Sometimes you master “the” latest ultra-sophisticated agile framework in fashion, but, the most basic fundamentals project portfolio management, management, strategy, or human relationships are overlooked. Newbie mistakes could be avoided with a Checklist to go through before you take off!
Lack of project selection and prioritization processes, misunderstanding of the concept, non-sanctioning of offsides, communication failures, negligence in monitoring and control...
According to you, What will be the most harmful mistake when starting to set up a project portfolio management approach?
You are going to be surprised!
We invite you to discover it with this “top 10" who puts forward ideas and feedback from CIO/PMO/CEO and pragmatic experts in the field. Objective: not to fall into (all) the pitfalls of organizational transformation.
Practical: The errors are classified from the most minor and acceptable 10, 9, 8 to the most blocking and harmful (1, 2, 3) for the transformation of your organization...
If you recognize certain weak signals, symptoms or syndromes in more than 5 errors, consult us... we have support services that will avoid a “false start” ^^ and even a guide to 10 best practices !
🎙 “An essential point in the transformation is the communication aspects. You can never communicate enough. In any case in a fairly targeted and effective way. Transformation is something that people can be afraid of. If we don't communicate, projects can be perceived as a risk.” Alexia Schmitt Centrimex Transformation and Information Systems Director invited to episode 22 of the CIO Revolution by AirSaaS Podcast.
Stakeholders should be properly informed and kept up to date on the progress of projects. Regular meetings, follow-up reports, and appropriate communication tools can clearly contribute to improving communication.
Problem: Teams, Email, Coproj, Copils, Codir...too many instances, too many hearings, too many channels and tools, you have forgotten or overlooked one of the key stakeholders targets. Nobody likes to discover that a project can be completed without them!
Yes It takes time to communicate well and to do it continuously... that's why we suggest relieving project managers, automating a non-strategic part of this process with a platform. Forget the human factor! Get help from platforms, we are in the 21st century!
We'll put you back in your mind just below the”Stake holder Map“, stakeholder matrix, which allows an initial approach to this process. One basis for reflection to formalize your strategy and don't forget any stakeholders, because There are always more than you think!
Bonus: From this map, establish the “why” clear of each of the actors can contribute to avoiding “the disaster” of internal communication. ^^
Nobody likes to bring bad news about the health of a project program, of a particular project...
In addition to reporting, the challenge is in collecting this information. We will therefore seek to facilitate the release of speech of the people involved so that they can communicate. transparently and continuously, so that they want to make the health status of projects legible With the informations keys to know behind the various status changes...
Talk about strategy in front of a spreadsheet ? Really?
Yes, you read that right! Some PMO/DG/DSI continue to digitize their project sheets and strategic project portfolios with a spreadsheet. Where theArt of losing your audience, your productivity and its priorities within several transformation projects.
We will say it again dear readers:
The project portfolio is (also) used to promote your activity and to convince your Codir/Comex, your investors! Because yes, the concept of IT marketing matters.
The importance of developing a Make it simple and MVP culture!
Let's call the culture agile, lean startup, product company, effective methods... it doesn't really matter!
The challenge is not to “over-specify”, to promise, to develop... to do not overconsume your human resources in the first place.
But on the contrary, learning to be satisfied with imperfect things, staying focused on the value and customers of do not create artificial “overcomplexity”, that famous organ fat!
In short, unlike the proliferation of projects... let's advocate a form of sobriety in the transformation!
Depolluting your project managers with fewer toxic sites and more cooperation will make your life easier and contribute to team continuity, a key factor in agility.
Feedback from a CIO as part of the CIO Revolution by AirSaaS podcast:”Have a dialogue with your CEO about capacity, remove this taboo.”
Congratulations, are your delivery teams super efficient on Jira? 👏
But are you having trouble following the progress of projects? And sometimes the perimeter is not well understood? That some projects get out of hand?
To overcome this “Project Governance/Project Delivery” alignment problem... we advise you to connect your tools.
For example, AirSaaS is integrated with Jira. Frame the project on AirSaaS, and once validated, connect it to your project on this platform.
The milestones will be synchronized and the progress will be reported directly on AirSaaS.
Each audience will benefit from an adapted view. The executive and operational staff will share a vision.
Without naming them all, here are some of these flagship software that your project managers work on and that you can connect to with AirSaaS: Project management and tasks: Wrike, Jira,...
Very large projects are complex and difficult to manage. Portfolio managers should Divide a large initiative into a set of small sub-projects. Setting up teams for small projects, giving them more clarity, autonomy, and comfort works better than managing a large complex project with overwhelmed team members.
Conversely, vYou don't want to execute too many projects and a lot of them remain incomplete in the portfolio. This not only results in the portfolio in terms of costs, resources, and timelines, but also compromises in the value provided to the business. The last thing you want to have are projects in your portfolios that are becoming irrelevant.
To get out of this way, adopt a fine cut and a prioritization in the quarter. By focusing on the quarters, you are putting projects into a corporate timeframe, which will give rhythm and facilitate commitment.
A project portfolio is used to see more clearly and to make tactical choices!
Generally, in larger organizations, projects are selected and financed by project sponsors and in turn managed under a project portfolio. Once they are taken care of for planning and execution, there are multiple ongoing projects in a portfolio. It is a typical error that we encounter at AirSaaS when prioritizing projects within a portfolio : there are no specific priorities assigned to projects! Teams continue to work on medium projects while critical projects are pushed back and start to go off the rails.
Know how to stop a project at the right time! An art for CIOs, project managers and PMOs.
Another common error in this same registry, when the management adds new projects to the portfolio without initial review. The famous “prince's act”, otherwise called the “boss's decision” effect.
Yes This “authoritarian” mode still has a bright future ahead of it.... sometimes the most refined processes are bypassed!
In these cases... the Managerial courage is required and if no reason focused on value is really given... change the company!
One of the most common mistakes in the PMO/Project Manager function. The side heterogeneous from the reporting point, from its contents, to its form, including its frequency.
Lose 4 days per month doing a Reporting for the Copil whose shape changes each time AND at a random frequency + or -.
As a result, decision-makers:
- Have had difficult to follow the progress, The famous question but where are we?
- Spend more time trying to understand The slides of the ppt that The background of the topics ...
- Don't read them..
Facilitate decision making ! A very small change full of common sense, which has big impacts. With AirSaaS you don't have No more excuses for not sending a good and nice flash report.
A bit like in a condominium meeting, your steering committee deserves a clear decision-making protocol!
However, it is clearly difficult to have an overview of the decisions to be made and the context synthesis of these.
And retrospectively without content, it is difficult to have the history of important decisions (taken or not taken) on this or that project. It's hard to understand how we got there...
The use of a platform will simplify governance for you (listing of decisions to be taken, CoPil view, etc.). You will no longer be taken aback because you do not have the right information.
Yes, it seems obvious... but sometimes, the basics are forgotten. Focus on milestones, decisions and points of attention versus micromanagement to task will put the The right level of height in your piloting.
Everyone is talking about decisions... But where are they? --> What if you had access to all the decisions to be made and key history during copil? “A kanban of decisions changes the life of a company”
Yes, that's where there is The most potential gains !
Around the tool, invest in thinking about key governance issues : rituals, roles, cooperation, management by milestones and decisions, transparency “by design”, overcoming vertical and horizontal silos, new management roles. In short, on all the axes of implementing a new cultural model.
And, to support this new role structure over the long term, training, support and coaching are “must have.”
Because when you think you have understood The concept of PPM and that we avoid, in order to go faster, support, even light, the risks of misunderstandings or there is too much precipitation! To name only one, the most classic... To think that the tool is magical and that it will make things happen by itself!
First, the PPM tool is just a tool (pleonasm!) It does not consist Not in one step !
To make this point well understood around you, use the metaphor of the knife (the tool) and the approach (The way to use it to cut a food or a finger! ).
One tool therefore cannot solve the problems inherent in the organization such as unclear project processes, a vague way of formalizing project requirements, undecided or even absent management, the absence of risk assessment and response planning, etc. As you know, the list of dysfunctions can be long!
At best, the PPM tool can be a a great catalyst for team members for project portfolio management, it can bring together project portfolio stakeholders, allow them to collaborate, provide more transparency with a automated communication, provide information on the project portfolio in a more meaningful way, highlight early warning indicators, etc.
We wish you and your team every success in this cultural transformation.
We hope you were interested in reading this article and its selection of 10 mistakes.
Setting up a project portfolio is a step review for companies wishing to transform and modernize their governance and project management. However, mistakes are normal, we don't do that every day! And don't worry, once in place... we don't do it again every year!
Setting up a project portfolio in a company is certainly an investment and can be complex if certain parameters are overlooked, and if too many mistakes are made by team members. By avoiding these 10 mistakes from the start, you will be able to ensure effective implementation and the success of your new governance, towards a more effective dynamic! To help you determine the right time to get started, we have prepared an article for you to know when to implement a project portfolio approach? Discover the feedback from a PMO on this process: The project portfolio to help employees and the organization grow.
