The rapid changes that have taken place in business over the past few years have necessitated a change in the way corporate business and IT projects are managed.
From the expertise and experience of personnel through to the involvement of management, ensuring the success of projects is more complex than ever.
"Portfolio and project management used to be a skill that was easily translated from one industry to another," says Pieter Meyer, chief operating officer of UMT Portfolio Management Experts SA.
"In the past, a person with expertise in project management best practices was in demand and could work in multiple industries. This free movement is becoming far less frequent today as project management becomes more of an industry-specific discipline, requiring the ability to understand the particular business processes and IT architectures in various markets."
Corporations today do not have the time or budget to train project managers and provide them with industry-specific skills. In fact, an increasing number are looking to contract portfolio and project managers that already possess the required skills and experience, posing a challenge to the portfolio and project management industry as specific skills are not always readily available.
Meyer explains that soft skills have become more important in portfolio and project management as a result. "People management and facilitation skills, for example, are a crucial competency required during the storming and forming phases of every project.
"It is therefore essential that persons seeking a career in portfolio and project management make an effort to obtain some sort of certification to assist them in better meeting the expectations of potential clients. Lack of experience can be overcome by adding an additional skill such as facilitation, or an industry-specific qualification."
People make or break projects
The lack of skilled staff is a problem every business faces, but it is not the only people issue causing hassles in today's project management industry. Meyer says one of the vital mistakes companies make is to ignore the importance of using the right people on portfolios and projects.
"Interpersonal relationships are one of the most important aspects of portfolio and project management. Culture, know how, common understanding, willingness and participation all play a mayor political role during the project lifecycle. The complexities of personality, culture, personal style, ability, experience and approach are all factors that can influence a project and need to be managed."
It is therefore imperative that the portfolio and project manager has the skill to manage these complexities in order to facilitate team building without losing sight of the ultimate goal of the project. In this scenario, the failure to appoint a dedicated, experienced project manager is one of the greatest contributors to project failure.
Aligned with business
On top of the skills dilemma, the alignment of projects with a company's strategic direction is also becoming critical. "Companies tend to restructure or re-align their strategic direction to cater for the demands of rapidly changing technology," adds Meyer. "However, about 75% of companies do not align their mission-critical objectives with their existing portfolio and project management efforts."
Any project undertaken must be consistent with an organisation's long-term goals and have a business rationale from the outset. A project's success or failure should be chartered as a contribution to the strategic business plan or to a balanced scorecard metric.
Many executives get involved in the project inception phase, but this commitment is seldom continued throughout project execution and is often non-existent at projects closure within portfolios. Management commitment and support for a project should begin in the boardroom and continue throughout the project lifecycle to ensure the business value of the project is delivered.
In summary, Meyer explains that to ensure project success, the business world must move from the practice of initiating projects without the approval or commitment of management, or a clear understanding of how it will add value to the bottom line and support business strategy. What is also needed is a well-documented scope definition with clearly defined deliverables that will facilitate the measurement of portfolios and projects success or failure.
And, as noted, failing to keep a keen eye on the people factor and ensuring human resources are retained, integrated and deployed in the most efficient manner can also lead to failure. Meyer concludes: "Of course, adherence to disciplined portfolio and project management practices and good communication strategies are always factors that add to the probability of success."
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