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Date
Despite uncertainties in today's economic environment, organizations remain under pressure to successfully execute business strategies. These challenging conditions demand that organizations innovate and gain an advantage through projects. Yet launching a bunch of projects won't save the day. We need solid portfolio management to enable that competitive edge. It's not just about software, methodology and frameworks, after all. To perform well, portfolio management requires a cultural change and solid communications within an organization.
And yet, we still suffer due to poor communications. Many companies, for instance, invest significant effort and capital on projects and programs that do not directly align with corporate objectives because those goals are poorly communicated. Meanwhile, others struggle to balance risk and fail to seize opportunities because of ineffective communications that do not support informed decision-making. For example, I worked on a project of high complexity that had huge technical challenges. These challenges could have been better addressed if there had been more communication among different research teams in our organization.
The payoff to investing in project communications can be substantial, as many studies -- such as a
recent one from PMI -- point out. Companies that excel at portfolio management are able to complete projects on time and under budget, increasing ROI and other benefits. But how do we consistently communicate the portfolio management strategy, policies, governance and benefits throughout the organization?
- With clarity. Clarity is the most important factor for the success of portfolio management. People can't commit to what they don't know or don't understand. Clearly state and communicate the portfolio objectives, policies and procedures.
- With openness. On top of developing a nice-to-have framework for project selection, prioritization and portfolio monitoring, spread the word throughout the entire organization on why the company needs portfolio management and how it works.
- With alignment. Corporate objectives -- and how portfolio management can help the organization reach those goals -- have to be part of the message. Alignment means credibility for portfolio management, because it shows how it adds business value. To communicate the value, show the organization the selection criteria and key performance indicators and their rationale.
- With discipline. Portfolio management requires consistent feedback, information and reports -- mainly from projects and programs, but also from functional managers, senior managers and more. Discipline means setting up processes and procedures to push and pull communications in a dependable way for the organization. In other words, in-and-out communications have to flow without interruption, overcoming organizational barriers to get information needed and to provide useful, timely information.
- With accountability. Everyone in the organization should be responsible, in one way or another, for the portfolio results. That means project KPIs and portfolio KPIs should align better. And the best way to achieve that alignment is by ensuring everyone is on the same page about the corporate portfolio strategy, through rigorous governance and consistent communications.
I'm a firm believer that the role of communications is to ensure that portfolio management is embedded in the corporate culture. What do you think is the role of communications in a portfolio?
Posted
by
Mario Trentim
on: October 01, 2013 09:49 AM |
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