The rapid rate of change in the information technology industry and general business market has put an enormous strain on organisational resources, be it time, money, staff or materials. To make the best use of resources at all times, companies have turned to the discipline of portfolio, programme and project management (PPPM).
Effective PPPM streamlines the allocation of corporate resources by better organising work to flow horizontally across departments as well as vertically within a company. The PPPM discipline also ensures businesses have a dynamic analysis and reporting capability that enables a systematic, automated means of applying project alignment, risk, value plot and financial worth assessments to every task. It also includes the automation and enabling of current processes, methodologies, procedures and templates to standardise the delivery across the organisation.
"The PPPM process brings a structured approach to the use of project management skills, tools, software and techniques," says Pieter Meyer, Chief Operating Officer, UMT Portfolio Management Experts SA. "This is especially important in today`s business environment, where most project managers and project leaders need to deliver higher quality output faster, with fewer resources and very often with newly formed cross-functional teams.
"The challenge facing today`s PPPM stakeholders is to weave a web of new and improved project management practices. This web must be simple enough for all to understand and use to the benefit of planning, organising and controlling all projects launched to meet the objectives of business - within the constraints of time, cost and performance."
In order to facilitate the introduction, implementation and development of a uniform, dynamic and people-oriented project management discipline, it is essential to ensure the benefits of a professional PPPM web is spun within each organisation.
As most projects use staff members from both technology and business divisions, it is also important that resources be managed effectively. The ideal is a matrix management environment where technical and business participants develop common project and business goals.
"The only way to effectively manage PPPM jobs and ensure projects are run efficiently is what is known as the Enterprise Project Office, Portfolio and Programme Office or Integrated Project Offices (called EPI Offices)," adds Meyer. "Each of these offices has its own competencies regarding the overall measurements of portfolio and project delivery."
And setting up an EPI Office is not the only task management will have to face. PPPM goes beyond merely maintaining realistic expectation levels and completing projects within budget, scope, time and resource constraints. Companies that want to survive and thrive in this new world need to prepare their staff for the changes of operating in an environment focused on the achievement of clear and concise goals.
These changes include the need to train everyone to facilitate and participate in one or more high-performance project teams, using new applications driving and driven by team collaboration. This new world of work will be built around high performance and quality delivery at all times, in a culture of cross-functional skills and self-direction.
With the ever-increasing pace of change, huge technology advances and fierce global competition, companies are now forced to become more efficient. The nature of PPPM services provides the ideal environment for the elevation of the project management discipline to enhance existing services to current and future, as well as internal and external clients.
"PPPM is a must in any organisation that runs multiple projects and needs to provide validated and trusted management information," concludes Meyer. "To be effective, however, it must be supported by formal governance procedures accompanied by the proper enabling tools within the EPI Office."
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