idea never regains its original dimensions. - Anonymous |
