Project Portfolio Management (PPM) is the approach organisations use to schedule the activities required and allocate the resources needed to achieve the project’s portfolio objectives. Project management tools provide a way to organise and run the work of an individual initiative, but for achieving clarity between teams and departments, project portfolio management is needed. Project portfolio management is the ability to bring all your projects into a single pocket (Smartsheet or MS Project) to see the future possibilities for using resources within those projects in more intelligent ways.
Project Portfolio Management makes a tremendous difference on multiple fronts because it allows for an all-encompassing vision of your projects, past, current, and future, and helps you to take insights from the past. Project portfolio management software can also be used for establishing benchmarks, then projecting the needs for future resources, determining ROI for projects that are committed, and managing potential risks. To effectively use project portfolio management software, you will want a tool that helps you link strategy with daily operations, give a birds-eye view of all of your work, and keep up-to-date on real-time developments.
A project portfolio helps you stay in sync with your project managers and better prioritise your project work, but it is also a way for your executive stakeholders to see the initiatives from all over your organisation from one holistic perspective. Project Portfolio Management is a system to analyse ROI, deliverables, and risks for each portfolio of projects, so the right work can be prioritised. As such, portfolio management is a ranking system to help determine projects based on their value, risks, required budgets and resources, expected and realistic outcomes, projected revenues, etc.
A project manager will assign tasks to team members at a project level, whereas the portfolio manager will dive deeper into data to determine whether a project is, overall, in line with the company’s objectives. Oversight usually involves a Project Management Professional, and it will require using specialised tools or software to coordinate multiple projects at once. A Portfolio PM will establish processes, use Project Management Software to organise teams and communicate with all stakeholders on a project.
PPM leaders are transparent in prioritising and assigning work to ensure there is no adverse effect on the portfolio. Regardless of a project manager’s leadership style, PPM software could improve a team's performance as they will have access to tools and information needed to do their jobs, such as a dashboard, a resource planning spreadsheet, a backlog, and tasks.
Including time tracking, budget management, and team collaboration tools, Smartsheet is a key PPM tool and single source used among organisations and PMOs looking to standardise how projects are executed among their teams. Not only does Smartsheet assist in project planning, tracking, and team coordination, it helps create resource inventories and calendars to help you build precise working plans. Tracking also means you can map projects to your strategy and provide visibility to key stakeholders.
If you are looking to improve productivity whilst saving time and money and would like to discuss your organisation and how a project planning and portfolio management solution can support you, get in touch with us today for a complimentary Discovery Call.