Project Management Discipline and Bellevue University

Imagine my surprise when I saw a LinkedIn article featuring my good friend Brian Grafsgaard. The article was an interview conducted by Dr. Rahim. Brian Grafsgaard was providing a good synopsis of how the project management profession has matured and why organizations are adopting the spectrum of the project management discipline. Brian aptly points out that project management provides a structured approach for implementing strategy through portfolio management while correctly selecting the correct projects to increase the value of the portfolio.

I one time heard Brian state that no corporation has a blank checkbook and that is why project portfolio can help companies. Brian continues this mantra but takes it a step farther to show how project, program, and portfolio should fit together seamlessly to create a culture that is consistently questioning and driving to constantly do the right projects and programs to delight customers and enhance the company's bottom line.

Do yourself a favor and read the article. It is a quick read and if you are like me, you will learn something! Take the risk and read it today.

PMI's Establishing benefits ownership and accountability

The last report in the 2016 Project Management Institute's Thoughts Leadership series is Establishing benefits ownership and accountability. The two basic premises for the report is to drive a value-driven culture and establishing accountability and responsibility.

Those companies that create a value-driven benefits realization culture have projects and programs aligned to strategic goals; have a method to maintain business benefits within projects and programs; know how to effectively use lessons learned to increase maturity; and finally, maintains transparency throughout the portfolio process. All these put together increases the company's corporate citizenship.

Corporate citizenship means that the employees feel secure enough to return budget when the project will underrun. This allows projects that are in trouble to receive the funds needed and/or start projects that were not envisioned to start until much later. Employees have confidence that they are working on projects that drive the company's bottom line by driving strategic goals. Therefore, these employees are confident that if their project is canceled or delayed they will have another project where their skills are needed. This increases transparency up and down the chain of command.

Accountability and responsibility go hand in hand with corporate citizenship and therefore, driving benefits management realization. Companies that have clear accountability and responsibility have an increased success with projects aligning with strategy. When employees see those that are responsible and drive benefits realization management, there is a clear sense of ownership in their projects.

Driving benefits management realization is not easy but with clear focus senior management can create a sense of corporate citizenship, responsibility, accountability and a value-driven corporation. This will set the company or organization apart in the industry. Check out the report for specific details and statistics for those companies that follow what PMI advocates.

Benefits Awareness in the C-suite

Those of us that have been in the project management discipline for many years continuously struggle to understand why the C-suite many times just does not get it. Whether it is implementing the right projects to increase the value of the strategic goals or just making sure the right skills are in place to staff the right projects those of us in portfolio management are constantly helping the C-suite see the value of our discipline. The Project Management Institute (PMI) every year at the PMO Symposium provides the attendees a series of Thought Leadership Reports. Today, I will be reviewing the Strengthening Benefits Awareness in the C-Suite: Benefits Realization Management which was done by PMI and The Economist Intelligence Unit for the 2016 PMO Symposium.

The report defines benefits realization management as the first item but what I found more conducive for someone in the C-suite is that the company that does benefits realization management well wastes 67% less money than those that implement strategy on a "wing and a prayer" so to speak. So why aren't C-suites running to implement portfolio management and all the benefits realization management it brings? The report seems to believe it is a lack of understanding that projects are what drive benefits realization which in turn means successfully implementing the company's strategy.

How could this be? Well, it could be said that C-suites do not like to be the first to implement something unless it has been shown to be effective. However, the fallacy to this was that in the 50s, 60s, and 70s portfolio management (granted it was called something different) was done by many successful companies and was valued by the C-suite. However, as projects became more and more difficult and the resources needed become more skilled, the ability to track it all became too expensive to track. In other words, the value that it once provided was being eaten by the overhead needed to track all the moving parts. The software was not cost effective at this point. So the art was lost for all practical purposes.

The report outlines four attributes for those that do benefits realization management well. The attributes are Perseverance, Communication, Ongoing monitoring, and embedding benefits realization management in project portfolio governance. So let's take each one. Perseverance - Anything that is worthwhile normally is not easy to implement and takes focus for it to be successful. Many times when things get hard middle management will give up or the C-suite does not see immediate results so the initiative is abandoned. Middle management and project managers must see the C-suite walking the talk, if not, benefits realization management will fail. Communication - What is it that the organization will do towards benefits realization management? What does it look like? Who is responsible? How is it doing? If the transparency is not there it will be difficult to have buy in. The best way for transparency is to be open with communications. Also, communications must be in many different forms. Think of email, newsletters, intranet sites, blogs, You Tube, and more.

Ongoing monitoring - If you don't measure it, it does not exist. You hear those words from quality managers all the time. Also, make sure you know what you want to measure and then measure it. Also, remember that the monitoring will be different over time. And going back to communication, communicate what you monitor and how benefits realization is doing the monitoring. Provide the good with the bad and what will be done to get back on track. Finally, embed benefits realization management into project portfolio governance. In my humble opinion, project portfolio governance does not exist unless there is benefits realization management in the process. The benefits realization management will vary between companies and industries. The project portfolio manager needs to work with the C-suite to understand what is worthwhile following. Remember you as the portfolio manager are the expert so you need to walk the C-suite through the process.

The Project Management Institute's leadership needs to go on a roadshow with companies that have been highlighted in the report. Until more is heard about benefits realization management, the project management discipline from those that have experienced an increase in ROI or the bottom line, those of us that deliver project portfolio management will continue to have an uphill battle with the C-suite.

Stay tuned for my perspective on the final of the three 2016 Thought Leadership Series: Establishing Benefits Ownership and Accountability.

Standards and Portfollo

I have always been one that takes the best aspects and novel ideas (that I later test) to develop portfolios for clients or ones that I have created and led. I was quite interested when I read a blog from MrPortfolio. He aptly pointed out that there are two standards that drive portfolios today. There is PMI's Standard for portfolios and then there is the Management of Portfolios (MOP). He aptly points out the differences and similarities between the two tomes.

He also touches on the certifications for portfolio. There is the PMI certification and one for the MOP. He suggests both or if you can only afford one then the MOP. He also states he is biased toward MOP. As an individual that has the PMI portfolio certification (PfMP) and intimately familiar with MOP but does not have the certification, I respectfully disagree.

I would contend it depends where you practice. If you do business in both the US and Europe, then I would suggest that you find the funds to have both certifications. If you practice mainly in the US, then stick with PMI's certification. PMI is quite well known in the US. However, if you practice mainly in Europe then the MOP should be the certification. You must cater to your clients and audience.

I wholeheartedly agree with MrPortfolio, that as a practitioner in the portfolio arena you NEED to know both documents. Each has its strengths and weaknesses. I will not bore you with those because MrPortfolio did a fine job of outlining them. Again, do what is right for your client or your company. Understand both, and you will in all likelihood develop a project portfolio that will help the organization meet its strategic objectives.

People Count

Mr. Dehaze, CEO Adecco Group, recently posted an article on LinkedIn discussing why companies need to move beyond Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). He advocates investing in people and reporting on this investment as pre-financial Key Performance Indicators (KPI). As a portfolio manager, you can be the key to drive these KPIs and show the value of people within the company.

You may wonder how? You, the portfolio manager have a unique view of the resources available within the company and/or organizations. You understand the capabilities and skills of the employees working on projects and programs. This understanding includes where there is a gap in needed resources or a gap in skill set. However, it goes farther.

There needs to be a sustainable model for those entering the job market and those already employed. When reviewing Adecco’s CSR report it is centered on people, within the company and outside the company. There are metrics on helping athletes, metrics on helping the new generation to become marketable, and many other people oriented metrics. Granted Adecco is a staffing agency, so its focus is people. But when you think about it, all companies are about people.

Portfolio management’s major task is resources and the major part of resources is people. The resources drive the value of the portfolio. By increasing the sustainability of the company through the promotion of people will increase the viability of the company. This, in turn, helps future generations.

You can help this pursuit by advocating the need to sustain people for now and the future. Are you a portfolio manager that will sustain the most valuable asset of a company?

Sponge vs. Trampoline

Recently Mark Langley, the CEO for the Project Management Institute, posted a Harvard Business Review (HBR) article on LinkedIn. The article was about listening. As kids and even many educators and academics tell us that active listening is about being silent while the person talks, giving visual and oral clues that acknowledges we are listening. And finally, paraphrasing what the person heard.

However, the HBR article equates this to being a sponge and really is not active listening and it does not help either party. What is suggested in the article is to be a trampoline vs. a sponge. The trampoline listener asks questions periodically that may include challenges to old concepts, provides a positive experience which includes suggestions (and criticisms), and are not defensive by any party.

Portfolio management is about being a trampoline. As a portfolio manager, your discussions with leadership should be about listening but actively asking questions about what you are hearing, challenging old styles of portfolio thinking and making suggestion. Will the leadership be open to this type of listening. Maybe not, but you don't know until you try.

Also, leadership will slowly come around to this style of active listening. Remember you must couple your trampoline listening with results. There is another part of the portfolio family that also needs trampoline listening, the project and program managers. The project and program managers provide updates to the portfolio manager. Your active listening will help to create and update a more realistic roadmap. You, the portfolio manager, need to understand how to provide the best value to the portfolio and this is done with benefit realization. To do this, the portfolio manager needs to have a keen understanding of the health and the resources for each project and program. This can only be done with trampoline listening.

So, will you continue to be a sponge or will you jump towards being a trampoline?

Incorporating Millennials

 

Millennials get a bad rap. Some think they are lazy because, let's face it after college they go live with their parents and do nothing. They always have some device in their hand. Don't be so quick to judge. This generation of young adults are the most educated of the last five generations. Many  have a graduate degree.

Think about the economy when the millennials graduated. Nobody was hiring. It was hard to find a job let alone a brand new graduate with no job experience. My take is that companies are short sighted.

Everything we do today involves technology and being able to get the tasks done in a responsible and ethical manner. Recently, I attended the UT Dallas PM Symposium. There were several presentations on the various generations and how to encourage collaboration between the generations and how to integrate the millennials into the work environment. Conrado Morlan was quite informative. He had many good ideas about integrating millennials.

One of the suggestions he had was to give the millennial the big picture. Millennials want to understand how their work fits into the organization. So, if you have a millennial in your portfolio or in your project explain that their task must be done on time because it affects tasks down the road. If the millennials task is late then potentially the entire project/program/portfolio is now behind schedule. A client will be upset which may delay or minimize payments and eventually could give the company a bad name which also affects the bottom line. Explain how a portfolio works to provide value to the company's strategies.

Millennials love technology. Work with the millennials to increase the technology savvy within the portfolio. Give the millennials tasks and then step out of the way. If they do not know how to solve believe me they will develop a work around by researching and blogging with other millennials. Develop a relationship and trust with the millennials on your team. You will be surprised at their competencies and willingness to push the company in the correct direction!

Portfolio Managers & the Internet of Things

Blogger Stacey Higginbothan aptly notes that the Internet of Things (IoT) is now a part of our everyday lives and will eventually cause upheaval across the mobile industry.


As a portfolio manager, will you be at the forefront of the IoT revolution?

Over the past decade, IoT evolved from an area that only IT personnel really understood or dabbled in to something widely understood—and invested in—by organizations around the world.

Look around. Today, IoT is changing industries and the way our appliances and apps work with each other, and us.

Manufacturing plants can use a mobile app to change a light bulb’s color based on the situation. So, for example, software can monitor how many returns are received and change the light’s color once a certain number is reached. The app can also change the bulb’s color when items have to be packaged, when there’s a safety situation or when deliveries arrive.

The opportunities are only limited by the imagination—and by which information can be measured or reported by an app. Imagine: a fire alarm is pulled, and all the lights in the facility change color.

Forward-thinking companies are taking full advantage of IoT and making a business of it. You may have seen advertisements for the Amazon Echo, which has been “married” with other IoT technologies to create new applications.

What It Means for Portfolio Managers

Having read all this, can you think how a portfolio manager might benefit from the IoT explosion? If you understand the enterprise picture of your company and industry, you’re in a good position to think about IoT applications that your company can use, or an IoT need that your company might fulfill for customers.

The portfolio manager is in a great position to ask questions about how IoT can revolutionize various projects/programs within the enterprise. What about partnering with another firm that produces something entirely different? Is there an area where your industry needs to reduce cost, increase safety or be more effective? Remember, you could ask the question that sparks the next big development in IoT.

Stay tuned for my next blog post, about how the IoT will impact the mobile industry.

This discussion was originally posted at ProjectManagement.com.