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Project Portfolio Management

This guide to ppm is brought to you by projectmanager, the project management software trusted by 35,000+ users worldwide..

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What Is a Project Portfolio?

What is project portfolio management (ppm), project portfolio management vs project management, the project portfolio management process, what does a project portfolio manager do, 5 project management processes for ppm.

  • Project Portfolio Management Software

Must-Have Features of Project Portfolio Management Software

How to use portfolio management software, project portfolio management roles & hierarchy, which industries and organizations benefit from ppm, project portfolio management (ppm) key terms.

A project portfolio is a collection of projects, programs and processes that are managed together and optimized for the financial and strategic goals of an organization. A portfolio can be managed at either the functional or the organizational level.

Unlike a project, which has a defined end goal or deliverable, a portfolio represents a more strategic planning commitment to continuously optimizing the allocation, prioritization and scheduling of resources across many projects.

Project portfolio management (PPM) is the analysis and optimization of the costs, resources, technologies and processes for all the projects and programs within a portfolio. Project portfolio management is typically carried out by portfolio managers or a project management office (PMO).

Related: 15 Free PMO Templates for Excel and Word

The key focus of PPM is to make sure that all the outcomes in the portfolio support the strategic goals and business objectives of the organization. The project portfolio manager or PMO does this through business analysis, reviewing budgets and forecasting while minimizing risk and managing stakeholder expectations.

Project portfolio management tools (PPM tools) are often used to collect and analyze that data to ensure that their project portfolio is aligned with the overall strategic planning and goals of the organization. ProjectManager has powerful, yet intuitive, tools for managing project portfolios. Track all your projects with a customized dashboard, manage your portfolio on a roadmap, even allocate resources across your projects. It’s easy to do all this and more with ProjectManager. Try it free.

ProjectManager's portfolio management summary showing several projects

ProjectManager’s portfolio dashboard is one of its many PPM tools .

In the hierarchy of business management, project portfolio management is the link between project management, which we will define briefly below, and enterprise management, which deals with the overriding vision, mission and strategic planning of the organization.

To understand where project portfolio management and project management differ, we must first define each and explore the areas where they diverge.

Project management is, quite simply, the management of a project. A project is a temporary endeavor that results in a product or service. It has a beginning and an end. Project goals are defined, and tasks are broken down into a schedule. Cost and budgets are set; resources are assigned, and stakeholders are reported to.

Project portfolio management, on the other hand, is a higher level approach that orchestrates, prioritizes and analyzes the potential value of many projects and programs in a portfolio to manage them simultaneously and optimize resource management. The goal of the portfolio management process is to manage and leverage the life cycle of investments, initiatives, programs, projects and outcomes to best reach the overall goals and objectives of an organization. Therefore, project management is a subset of project portfolio management. It leads to the ultimate objective, which is meeting the strategic goals of the organization.

There are five basic project portfolio management steps:

1. Define Business Objectives

Before you start thinking about portfolio management, you’ll need to understand your organization’s business objectives and strategic goals. The idea is that your project portfolio aligns with the strategic planning of your organization, so you’ll need to check if its financial objectives and customer value are good enough for your organization.

As a project portfolio manager you’ll need to reach an agreement about the strategic goals of the project portfolio with stakeholders, and then proceed to establish valuation criteria for project selection .

2. Collect Project Ideas for Your Portfolio

Once you’ve defined your portfolio’s strategic goals it’s time to start building it. To do so, you’ll need to start collecting projects. Those could be in-progress projects or project ideas that are similar enough to be managed simultaneously. Gather project management data and prepare the valuation criteria to choose the best.

3. Select the Best Projects for Your Portfolio

To determine which are your best projects for your portfolio, you’ll need to do a cost benefit analysis and use your valuation criteria. This valuation criteria will measure the amount of value that each project brings into the portfolio.

There are a variety of aspects that can go into the project selection scoring criteria, such as the payback period, net present value, or risk level.

4. Validate Project Portfolio Feasibility

Now that you’ve chosen the projects that are the best fit for your portfolio, it’s time to do a feasibility study that takes into account all the financial risks, capacity planning and resource management constraints.

Doing this will guarantee your project intake process prioritizes the best projects while also considering what is feasible considering the available resources of your organization.

5. Execute and Manage your Project Portfolio

Now you’ll need to coordinate the execution of the projects and programs in your portfolio simultaneously by working with project and program managers.

Related: Free Multiple Project Tracking Template for Excel

Project portfolio managers oversee the management of the project portfolio which includes approving or rejecting project and program ideas. They are responsible for getting a return on investment and meeting the goals and objectives of their organization. The project portfolio manager can be tasked with managing one or more portfolios.

The job is done by working with various portfolio management tools, financial algorithms and models to help the project portfolio manager align the projects to strategic goals of the organization. They are further guided by a set of valuation criteria and standards that help them through the portfolio management process.

Project portfolio managers are often involved with the PMO , which also sets the processes and standards for the portfolio. The project portfolio manager and PMO can also provide direction on what project management methodologies are used, whether traditional waterfall or an agile framework, when managing the project.

Project portfolio management requires a balance of resources, time, skills, budgets, risk mitigation and running the projects in the portfolio frugally and expediently without sacrificing quality. Managers do this through the use of five key project management processes.

  • Change Management : Identifying and prioritizing change requests. These can be feature requests, business strategy, regulatory requirements, etc., based on business strategy, capacity planning, demand, financial and operational constraints.
  • Risk Management : Identifying risks in projects that make up the portfolio, and developing a risk management plan to mitigate uncertainty within the project portfolio.
  • Financial Management: Managing financial resources related to the projects in the portfolio and demonstrating financial results of the portfolio in relation to the organization’s business goals and strategic objectives.
  • Pipeline Management: Ensuring project proposals are in the pipeline and using valuation criteria to determine if they’re worth executing.
  • Resource Management : Efficiently and effectively using an organization’s limited resources, from materials and equipment to people and financial resources.

Project portfolio management software is a tool that’s designed to centralize the management and maintenance of a project management portfolio. With the increasingly large amount of data now associated with a single project, let alone a portfolio, the use of portfolio management software has become a necessity for project managers.

Project management training video (7y5z887r5q)

Portfolio managers and project management offices (PMOs) use portfolio management software to gather data, analyze information and use the results to better manage the portfolio and achieve the goals of their organization. Typical PPM software offerings are also used for portfolio optimization to better achieve the financial goals of the organization. Managers or PMOs use portfolio management software to find complementary processes, methods and technologies that will help each project succeed and the portfolio flourish. Microsoft Project is one of the most commonly used project management software, but it has major drawbacks that make ProjectManager a better choice for project management, program management and portfolio management.

Desktop vs. Online Project Portfolio Management Software

Managing a portfolio is like keeping many plates spinning at once. To keep up, you need robust project portfolio management software. The question is, what kind should you go for?

In terms of features, desktop and online software applications, at this point, are on an even playing field. It depends on the product, of course; but for the most part, both offer similar PPM tools. The major differences are price, security and speed. For example, desktop portfolio management software tends to cost more and require a license for each team member to use. This can add up.

Pros of Desktop PPM Software

Security on a desktop, even one linked to an office intranet, is likely better than many online services. Performance for a cloud-based software depends on your internet connection, and if your service goes out you’re out of luck. This, obviously, is not a concern for desktop apps.

Pros of Cloud-Based PPM Software

Online apps are monopolizing the project management sector, and for good reason; they excel at connectivity, collaboration and real-time data. So long as your team has an internet connection, they can use the tool—no matter where they are. This creates a platform where even distributed teams can work together anywhere and at any time. As teams update their status, you get live data that is more accurate and timely to help make effective decisions.

Gantt Charts icon

See All Your Projects Together

A Gantt chart is a visual tool that helps plan and schedule a project, but it can also be used as a roadmap to view all the projects in your portfolio on a single timeline. This helps managers find synergy between projects and work to make the portfolio more effective and efficient.

Gantt Charts image

Get Live Data Across Portfolio

Being able to monitor your project portfolio is key to keeping it on track. A portfolio dashboard collects information on all your projects, calculates that data and then displays it in easy-to-read graphs and charts that can be read at a glance.

Dashboards image

Use Detailed Data to Make Better Decisions

Better data leads to better strategies when managing your portfolio. Managers need a tool that can mine information from their project portfolio and present them with detailed reports. Being able to share and filter those reports to target the information your stakeholders want to see is also key.

In-Depth Reports image

Keep Team’s Tasks Balanced

Project portfolios work at the task level. To get the level of performance you need, your teams have to have the right number of tasks. Balancing their workload keeps your portfolio progressing as planned, so you need a portfolio tool with a feature to track who’s working on what.

Resource Management image

Easy Change of Assignments

If you’re using the roadmap or dashboard, and see that there’s a need to reassign a task, the last thing you want is to have to go into another application to adjust a project in your portfolio. With a task management feature, you can stay in one tool.

Task Management image

View Your Portfolio in Real Time

The sooner you know something, the faster you can act. This can make the difference between taking advantage of an opportunity and missing a deadline. With online portfolio management software, you see what’s happening as it happens and can respond quickly to take advantage.

Live Data image

Projects are hard enough to manage, and a portfolio of them even more so. It’s many times more complex and requires robust project portfolio software. In this section, we will use ProjectManager as an example on how to use portfolio management software. If you want to follow along, then sign up for a free 30-day trial of ProjectManager. Once you’ve got our PPM software up and running, follow these steps.

1. Set Goals & Objectives

Having goals and objectives for your project portfolio is important, as it gives portfolio managers a target to hit when trying to increase their return on investment and keep risk at bay.

Start by writing down the goals and objectives for each project in your portfolio. There will likely be a number of detailed project management documents describing these projects. Attach them to our portfolio management software, which has unlimited file storage.

A screenshot of ProjectManager’s PPM tools unlimited file storage window

2. Group Related Projects

Grouping projects in a portfolio and creating reports around them collectively, rather than individually, gives portfolio managers the data they need to make better business decisions about costs, resources and more.

Keep all the projects in your portfolio together in our overview section. Compare status, budget and more of everything in your portfolio, all in one place. Now you can use resource allocation to boost one of the projects that might be underperforming.

A screenshot of ProjectManager’s project portfolio management tool, which displays multiple projects at once

3. Create Milestones

Milestones mark the end of one major phase and the beginning of another. They can be easily inserted on the Gantt chart, where they’re represented by a diamond symbol.

Set milestones and break up your projects into more manageable parts. This boosts the team’s morale by giving them a series of successes as they work through their tasks. Managers can use milestones as a means to measure progress.

4. Set Dependencies

Tasks are not all the same. Some can’t start until another has finished, or must start or finish at the same time as another. It’s important to know which of your tasks are dependent to keep the portfolio healthy.

Link dependent tasks by dragging one to the other to avoid blocking teams. This prevents these dependent tasks from falling through the cracks during the execution of the project. Once you have set dependencies, you can filter by critical path .

5. View Roadmap

When managing a portfolio, it’s important to keep the big picture in sight. Without it you can easily get lost in the weeds and fall behind schedule.

Keep goal-minded with the roadmap tool, which places all the projects in your portfolio on one Gantt chart. See every project on a timeline and quickly discern if there are any conflicts and resolve them before they interfere with the goals and objectives of your organization.

A screenshot of ProjectManager’s PPM roadmap view, which shows all the projects in your portfolio together on a timeline

6. Balance Resources

Workload represents what your team has been assigned, in terms of their tasks. If you overburden one team member, they’ll not be as productive and morale will suffer.

See the planned effort for every team member working across your portfolio in a color-coded chart that shows who has too many hours assigned and who has too few. Then you can reallocate their hours right from the same page, improving efficiencies.

A screenshot of ProjectManager.com’s PPM workload page, showing team member’s task load and labor costs

7. Track Portfolio Progress

A dashboard is a tool that graphically depicts various project metrics, so you can see how your project is performing. It’s a high-level view that can alert you of issues to address before they become problems.

Use our cloud-based dashboard to see your portfolio’s progress in real time. Mini-dashboards appear for each project that offer important metrics such as progress, budget and costs. You can also customize the dashboard to show only certain projects, and you can create reports based on projects that are filtered in this manner.

ProjectManager’s dashboard view, which shows six key metrics on a project

8. Analyze & Present Reports

Status reports are a way to measure the current state of your project. They communicate important data to stakeholders, keeping them updated. They also maximize portfolio performance.

Use the built-in reporting tool for a deep dive into project data to see progress and measure performance. A portfolio status report is perfect for stakeholder presentations. If they have questions, the status report can be filtered to bring up just the information they’re interested in.

ProjectManager's portfolio management status report

9. Collaborate with Stakeholders

Collaboration means working together to increase productivity. This can be at the task level for teams, or on an executive level. Ideally, it’s practiced throughout every department in an organization.

Project portfolio managers have the tools they need to stay in touch with every project manager leading a project in your portfolio. Get in touch with anyone by tagging them in a comment. They’ll get an email notification. Alerts can be customized, so your inbox doesn’t get cluttered.

Task list in ProjectManager

Project Portfolio Management Tools

With software moving from the desktop to the cloud, project portfolio management grew more efficient and effective. Some of the features that serve portfolio managers are the following:

  • Online Gantt Charts
  • Real-Time Dashboards
  • Shared Calendars
  • Time Tracking and Timesheets
  • Project Groups
  • Dynamic Reporting
  • Collaborate with Remote Teams
  • Resource Management

The following is a hierarchical listing of the team members involved in managing and executing a project portfolio.

  • Board Member: Members of the board are responsible for governing an organization and bear the legal responsibility for the organization. Their skills and experience help guide the organization to achieve its vision.
  • Project Portfolio Manager: This individual manages the plans, development and implementation of the portfolio, keeping in mind best practices to make sure that the portfolio is performing as expected and right what is preventing that.
  • Program Manager: Programs differ from portfolios in that all the projects collected under it are related. Therefore the program manager’s role is similar to that of the portfolio manager, coordinating the projects in the program to work together to achieve their shared objective.
  • Project Sponsor: This position is usually held by a manager or an executive who is tasked with being accountable for the project. They are the hub that connects the project to the business and those responsible for making large strategic decisions for the organization.
  • Project Owner: This person is the one who is usually working with the sponsor and is responsible for the project’s implementation. Therefore, they usually come from the business unit that is getting the final deliverable for the project.
  • Project Manager: They are responsible for the planning, scheduling, monitoring and reporting of a project. They also assemble and lead a team hired to execute the plan. They build the budget, manage resources, etc.
  • Project Coordinator: Working under the project manager, they take smaller tasks off the project manager’s desk to free them up for larger managerial responsibilities. Mostly, this means that the project coordinator is handling administrative duties.
  • Team Member: Hired because of skills and experience related to the project, these individuals are assigned tasks and oversee their completion. They meet regularly with the project coordinator or project manager, to whom they update their status.

Any industry that is working on multiple projects at the same time benefits from the discipline of project portfolio management. Obviously, that’s a lot of industries and organizations.

Some of the industries and organizations that are reaping the rewards from using project portfolio management include:

  • Computer software
  • Hospitals and healthcare
  • Construction, automotive
  • Financial services and banking
  • Service and staffing recruiting
  • Telecommunications
  • Government administration

The following is a mini-glossary of project portfolio terms that have been used in this guide.

  • Portfolio Management: Controlling a portfolio of projects to make sure they align with the overall strategic goals and objectives of an organization.
  • Program Management: Managing a portfolio of projects with the same aim as portfolio management, only the projects in the portfolio are all similar or related.
  • Project Management: Planning, executing, monitoring and reporting on one project, from start to finish, including controlling scope, costs and schedule.
  • Project Management Office (PMO): Group within an organization that’s tasked with maintaining standards for project management within that organization, often oversells portfolio and program management.
  • Change Control Management: Process to identify and successfully respond to change in a project or portfolio.
  • Portfolio Reporting: Creating charts, graphs and other reporting documentation to communicate progress and other portfolio metrics.
  • Risk Management: Identifying and resolving risk before it happens and after.
  • Resource Management: The process of allocating resources throughout the life cycle of the portfolio.
  • Pipeline Management: Making decisions for estimating and selecting which projects to fund that align with an organization’s strategy.
  • Financial Management: Understanding each project’s unique risk and using this knowledge to make decisions across the entire portfolio.

All these factors and more make it clear that project portfolio management is a methodology that can serve any organization with a portfolio of projects. And, with ProjectManager , you have the best PPM tool in the market to fully take advantage of all these business benefits.

Sign up for your free 30-day trial and start managing your portfolios better.

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Project Portfolio Management Resources

  • Project Closure Template
  • RACI Matrix Template
  • Communications Plan Template
  • Best Project Portfolio Management Rankings
  • Project Management Trends (2022)
  • 5 Benefits in Adopting PPM (Project Portfolio Management)
  • What do Portfolio Managers do?

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PPM 101: What Is Project Portfolio Management?

What is project portfolio management (ppm).

Project portfolio management (hereafter referred to as “PPM”) is a critical component for executives and senior managers to execute strategy. According to Mark Morgan , “there is simply no path to executing strategy other than the one that runs through project portfolio management”. In fact, projects are “the true traction point for strategic execution”. Furthermore, David Cleland states in the book Project Portfolio Management: Selecting and Prioritizing Projects for Competitive Advantage by Lowell D. Dye  and James S. Pennypacker that “projects are essential to the survival and growth of organizations. Failure in project management in an enterprise can prevent the organization from accomplishing its mission. The greater the use of projects in accomplishing organizational purposes, the more dependent the organization is on the effective and efficient management of those projects. Projects are a direct means of creating value for the customer in terms of future products and services. The pathway to change will be through development and process projects. …With projects playing such a pivotal role in future strategies, senior managers must approve and maintain surveillance over these projects to determine which ones can make a contribution to the strategic survival of the company”. Every Project Management Office (PMO) should be heavily involved with project portfolio management.

The Distinction Between Project, Program, and Portfolio Management

Before diving into the details of project portfolio management, let’s provide a brief overview of the difference between projects, programs, and portfolios.

  • PORTFOLIO : a portfolio is a collection of projects and programs
  • PROGRAM : a program is a collection of related projects and other work that share common objectives and are better managed collectively
  • PROJECT : a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result with defined scope resources, and schedule.
Project portfolio management is a senior leadership discipline that drives strategic execution and maximizes business value delivery through the selection, optimization, and oversight of project investments which align to business goals and strategies

Portfolio Management Definitions

First, project portfolio management must be defined. Several definitions of PPM from authoritative resources are given below and provide a balanced view to the subject of portfolio management. Without a complete understanding of PPM, the benefits mentioned above will be reduced.

According to the Project Management Institute (PMI ® ), project portfolio management is the “centralized management of one or more portfolios that enable executive management to meet organizational goals and objectives through efficient decision making on portfolios, projects, programs and operations.”

The Stanford Advanced Project Management series offers a concise definition of PPM: “Portfolio management is the strategy-based, prioritized set of all projects and programs in an organization reconciled to the resources available to accomplish them”.

The Association for Project Management defines portfolio management as “the selection, prioritization and control of an organisation’s projects and programs in line with its strategic objectives and capacity to deliver. The goal is to balance change initiatives and business-as-usual while optimizing return on investment”.

Gaylord Wahl of Point B provides another angle of portfolio management: “Project portfolio management applies the tools and discipline of financial management to product/project management, taking into account: investment strategy, risk, ROI, growth/profitability, balance, diversification, and alignment to goals.”

Acuity PPM defines portfolio management as “a senior leadership discipline that drives strategic execution and maximizes business value delivery through the selection, optimization, and oversight of project investments which align to business goals and strategies”. PPM is about maximizing and delivering value .

What Is the Project Portfolio Management Lifecycle?

Based on the information above, project portfolio management can be broken down into four basic components: selecting the right projects, optimizing the portfolio, protecting the portfolio’s value, and improving portfolio processes. In order to implement portfolio management, we must understand PPM at this highest level. These four components are represented in the diagram below, but it is important to understand that these four lifecycle steps occur in parallel with each other, but for the purpose of understanding  portfolio management, we can define four distinct lifecycle steps.

1) Define the Portfolio — Defining the portfolio includes process such as ideation, work intake , and Phase-Gate to select projects that align with strategic objectives. Part of portfolio definition requires the governance team to define portfolio parameters such what types of projects to include (e.g. operational projects, strategic projects, or both), the dollar threshold at which point projects should be included in the portfolio. At the beginning of implementing portfolio management, it is important for the governance team to decide what a project is and then define which types of projects belong in the portfolio. This results in the portfolio containing a higher percentage of winning projects.

2) Optimize Portfolio Value —this involves all the steps necessary to construct an optimal portfolio given current limitations and constraints (e.g. prioritization , resource capacity planning , portfolio planning, etc.). Portfolio optimization involves intermediate to advanced processes to maximize the value of the portfolio. Governance teams first need to establish Work Intake processes and be able to say no to new requests. Once basic governance is established, it is possible to truly optimize the portfolio. By definition, portfolio optimization means working within current limitations and constraints, and in practice it requires governance teams to reject lower value work in order to increase the overall value of the portfolio.

3) Protect Portfolio Value —during the execution of an optimized portfolio, the aggregate project benefits (portfolio value) must be protected. This occurs by monitoring projects, assessing portfolio health, and managing portfolio risk . It is not enough merely to initiate good projects, senior leadership plays an important role in ensuring that projects meet their intended objectives and deliver the expected value. Some of this responsibility falls on the project sponsor and project steering committee, but the portfolio governance team plays an even greater role to ensure that resources are available for in-flight work, there are no competing priorities that frustrate project completion, and portfolio level risks are addressed.

4) Deliver Portfolio Value —Part of this lifecycle phase involves benefits realization processes to ensure that portfolio value is delivered by comparing expected benefits with actual benefits. This requires teams to proactively measure project performance post-completion. Many companies do not devote resources to benefit realization and therefore miss an opportunity to compare expected benefits against actual benefits. In addition, delivering portfolio value involves improving PPM maturity as higher maturity translates into a greater realization of the benefits of portfolio management. Lastly, ongoing process improvement can improve portfolio delivery.

What Are The Important PPM Capabilities?

Project portfolio management is a multi-faceted strategic discipline that includes a number of capabilities. Each of these capabilities is covered in more detail in the presentation at the bottom of the page. Portfolio Managers are needed to both develop and oversee these processes.

  • Ideation – the process to generate and affinitize a list of new project ideas. The goal is to collect the best ideas from the organization to generate higher quality projects.
  • Work Intake – refers to the steps of developing a project proposal and bringing it to the governance board for a go/no-go decision.
  • Phase-Gate – a governance structure to evaluate, authorize, and monitor projects as they pass through the project lifecycle.
  • Prioritization – the process of evaluating project value in order to assign resources to the most important projects and start work at the appropriate time
  • Portfolio Optimization – refers to optimization techniques used to identify the optimal grouping of projects that maximize the risk-adjusted portfolio value at a given budgetary level
  • Portfolio Planning – the process to optimize the sequencing and timing of approved projects based on resource constraints and dependencies
  • Resource Capacity Planning – the process of comparing future resource utilization of project resources against available capacity to do work
  • Portfolio Risk Management – assesses the risk nature of projects and manages portfolio level risks
  • Portfolio Communication – processes to communicate about all aspects of project and portfolio progress
  • Portfolio Reporting and Analytics – processes to analyze and report against the value and progress of the portfolio
  • Portfolio Value Management – processes to evaluate, measure, and track project benefits at the portfolio level
  • Project Monitoring – processes to measure and track project health and performance
  • Portfolio Governance – the decision making process to select and prioritize project work

When Is It Time To Implement PPM?

There are several signals for when companies should implement project portfolio management.

  • The first indicator for when companies should implement PPM is when they start managing multiple projects. Senior leadership should get visibility of the project portfolio right away; this is important for managing strategy execution and guarding against low value projects.
  • If it is hard to get work done, there are competing priorities (or the priorities change often), and resources are overworked, this is another good indicator to implement basic portfolio management practices.
  • If the organization is overloaded with work, and priorities are unclear, this is another indicator to adopt portfolio management practices.
  • Senior leaders who want to improve their strategy execution should institute basic portfolio management rigor.

Get Answers to Fundamental Questions

Project portfolio management provides answers to eight fundamental questions:

  • What are we working on?   You cannot manage what you cannot see. Organizations with little or no portfolio management discipline may be running far more projects than they realize, or even worse, may be managing duplicate project efforts and not even realize it. Getting visibility of all project work is the first major benefit of tracking your project portfolio. This helps senior leadership eliminate redundant projects and save money.
  • Do we have the right projects?   After getting visibility of all project work, the leadership team can begin to evaluate whether they have the right projects in the portfolio. This requires establishing good criteria for what constitutes a “good” project. Leadership should also develop an intake process to evaluate and approve the right project work.
  • Where are we investing money and people?   Without good portfolio level metrics and analytics, senior leadership may be blind to where they are investing resources across the portfolio. There are many ways to evaluate where money and people are being invested. This is why it is important to categorize projects. One common approach is “Run”, “Grow”, and “Transform”. Categories such as these can greatly inform leadership of how many money is being spent to run the business versus growing or transforming the business.
  • Is our portfolio optimized? Optimizing a portfolio requires understanding the various budgetary or resource constraints of the organization. This is an advanced process to ensure the greatest “bang for the buck”. Portfolio optimization happens on multiple levels such as cost-value optimization, resource optimization, schedule optimization, and work-type optimization.
  • Can we realistically deliver the portfolio? This is an important question that senior leadership needs answers for. When companies do not operate within known resource constraints and/or do not have realistic project plans in place, it is impossible to successfully deliver the portfolio of work according to plan.
  • How are we performing? Understanding actual portfolio performance is critical for senior leadership to successfully and consistently “deliver the goods”. This includes project status, but goes beyond the individual project status report and requires an aggregate portfolio view of project performance in order to get an accurate picture of how the portfolio is performing.
  • Can we absorb all the change? Even if resources are managed well and good project plans are in place, if a lot of projects try to implement multiple changes to the same stakeholder group at the same time, that organization or company may not be able to absorb and handle all the changes coming at them. Good portfolio management will monitor whether the organization can absorb all the changes.
  • Did we get the benefits we intended? This refers to benefit realization and is an important topic. In order to know whether the benefits were realized after the project, the leadership team needs to understand what the benefits are before the project starts and track them throughout the project lifecycle.

By implementing project portfolio management, your company can get answers to these questions faster and with greater confidence.

What Are The Benefits of Portfolio Management?

Companies that do successfully implement project portfolio management (PPM) reap several benefits, listed below:

  • Greater strategic execution resulting in the accomplishment of more business goals and objectives of the organization
  • Maximized portfolio value for the organization
  • Enhanced decision making processes resulting in better decisions
  • Successful management of organizational change
  • Greater visibility of projects in the organization
  • Higher success rate of projects within a complex environment
  • Reduced organizational risk
  • Balanced project portfolio workload

These benefits are real, but require leadership to endorse portfolio management practices and follow defined procedures in order to get organizational buy-in and support.

Acuity PPM Project Portfolio Management Software

Acuity PPM is an excellent lightweight project portfolio management solution that replaces spreadsheets. Acuity PPM helps you track project performance, report project and portfolio status to senior leaders, manage and prioritize incoming project requests, visualize strategic roadmaps, allocate resources and manage resource capacity. All of this helps enable strategic agility in a changing environment.

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If you have questions about portfolio management or need expert help, contact us today.

Tim is a project and portfolio management consultant with 15 years of experience working with the Fortune 500. He is an expert in maturity-based PPM and helps PMO Leaders build and improve their PMO to unlock more value for their company. He is one of the original PfMP’s (Portfolio Management Professionals) and a public speaker at business conferences and PMI events.

An Overview of PPM

This presentation will teach you the foundational principles of PPM.

For a free copy of this presentation, just sign up now.

What is a project portfolio?

A project portfolio is a defined set of projects and programs within an organization that is better managed as a collective set of work to accomplish strategic goals.

What is project portfolio management?

Project portfolio management is a senior leadership discipline that drives strategic execution and maximizes business value delivery through the selection, optimization, and oversight of project investments which align to business goals and strategies.

What is the portfolio management lifecycle?

The portfolio management lifecycle includes four essential elements. 1) Define the Portfolio— Processes to define portfolio parameters and select projects that align with strategic objectives. This results in the portfolio containing a higher percentage of winning projects. 2) Optimize Portfolio Value—all the steps necessary to construct an optimal portfolio given current limitations and constraints (e.g. prioritization, resource capacity planning, portfolio planning, etc.) 3) Protect Portfolio Value—during the execution of an optimized portfolio, the aggregate project benefits (portfolio value) must be protected. This occurs by monitoring projects, assessing portfolio health, and managing portfolio risk. 4) Deliver Portfolio Value—Ensure that portfolio value is delivered by comparing expected benefits with actual benefits. Improving PPM maturity translates into a greater realization of the benefits of portfolio management.

What are important project portfolio management capabilities?

The full breadth of project portfolio management includes several important capabilities including: ideation, work intake, Stage-Gate, prioritization, portfolio optimization, portfolio planning, resource capacity planning, portfolio risk management, portfolio communication, portfolio reporting and analytics, portfolio value management, project monitoring, and portfolio governance.

What are the benefits of project portfolio management?

Companies that do successfully implement project portfolio management (PPM) reap several benefits: 1) Greater strategic execution resulting in the accomplishment of more business goals and objectives of the organization 2) Maximized portfolio value for the organization 3) Enhanced decision making processes resulting in better decisions 4) Successful management of organizational change 5) Greater visibility of projects in the organization 6) Higher success rate of projects within a complex environment 7) Reduced organizational risk 8) Balanced project portfolio workload

What are important project portfolio management questions to answer?

1. What are we working on? 2. Do we have the right projects? 3. Where are we investing money and people? 4. Is our portfolio optimized? 5. Can we realistically deliver the portfolio? 6. How are we performing? 7. Can we absorb all the change? 8. Did we get the benefits we intended?

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  • Project management |

Project portfolio management 101

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Project portfolio management helps you organize data and highlight crucial information during project life cycles inside each portfolio, which saves time and increases efficiency. In this article, learn how you and top-level executives can get a bird’s-eye view of all your business project life cycles and remove barriers to high-level performance.

If you manage various initiatives across different teams and departments, you know how hard capturing and sharing results can be. 

Project management tools offer a way to organize and execute work for one initiative, but you need project portfolio management to gain clarity across teams and departments.

Your team needs structure, and your stakeholders need to see results. Project portfolio management is the brain of the operation. This organizational model helps you organize data and highlight important details during project life cycles within an entire portfolio of projects.

What is project portfolio management (PPM)?

Project portfolio management (PPM) is the centralized management of multiple projects. With project portfolio management, you gain visibility across projects and initiatives to connect your team’s daily to-dos with your company’s organizational strategy. 

In other words, it’s a method to “bridge the gap between strategy and implementation,” according to the Project Management Institute (PMI).

The value of PPM lies in uncovering and prioritizing projects that offer the best return on investment. Then, follow up by implementing the resources necessary to take them on.

How does project portfolio management work?

Once the project selection process has concluded, the project portfolio management (PPM) group actively monitors the entire portfolio of projects to ensure alignment with the organizational goals. In larger organizations, this strategic alignment is often coordinated through a project management office (PMO) or an enterprise PMO for organizations with multiple PMOs assigned to separate projects.

Poorly performing projects require immediate attention as they can negatively impact the performance of other initiatives within the portfolio of projects. Here, the PPM group, or PMO, is tasked with assessing each project's feasibility and making tough choices about the best project to advance or pause. These decision-makers are responsible for maintaining a balance between individual project success and the collective health of the entire portfolio, making sure each contributes positively and maximizes business value.

Project portfolio management vs. project management

Both project management and portfolio management are subsets of work management , which is a systematic approach to coordinating work throughout your organization—from projects and ongoing processes to routine tasks—to drive clarity.

[inline illustration] Project portfolio management vs. project management (infographic)

Project management is ideal for:

Planning, managing, and executing one specific initiative

Team collaboration for one project

Assigning roles and responsibilities for the project team

Task management

Project portfolio management is great for:

Managing multiple projects and large-scale initiatives

Coordinating across cross-functional teams

Assessing the best projects for your organization and resources

Organizing, forecasting, and tracking your team’s priorities

Easily visualizing progress across initiatives for executive stakeholders

Clearly defining and connecting daily work to strategic planning objectives

Staying on top of business goals

Risk management and mitigation

Why is project portfolio management important?

Project portfolio management acts as a gatekeeper between your team’s time and the influx of potential projects. The goal is to assess which projects will generate the highest return on investment and which are aligned with organizational goals. 

Without the oversight of project portfolio management, your team may take on too many projects simultaneously. This can result from improper resource allocation or a disorganized project manager, leading to bottlenecks and inefficiencies in the system, which is a clear indication of poor portfolio management. 

Instead, think of PPM as your personal mission control dashboard. It keeps everything accessible, so the quality of work stays high and each team can hit their goals.

In short, project portfolio management keeps your business agile.

What industries benefit from project portfolio management?

Project portfolio management frees up time and streamlines efficiency across teams. When your company manages different projects simultaneously, staying organized is non-negotiable. Project portfolio management is not geared toward any specific industry—if your company handles a portfolio of projects, your team will benefit from PPM.

Popular industries that benefit from good project portfolio management include:

Information technology

IT teams often have large budgets with smaller teams. Keeping an eye on your team’s workflow prevents errors and over-utilization. Keep tasks on time and use data to drive profitability.

Marketing teams often need their attention on many moving pieces. From e-commerce to websites, there is a lot to keep track of. Keeping the pulse on the company’s objectives as a whole rather than one piece of the puzzle makes project portfolio management ideal.

Construction

Project portfolio management is incredibly beneficial in the construction industry, especially in meeting regulatory requirements and executing the strategic planning of resources and timelines. Every phase of a construction project demands careful sequencing and adaptation to changes throughout the project life cycle. Project portfolio management supports the team while keeping an eye on the whole picture.

Financial services

Precision is the cornerstone of the financial services industry. There is no room for error between banks, credit unions, and credit card companies. Adapting and utilizing project portfolio management ensures that quotas are met, documents are accounted for, and teams are equipped with the tools necessary to get the job done right.

Portfolio manager responsibilities—and other PPM roles

Just like project management, there are some key PPM roles and responsibilities. With these roles, you can ensure everyone understands their responsibilities within the project team and every other team member. 

The project portfolio manager

As you might expect, the project portfolio manager is the person creating and managing the project portfolio. 

As the project portfolio manager, you may not be the project manager for the entire portfolio of projects, but it’s your job to ensure the projects within your portfolio are up-to-date and have relevant recent status updates. You are responsible for keeping tabs on each project life cycle and providing support where needed. Plan to check in frequently with individual project managers to develop a cadence for project status reporting .

The executive stakeholders

Executive stakeholders are any team members or company executives who need a high-level view of what’s happening across the portfolio’s initiatives. For example, if you’re managing a team within the marketing department, the CMO, or head of marketing, might be an executive stakeholder in your portfolio.

The program manager

A program manager has a similar role to a project portfolio manager. The main difference between the two roles and management techniques is that a program manager is in charge of related projects, while a project portfolio manager might not be. 

For example, a program manager might manage multiple projects related to a specific product marketing launch. In contrast, a project portfolio manager would manage multiple projects within the marketing department, which might not be directly connected.

The project manager

Yes, there are still project managers in project portfolio management! Project managers can own individual projects within the larger portfolio. The project portfolio manager may also own and manage some projects, depending on the size and scope of the portfolio.

The project team members

Everyone working on the projects in the portfolio is part of the project team . Your project team may be a cross-functional group of members from various departments within your company, or they could be traditional team members. The main difference between a “project team” and a “team” is that a project team is a group that works together for the duration of a project before disbanding.

The benefits of project portfolio management

Project portfolio management is part of a larger system of work: work management . When used correctly, PPM helps you and relevant decision makers get a bird’s-eye view to make better strategic planning decisions. Teams that use project portfolio management software benefit from:

Increased visibility

Added strategic alignment

High-level, holistic planning and forecasting

At-a-glance insights

More time for creative and strategic work

Real-time project progress

Quicker decision-making

Project data automation

Gain clear reasoning for project methodology

Project portfolio management software

To get the best results from project portfolio management software , you need a tool that keeps your strategy and daily to-dos connected, provides a quick overview, and updates in real-time. 

There are three must-have project portfolio management software features:

1. Real-time project status updates

One principal value of project portfolio management is the ability to get an overview of the progress of every project within the portfolio. To do so, ensure your project portfolio management tool offers reporting features at both the project and portfolio levels. That way, executive stakeholders can get at-a-glance insight at the portfolio level, then drill down into any project-specific status updates where necessary.

2. Timeline and dependency tracking

Because a portfolio consists of many complex projects, make sure your project portfolio management software offers a way to view the timeline of each. You should be able to view any dependencies and adjust if something is off. With a Gantt chart-like view , you can identify key milestones and dates for every project and ensure things are moving smoothly.

3. Workload management

Workload management can help you develop and track your resource management plan . With workload management tools , you clearly understand your project team's responsibilities and deliverables across all of the projects within the portfolio. 

If you need to change or optimize your resource management plan, you can visualize who has the bandwidth and who is close to burnout on the team.

Best project portfolio management practices

Project portfolio management works best when you maintain an updated, real-time portfolio. As the project portfolio manager, it’s your job to check in with the individual project managers regularly and confirm their projects’ data is accurate. That way, you and any executive stakeholders can identify any at-risk or off-track projects and course-correct while ensuring on-track projects are accurately aligned with your company’s strategic objectives.

Project portfolio management processes

Many moving pieces go into the project portfolio management process. It is a continuous effort that requires careful planning to identify, track, and manage projects. The focus is to always deliver high-quality projects that are aligned with business objectives. To get started with PPM, follow these five steps:

Step 1: Align your portfolio to business objectives

PPM can help you connect daily work to strategic objectives—but for you to do that most effectively, you need to know what strategic objectives you’re connecting to. 

If your company sets yearly or quarterly goals, you may have various objectives ranging from revenue goals to churn reduction targets. Clarify which strategic goals, or OKRs , your portfolio is contributing to and how.

Key takeaway: Determine how your project portfolio will support specific company goals.

Step 2: Add projects

Your portfolio should include all relevant projects. Make sure you add the right projects and prioritize them in order of importance, if applicable. As the project portfolio manager, take some time to connect with the individual project managers to align on how each project in the portfolio connects to your strategic goals. Finally, confirm that there are no related projects that you haven’t included in your portfolio.

Key takeaway: Organize your portfolio by adding projects important to your overall business strategy. Communicate with project managers and explain how their projects contribute to the overall plan.

Step 3: Share your portfolio with executive stakeholders

A portfolio is a tool to help you align with your project managers and better prioritize project work. It also provides executive stakeholders with a dashboard of all initiatives across your department. Make sure they have easy access to your PPM software. When executives get real-time insight into project progress, they’re empowered to make better decisions.

Key takeaway: Keep stakeholders informed by sharing an overview of initiatives.

Step 4: Get real-time project updates

Make sure your project managers regularly update their individual projects. That way, your portfolio becomes your team’s mission control for all initiatives. You can see these in one place to better visualize dependencies, identify new project opportunities, and help projects at risk.

Key takeaway: Keep your team accountable for updating projects regularly, so your overview accurately represents project workflows.

Step 5: Use your portfolio for resource management

In addition to helping you and key stakeholders stay up-to-date on project progress, a portfolio is a powerful tool for resource management.

During the project planning stage of each project, you’ll likely have created a resource management plan . But if you see a project falling off track in your portfolio overview, you can redistribute available resources across projects to address that issue.

Ensure your PPM software offers workload management tools to increase resource allocation and redistribution visibility.

Key takeaway: Use project portfolio management software that monitors project timelines and dependencies . This allows you to prioritize and allocate resources effectively. 

The best tools for project portfolio management

Project portfolio management is a vital component of business planning that enables project managers to estimate a project's potential revenue before it even begins. Before making any pivotal decisions, businesses may put the pieces of a project together with the help of a PPM tool. 

Here are a few of the best:

Decision tree analysis

A decision tree is a flowchart that begins with a single central concept and branches out according to the outcomes of potential choices. The model often resembles a tree with branches, hence the term "decision tree."

These trees are employed in decision tree analysis, illustrating a difficult decision's probable results, expenses, and effects.

Cost-benefit analysis

A cost-benefit analysis enables you to assess the financial benefits of a choice, so you can evaluate whether it is worthwhile to proceed with it. It's a helpful tool when you want to prevent bias in your decision-making process, particularly when you have to make a significant choice that will affect the success of your team or project.

Priority matrix

A priority matrix classifies tasks or projects according to criteria, such as effort and urgency, and allows team members to rapidly decide what to tackle first. It takes the guesswork out of where energy should be allocated and prevents important tasks from slipping through the cracks.

See the big picture with project portfolio management

PPM is the best way to collaborate with and across your team. Get a bird’s-eye view of all your initiatives in one place to track the right metrics in the right place.

Ready to try project portfolio management? Learn more about Asana Portfolios to help you effortlessly connect all of your initiatives in one place.

Related resources

project portfolio notes

Gantt chart 101: A complete guide to mapping your projects

project portfolio notes

What is stakeholder analysis and why is it important?

project portfolio notes

7 causes of content calendar chaos—and how to solve them

project portfolio notes

What is resource management? A guide to getting started

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How to Manage Your Project Portfolio Like a Pro

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If you are a project manager you know how challenging it can be to juggle multiple projects at the same time. You have to balance competing priorities, allocate resources, monitor progress, and deliver results. How can you do all that without losing your sanity?

The answer is project portfolio management. In this blog post, we will explain what project portfolio management is, why it is important, and how you can use Crealately to manage your project portfolio effectively.

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What is a Project Portfolio?

A project portfolio is a collection of projects that are aligned with the strategic goals and objectives of an organization. A project portfolio can include projects of different types, sizes, scopes, and complexities. For example, a project portfolio can consist of:

Ongoing projects that deliver value to the customers and stakeholders.

New projects that explore new opportunities or address emerging needs.

Improvement projects that enhance the quality or efficiency of existing processes or products.

Innovation projects that create new products or services or disrupt the market.

A project portfolio is not just a list of projects. It is a dynamic and evolving entity that reflects the changing needs and priorities of the organization. Therefore, a project portfolio needs to be managed carefully and continuously.

Learn more about setting up a ipeline for better project portfolio management.

What is Project Portfolio Management?

Project portfolio management is the process of selecting, prioritizing, and managing multiple projects within an organization. It involves aligning the projects with the strategic goals, resources, and risks of the organization. Project portfolio management helps to ensure that the projects are delivering value, meeting deadlines, and staying within budget. It also helps to balance the workload and optimize the use of resources across the projects.

Managing a project portfolio goes beyond merely managing projects, it requires a holistic view of the organization’s vision, mission, and objectives, as well as the interdependencies and trade-offs among the projects. It is a dynamic and iterative process that requires constant monitoring, evaluation, and adjustment of the portfolio based on changing needs and circumstances.

Also read about how to better manage your projects with Kanban boards.

Project Portfolio Management Process

Portfolio management is the process of selecting, prioritizing, executing, and evaluating the projects in a portfolio. Portfolio management involves four main steps:

Project Portfolio Management Process

1. Planning

This step involves defining the strategic goals and objectives of the organization, identifying the potential projects that can contribute to those goals, and assessing the feasibility, risks, benefits, and costs of each project.

2. Selection

Choose the best mix of projects that can maximize the value and alignment of the portfolio. This may involve using various criteria, such as strategic fit, return on investment, resource availability, risk appetite, etc.

3. Execution

Allocate resources, assign roles and responsibilities, set milestones and deliverables, and monitor and control the performance of the projects in the portfolio.

4. Evaluation

This step involves measuring the outcomes and impacts of the projects in the portfolio, comparing them with the expected results and benefits, and identifying the lessons learned and best practices for future improvement.

Why is Project Portfolio Management Important

Aligning the projects with the strategic vision and mission of the organization. Portfolio management ensures that the projects are relevant, meaningful and aligned with the organizational goals and values. This way, the projects can contribute to the long-term success and sustainability of the organization.

Optimizing the use of resources and avoiding wastage or duplication. Well managed project portfolios help organizations to achieve more with less. It assists in effective resource allocation depending on the feasibility of the project. It also eliminates or reduces the projects that are redundant, low-priority or low-performing. This way, the organization can save time, money and effort, and increase its productivity and profitability.

Managing dependencies and interdependencies among the projects. Portfolio management helps the organization to coordinate and integrate its activities and deliverables across different projects. It helps to identify and resolve potential issues and risks that may arise from the interactions and overlaps among projects. It also helps to leverage synergies and opportunities that may emerge from the collaboration and integration among the projects. This way, organizations can enhance its performance and quality, and deliver greater value to its customers and stakeholders.

Balancing risk and reward across the portfolio. Portfolio management helps to assess and prioritize the projects based on their expected costs, benefits, risks and returns. It also helps to monitor and control the performance and outcomes of the projects, and to adjust or change them as needed. This way, the organization can manage its uncertainties and contingencies, and maximize its returns on investment.

Enhancing communication and collaboration among the stakeholders . Communication is optimized with efficient portfolio management. Teams can communicate clearly and consistently the vision, objectives, expectations and progress of the projects to all the stakeholders. It also helps to solicit feedback, input and support from the stakeholders, and to address their needs, concerns and issues.

Best Practices in Portfolio Management

Define clear and measurable goals and objectives. Determine what you want to achieve, why, and how you will measure your progress and success.

Implement a transparent and consistent process to prioritize projects. Establish a clear criteria and guidelines that are aligned with your goals and objectives, and that are communicated and followed by everyone involved.

Use data-driven tools and techniques to analyze and compare projects. Collect relevant and reliable data on each project’s costs, benefits, risks, and impacts, and use appropriate methods and tools to evaluate and rank them.

Involve relevant stakeholders in decision-making and feedback. Identify who they are, what their interests and expectations are, and how you will engage them throughout the portfolio lifecycle.

Communicate regularly and clearly with all parties involved. You need to have a communication plan that specifies what, when, how, and with whom you will share information and updates on your portfolio.

Be adaptable to changing circumstances. Monitor the internal and external factors that may affect your portfolio’s performance and alignment with your goals and objectives, and make timely and informed decisions to modify or terminate projects as needed.

Review your portfolio periodically and celebrate achievements. Have a review plan that defines how often, how, and by whom you will evaluate your portfolio’s outcomes and impacts, and how you will recognize and reward your team’s efforts.

Common Challenges in Project Portfolio Management

Dealing with uncertainty and complexity in the external and internal environment.

Managing conflicting interests and expectations among different stakeholders.

Balancing short-term and long-term goals and outcomes.

Resolving trade-offs and compromises among competing criteria.

Handling resource constraints and bottlenecks.

Coping with change resistance and cultural barriers.

Why You Need a Portfolio Management Platform

To overcome these challenges and streamline your portfolio management process, you need a powerful and user-friendly platform that can help you:

Plan your portfolio strategically and align it with your organizational goals.

Select your projects objectively and prioritize them based on value and impact.

Execute your projects efficiently and effectively using agile methodologies.

Evaluate your projects accurately and comprehensively using real-time data.

Collaborate with your team members and stakeholders seamlessly using cloud-based technology.

How Can You Manage Your Project Portfolio with Creately

Create your own custom portfolio dashboard that shows you the status, progress, health, and performance of your projects at a glance.

Use drag-and-drop functionality to organize your projects into different categories, such as type, phase, priority, etc.

Apply filters and sorting options to view your projects based on various criteria, such as budget, schedule, scope, quality, risk, etc.

Use interactive charts and graphs to visualize your data and insights in an engaging way.

Integrate with other tools and platforms that you use, such as Google Workspaces, Microsoft Teams and Slack.

Wrapping Up

Project portfolio management is a vital skill for any project manager who wants to deliver value and excellence to their organization. By using Crealately, you can simplify and enhance your portfolio management process and achieve your goals faster and better.

If you want to learn more about how Crealately can help you with project portfolio management, sign up for a free trial today and see for yourself.

Join over thousands of organizations that use Creately to brainstorm, plan, analyze, and execute their projects successfully.

FAQs About Project Portfolio Management

There are different ways to measure the success of your portfolio, depending on your goals and objectives. Some common metrics include:

Value: The extent to which your portfolio delivers benefits and outcomes that meet or exceed the expectations of your customers and stakeholders.

Alignment: The degree to which your portfolio supports and contributes to the strategic vision and mission of your organization.

Performance: The level of quality and efficiency that your portfolio achieves in terms of budget, schedule, scope, quality, risk, etc.

Impact: The magnitude and duration of the positive effects that your portfolio creates for your organization and society.

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Hansani has a background in journalism and marketing communications. She loves reading and writing about tech innovations. She enjoys writing poetry, travelling and photography.

How to manage a project portfolio

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Managing a project portfolio: strategies for success.

Project portfolio management (PPM) can make or break a company's strategic success. It's an area that requires precision, insight, and careful coordination. This article aims to provide a quick guide on managing a project portfolio, covering everything from the basics to advanced strategies. Read on to uncover the keys to effective portfolio management that can drive business growth across industries.

Understanding Project Portfolio Management (PPM)

At its core, Project Portfolio Management is the centralized management of one or more project portfolios to achieve strategic objectives. It involves selecting, prioritizing, and controlling an organization's projects and programs in alignment with its strategic goals and capacity to deliver.

The primary goals of PPM are to improve decision-making, allocate resources more effectively, align activities with strategy, and ensure that projects meet their expected benefits. It's important to distinguish PPM from project management. While project management focuses on executing individual projects successfully, PPM takes a broader view, overseeing all projects in the portfolio to ensure strategic alignment and maximum return on investment.

The role of a portfolio manager

The portfolio manager is a key figure in project portfolio management (PPM). They oversee the entire project portfolio, ensuring it aligns with the organization's strategic goals and delivers value. The portfolio manager's role is multi-faceted, encompassing everything from strategy to execution. Below are the key responsibilities that fall under their purview:

Strategic planning

Developing the strategic plan for the project portfolio, aligning it with the organization's overall business objectives.

Participating in strategic decision-making to ensure projects contribute towards achieving business goals.

Project selection and prioritization

Developing criteria for selecting and prioritizing projects, ensuring alignment with business objectives.

Overseeing the selection process, ensuring that only projects that add value and align with strategy are included in the portfolio.

Resource allocation

Ensuring resources are allocated effectively across the portfolio based on project priorities and strategic alignment.

Monitoring resource utilization to avoid over-allocation or under-utilization.

Risk management

Identifying and assessing risks at the portfolio level and developing strategies to mitigate these risks.

Monitoring risks throughout project execution and adapting strategies as necessary.

Performance monitoring

Setting up Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the portfolio and tracking performance against these measures.

Making adjustments to the portfolio as necessary based on performance monitoring.

Communication and reporting

Facilitating communication among project teams, senior management, and other stakeholders.

Preparing and presenting portfolio performance reports to senior management and other stakeholders.

Leadership and team management

Providing guidance and direction to project teams, fostering a collaborative and productive work environment.

Resolving conflicts and addressing issues that may arise among project teams.

Continual learning and adaptivity

Staying updated with industry trends and project management methodologies, and tools advancements.

Continually improving the portfolio management process based on lessons learned and changes in the business environment.

A portfolio manager must wear many hats and be equipped with a wide range of skills, including strategic thinking, leadership, communication, and decision-making. By carrying out these responsibilities effectively, they can help the organization achieve its strategic objectives and enhance its competitive advantage.

Establishing a Portfolio Management Framework

A comprehensive project portfolio management (PPM) framework establishes the ground rules for how the organization will manage its portfolio of projects. The roadmap guides the portfolio management process, from project selection to execution and review. Developing such a framework is complex, requiring strategic thinking, foresight, and a deep understanding of the organization's capabilities and objectives.

Here's a step-by-step guide to help you establish an effective portfolio management framework.

Step 1: Define your strategic objectives

The first step in creating a portfolio management framework is clearly defining your organization's strategic objectives. The purpose of the portfolio is to help the organization achieve these objectives. Your objectives might relate to revenue growth, cost reduction, market expansion, innovation, risk reduction, or other aspects of business performance. They should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

Step 2: Establish governance structures and processes

Once you have defined your strategic objectives, you must establish the governance structures and processes to guide portfolio management. This includes defining roles and responsibilities for portfolio management, setting up decision-making processes, and establishing mechanisms for oversight and control.

A governance body or committee is often set up to oversee the portfolio management process. This body typically includes senior executives and other key stakeholders and is responsible for making strategic decisions about the portfolio, such as project approval and prioritization, resource allocation, and risk management.

Step 3: Develop project selection and prioritization criteria

The next step is to develop criteria for project selection and prioritization. These criteria should align with your strategic objectives and can include factors like expected benefits, costs, risks, strategic fit, and resource requirements.

Prioritization is a critical aspect of portfolio management. Not all projects can be pursued at once due to limited resources and other constraints. Hence, a systematic approach is needed to rank projects based on their strategic importance and potential return on investment.

Step 4: Set up portfolio performance measures

To monitor and control the performance of your portfolio, you need to set up performance measures. These are typically expressed as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and might include measures like return on investment, strategic alignment, project success rate, and resource utilization.

These measures provide a basis for portfolio review and adjustment. They help you track whether your portfolio is delivering the expected benefits and identify areas for improvement.

Step 5: Implement a portfolio review and adjustment process

The final step in establishing a portfolio management framework is implementing a portfolio review and adjustment process. This process should be conducted regularly, such as on a quarterly or annual basis, and involve a comprehensive review of the portfolio's performance against its strategic objectives and KPIs.

The review process should also include a mechanism for adjusting the portfolio as needed. This could involve adding new projects, terminating underperforming projects, or reallocating resources among projects.

Step 6: Documentation and communication

Once the portfolio management framework has been established, it should be documented and communicated to all relevant stakeholders. This includes project teams, senior executives, and other parties involved in the portfolio management process. Clear communication helps ensure everyone understands how the portfolio is managed and what their roles and responsibilities are.

Creating a robust project portfolio management framework may seem like a daunting task. But with careful planning, clear strategic objectives, and a systematic approach, it can be an instrumental tool in driving your organization's strategic success. Remember that this framework isn't set in stone - it should be flexible and adaptable, capable of evolving with your organization's needs and the ever-changing business environment.

Selecting the right projects

The selection of the right projects is fundamental to PPM. Portfolio managers should consider various factors, including project objectives, expected benefits, risks, resource requirements, and strategic alignment.

Project risk assessment should be incorporated into the selection process to understand potential uncertainties and their impact on project outcomes. Moreover, the portfolio should be balanced with a mix of projects. This includes different types of projects (e.g., innovative, growth, efficiency), projects at different stages, and projects of different sizes and risk profiles.

Portfolio monitoring and control

Active portfolio monitoring and control are necessary to ensure projects remain aligned with strategy and progress toward their goals. Regular portfolio reviews provide opportunities to adjust and realign the portfolio based on changes in the organization's strategy, environment, and resource capacity.

Key performance indicators (KPIs) are used in portfolio management to monitor the performance of projects and the portfolio as a whole. Common KPIs include project health, strategic alignment, return on investment, and resource utilization.

Managing portfolio risks involves the identification, assessment, and control of uncertainties that could negatively impact portfolio performance. This requires an integrated approach that combines project-level risk management with portfolio-level risk management.

Challenges in Project Portfolio Management

Despite its strategic importance, portfolio management is often fraught with challenges. These range from insufficient resources, conflicting priorities, and lack of executive support to resistance to change and inadequate communication. To overcome these obstacles, organizations need to foster a supportive culture, provide appropriate training, establish clear processes, and encourage open communication.

The Future of Project Portfolio Management

The field of PPM is continually evolving, driven by advancements in technology and changing business environments. Emerging trends include the increasing use of AI and machine learning for project selection and performance prediction, integrating sustainability considerations into portfolio decisions, and the growing importance of agility and flexibility in portfolio management.

To stay ahead of these changes, portfolio managers must keep abreast of new developments, continually update their skills, and be ready to adapt their practices as required.

Managing a project portfolio effectively is a complex but crucial task. By understanding the principles of PPM, selecting the right projects, monitoring progress and performance, leveraging appropriate tools, and staying ahead of future trends, organizations can ensure their project portfolios drive strategic success. The journey of portfolio management is one of continuous learning and adaptation, but the rewards in terms of strategic alignment and value delivery are well worth the effort.

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What is Project Portfolio Management? [A Complete Guide]

What is Project Portfolio Management

The surveys from the Project Management Institute and KPMG depict the importance of successful projects to strategic commercial goals, highlighting the role of Project Portfolio Management (PPM) in delivering those projects.

This article digs a little deeper into PPM and putting together project management and project portfolio management that would ultimately mean doing the right projects right. Agile portfolio management takes the concept of build-measure-learn cycles used by agile teams for greater success. Agile Portfolio Management employs an Agile mindset for business to add value to their results:

  • Shorter releases
  • Reprioritize when needed
  • Highly transparent
  • A mindset of continuous improvement
  • More productive
  • Happier people

Suppose, your organization has got 45 projects on the go, and they’re all overlapping because of any random reasons. As a project manager, how do you make a good decision? How do you know if your team is focusing on the right things? What should you really be doing? How can you focus our resources most efficiently? And many more questions come into mind.

Project portfolio management (PPM) enables us to answer these questions to successfully implement PPM to achieve the greatest returns from projects.

What is portfolio management in project management?

A portfolio is a generic term used for a grouping of things. It can be a collection of assets, products, and other items depending on the industry.  A portfolio in project management includes other project related activities and responsibilities. The purpose of a portfolio is to set centralized management for many projects and/or program and to make sure that you are taking on the right projects that align with the company’s values, strategies, and goals.

According to the results of the annual Project and Portfolio Management Landscape survey:

  • 73% of organizations don’t have enough resources to meet the demand
  • 55% of organizations state that their projects and resources are not well aligned with business goals
  • 49% have gone through a project failure in the past 12 months

Project portfolio management (PPM) is a holistic management strategy used to align an organization’s software, portfolios, and projects for analysis and collaboration. Project portfolio management gives organizations and managers the ability to see the big picture. Let’s see how?

  • As an executive, you’ll know which project managers to reach
  • As a project manager, you’ll have easy access to team members
  • The team members will have improved communication
  • The stakeholders will be in the loop with consistent feedback
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What is the difference between portfolio management and project management?

According to project manager Bob Buttrick , project management is about executing ‘projects right’, portfolio management is about executing the ‘right projects’.

Project management and portfolio management are quite different.  As you know project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities in order to meet project requirements. On the other hand Portfolio Management is a portfolio .

“Portfolio” in project management

A project portfolio is a combination of projects and programs grouped to achieve strategic objectives. There can be one or several portfolios in a project. According to PMI and its PMBOK Guide , a portfolio includes, “Projects, programs, other portfolios, and operations managed as a group to achieve strategic objectives.”

The PMO( Project Management Office) is a group defined in large organizations where project managers work in or with a group that defines standards for how projects are managed within the organization.

What is the purpose of project portfolio management?

Here are some common objectives behind the implementation of a PPM initiative in an organization:

  • Maximization of value by selecting and effectively allocating resources to the projects of greatest value.
  • Achieving balance by ensuring that an appropriate combination of projects is selected. For example, selecting high-risk/low-risk projects along with long term/short-term projects.

Ensuring strategic alignment by checking that every individual project contributes to the overall business strategy.

The primary goal of the PMO in an organization:

primary goal of the PMO in an organization

Project and Portfolio Management Landscape surveyed that almost half of PMOs are subject to maintaining operational work and driving strategic projects for business value.

Oftentimes, organizations are limited by how many projects can be done, requesting the question, “Are we doing the right projects?” To be effective, for instance, a portfolio manager should understand what project management is .

Thus the portfolio manager should ask the right questions of the program and project managers and interpret the information most effectively.

Inter-relationship of Portfolio Management, Program Management, and Project Management to Drive Strategic Objectives

Project Management to Drive Strategic Objectives

What is the role of a project portfolio manager?

There are many roles and responsibilities tied to the title of a “project portfolio manager”. As a project portfolio manager or PPM, you are responsible for overseeing the many aspects of a project, including planning, development, implementation, etc. 

A PPM is also responsible for ensuring that only the best practices, solutions, principles, and standards are used during the project life cycle. Throughout the project lifecycle, the PPM develops, establishes, maintains, and collaborates standards to ensure that project efforts meet the defined expectations within the desired time and cost.

How do you build a project portfolio management process?

Build a Project Portfolio Management Process

The project portfolio management process usually involves a step-by-step process that includes:

  • Identify strategic objective
  • Identify all project and organization objective, budget, project attributes, and priorities
  • Categorize projects
  • Identify gating projects
  • Map projects to strategic goals
  • Establish metrics
  • Summarize project schedule
  • Organize business values, objective, etc.
  • Classify and organize projects
  • Finalize gating process
  • Eliminate redundancies
  • Balance resources
  • Mitigate risks
  • Align projects with goals
  • Delay, cancel and reschedule projects
  • Cancel contracts
  • Revise project budgets
  • Initiate new projects
  • Launch the portfolio projects

So, now that you know why do we need project portfolio management for overall project success, as a responsible team or project manager, embrace the principles of the agile method for the success of the company’s projects.

What are project portfolio management tools?

We’ve seen plenty of project portfolio management software in action, and these six are a cut above the rest. Mentioned below is our list of the best 6 PPM software and tools. Take a look. 

1. ProofHub

ProofHub is a project management and project portfolio management software that simply focuses on simplifying work and it’s various stages. The software has a visually intuitive layout that helps managers and teams to keep work organized and delivered on planned.

With ProofHub, you can plan, collaborate, manage, track, and proof your projects and tasks. And thanks to its features like Gantt chart tool, you can understand dependencies between different tasks in a project, allocate resources smartly, and make sure that each team member’s work is aligned as expected.

Celoxis is a full-featured project portfolio management system that is intuitive and easy to use for teams of all sizes. With Celoxis, you easily allocate resources based on roles and availability.

Celoxis comes with a fully customizable portfolio dashboard and pre-built with common workflows that help with general management and risk management. Plus, the software solution is very adaptable to suit your organizational processes and fits within your budget.

Hive is project management, collaboration, and PPM tool with AI-based analytics, powerful integrations, flexible project views, and a lot more. The aim of this tool is to streamline work and workflow in one centralized platform.

Hive works for teams of varying sizes, from 10 people to 1,000. Moreover,  it can be scaled up or down based on team needs and working style.

4. Clarizen

Clarizen is an enterprise-grade PM platform that’s great for managing large and simultaneous projects. A strong advantage of using Clarizen is that it has little to no learning curve.

Clarizen is great for centralized project and portfolio management, it helps to organize complex projects, automate workflows, track, manage, and prioritize change requests, and optimize resources in real time. Plus, it offers metrics for managing a budget, contracted revenue, planned benefits, ROI, and more. The platform also offers a reporting dashboard where you can display your data, as you like.

Wrike has achieved international renown as a PM tool. With a focus on managing tasks and group collaboration, Wrike is similar to platforms like JIRA, Clarizen, or Asana .

Wrike’s resource management capabilities are powered by lots of live tracking, with a simplified overview of team workloads making it easy to track and balance resources. The Gantt chart feature also provides a visual timeline for setting dependencies and making real-time adjustments.

Time and budget tracking features allow for financial administration, and you can use Wrike’s report-building wizard to create real-time, interactive reports (with graphs, status updates, etc). There’s also a feature for scheduling notifications that it’s time for a regular report update or review.

6. Liquid Planner

Last, but definitely not least, we have Liquid Planner in our list of best project portfolio management solutions. For portfolio managers who are looking for a clean visual experience and a lot of options for customization, Liquid Planner is a great choice.

The platform is quite visual and minimalistic which makes it easy to learn, understand, and work. The platform is ideal for project portfolio management, but it also offers features for smart scheduling, advanced analytics, resource management, work collaboration, time-tracking, and more.

Benefits of project portfolio management

Benefits of Project Portfolio Management

1. Collaborative decision making

To make good decisions, what you need is reliable data and making visibility crucial from various perspectives. For project managers and program managers, PPM can help stimulate a culture of collaboration when choosing projects. As project portfolio management highlights data-driven decision making, team members can collaborate which will strengthen relationships and promote trust over time.

2. Risk management

Every project requires a risk management plan blended with the scope of effort, budget, schedule, communication, and WBS. Companies must create portfolios that diminish any risks.

Portfolio project management tools provide the estimation capabilities to ensure that projects are estimated more accurately and the right resources are put into the right work at the right time to minimize any risks.

Read more: 11 Best Risk Management Software in 2024

3. Faster Project Turn Times

Portfolio project management has processes that allow team members to keep the work flowing and will always give an answer to  “What do I do next?” typically increasing productivity.

4. Project Delivery Success

In recent years, the Project Management Institute (PMI) survey results show that successful PPM tools enable organizations to execute approximately 30% more projects and reduce project failure rates by up to 60%.

Project failure can be a result of factors such as cost overruns, schedule delays, poorly defined requirements, lack of strategy alignment, unresolved issues, and many such. PPM tools provide organizations with the functionality they need to more accurately deliver their projects.

5. Streamline Data and Increase Collaboration

Many businesses are still using Excel worksheets or manual tools for project management. Project transparency is important for proper decision-making and improved project performance . PPM gives the insight a project manager needs to get work done.

Pro-Tip:  It is difficult to manage a project and program portfolio without the proper tools. Online PPM tools can help your team to manage a portfolio of projects. One of the most important PPM tools you should be using is ProofHub which offers accurate data across all projects in your portfolio.

Portfolio Project Management (PPM) Features of ProofHub

ProofHub - Project management software

ProofHub, a project management software is one of the best portfolio management tools that help to keep your workspace streamlined and in one place. Below are some key features of ProofHub that can help project managers in being as productive as possible.

Price: ProofHub is available at $89 per month for unlimited users, unlimited projects, and 100GB storage.

Scalability: ProofHub offers scalable features and pricing to fit your needs and allow as many users as possible.

Mobile friendly: PPM software must be mobile friendly.  With ProofHub Android and iOS, mobile app managers can update their teams with tasks, team activities, and more, anywhere and anytime.

Effective collaboration: A top project management software like ProofHub ensures collaboration to streamline engagement both within and across teams, organizations, and regions.

Centralized communication: With various team members on board from multiple locations, ProofHub ensures effective communication to deliver projects on time and within the budget.

When communication is streamlined through one central hub, you can:

  • Connect and coordinate with all team members
  • Track files and share data
  • Provide real-time status update
  • Solve problems faster

More transparency: With project management tools like ProofHub, it ensures more transparency and encourages teams to be more accountable towards the work.

Reporting: Customizable reports are available in all of the major dashboards and within projects.

Online Gantt Chart : Gantt charts are an intuitive way to visualize progress in projects and tasks, set dependencies, view critical paths, and track progress across the portfolio.

Start your free trial with ProofHub for ultimate project management. Hurry up!

Project portfolio management (PPM) software gives an opportunity to teams and organizations to make better decisions, to improve PMO performance, prioritize work , make a business strategy, and improve visibility into the portfolio of projects.

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Project Portfolio Management (PPM): Meaning, Tools, Process

Home Blog Project Management Project Portfolio Management (PPM): Meaning, Tools, Process

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Project management is known by the 3 Ps - Projects, Programs, and Portfolios. Each of these align symmetrically to create the outlined deliverables at each level, and are necessary for an organization to achieve the desired outcomes. The purpose of each of these management activities is focused on the respective outcomes they aim to achieve - projects aim to organize and ensure the delivery of products and services to achieve quality deliverables; programs aim to align multiple projects to achieve stakeholder value; and portfolios aim to align and achieve business value and objectives.

Project portfolio management is led by business and is a high visibility function for any organization. With the increasing demand for project management, a growing number of individuals are turning to Project Manager online training to further their career prospects. These training provide a thorough grounding in project portfolio management principles, equipping students with the necessary skills to thrive in this industry. 

In this article, let us look at what is project portfolio management, what are its key functions and components, and what benefits, tools, and techniques are specific to the portfolio management function. 

What is Project Portfolio Management (PPM)?   

Project portfolio management also popularly known as PPM in project management is the centralized management of an organization’s projects and programs carried out by portfolio management or Project Management Office (PMO) to drive several benefits, viz: 

  • Uniformity of processes 
  • Management of dependencies 
  • Economies of scale 
  • Best practice sharing across projects 
  • Managed budgeting and spending across projects 
  • Collaboration & resource sharing across projects/programs 
  • Driving adoption of changes across projects/programs 

In short, PPM can be referred to as a larger umbrella to manage several projects and/or programs which may be either related or unrelated. Portfolio management in project management focuses on bringing in business leadership alignment in any organization for strategic alignment (sub-portfolio/program level) and tactical alignment (project level) to work thereby serving as an important bridge between strategy and implementation. According to the PMI's PMBOK definition, portfolio management aligns with organizational strategies by selecting the right programs or projects, prioritizing tasks, and providing the required resources.

Why Project Portfolio Management Is Important?   

Project Portfolio Management (PPM) is what keeps the teams and organization focused on larger objectives or the bigger picture to accept and select projects aligned with the larger goals. PPM not only acts as a centralizing mechanism but also works on improvising the functioning of the overall organization; a continuous and cyclical project portfolio management process aimed at driving uniform process adoption across the organization. With certified PMP training , professionals can gain a deeper understanding of PPM methodologies and enhance their skills to lead successful project portfolios. 

A well-established organization setup where everyone understands the meaning of project portfolio management yields several benefits such as: 

  • Visibility across projects to make informed decisions 
  • Improvement in the project selection methods to align projects to overall objectives 
  • Optimal resource utilization and collaboration aided by centralized decision making 
  • Accurate project performance data to facilitate robust planning and execution 
  • Better RoI, delivery, employee engagement, and customer satisfaction

5 Steps of a Project Portfolio Management Process   

Step 1: define business objectives   .

Portfolio management in project management aims at alignment and for alignment having a vision or business objectives is indispensable. Project selection methods and processes will depend on this alignment to ensure the right projects are being selected and post-selection, the metrics are being tracked appropriately to measure progress. Project progress, prioritization, viability, and allocation of resources will all be driven by the portfolio management on this very foundation of objectives and goals. 

Step 2: Collect Project Ideas for Your Portfolio   

Project Portfolio Management (PPM) involves actively researching and creating a list of projects to be taken up to achieve outlined goals. Managing a portfolio requires diligent review and rebalancing of tasks, activities, and projects to adapt to changes as well as take advantage of market opportunities. 

Step 3: Select the Best Projects for Your Portfolio   

The next step after project research is to utilize the outputs of the research and strengthen the project selection process by prioritizing and aligning projects to achieve desired results. 

Step 4: Validate Project Portfolio Feasibility    

This is an important and herculean step that a portfolio manager is tasked with, and involves maintaining a reality check on projects being planned or executed to stay the latest in the market and ensure a high return on investment, customer satisfaction, and organizational profitability. 

Step 5: Execute and Manage your Project Portfolio 

Managing a project portfolio involves all kinds of projects - the ones in execution, the ones being planned, and the ones that have been closed (to realize benefits); thus, a portfolio manager has to keep track of existing projects to avoid scope creep, ensure optimal allocations and keep variances within the planned thresholds of portfolio and project management. 

Industries that Benefit from Project Portfolio Management   

To understand how portfolio management benefits different industries, let's go back to the basics to understand what is portfolio management in project management. PPM aims to develop a model to ensure effective and efficient surveillance of projects and investments undertaken by the organization to maximize ROI and reduce costs/wastage. It employs historic data, analysis of metrics, and centralized reflection of operations to achieve the same. There is a myriad of benefits PPM brings across the organization - let us delve deep into its areas of focus by industry: 

1. IT  

The portfolio management function plays a paramount role in the information technology industry where there is a cutting-edge innovation that demands the organization to make quick decisions, minimize time-to-market and help client services engage effectively to avoid costly project overhauls or rework. It also aims to centralize operations and IT to maximize efficiency and achieve economies of scale. 

2. Construction  

The construction industry is witnessing humongous growth thanks to the infrastructure demands across various industries, regions, and geographies. In such a state, no longer are organizations focusing on one project or program, rather every organization is vying to live in this era by sharing resources on demand, minimizing escalating costs, and tracking projects to close on time within the planned baselines. 

3. Financial services  

Portfolio management plays a critical role in the financial industry by defining the science behind selecting the right investment fuse and balancing risks, returns, and rewards. It is a key application for the ever-exponential growth behind the financial sector of mutual funds, shares, and insurance. A portfolio management career is considered to be extremely risky yet a hot-cake industry-wide in the financial services sector. 

4. Project management teams  

Project management teams include a portfolio manager role as part of the project management office (PMO) setup which involves overseeing the projects, programs, and operations to ensure alignment, viability, and profitability of activities. PPM follows the PMO's tenets of improving governance and visibility across the organization. 

5. Professional services teams  

Professional services teams operate in different capacities, sizes, and models - portfolio management greatly benefits these kinds of teams by organizing their structure of operations, bringing in a uniform evaluation methodology, and centralizing implementations. 

6. Marketing teams  

Portfolio management is of larger importance in marketing teams than anywhere else as these teams focus on bringing in business across all verticals of the organization and need to be in sync for the organization to yield benefits of market conditions which ultimately requires active review and prioritization to be successful. Looking for a PRINCE2 certification in project management? You should only choose AXELOS & People Cert accredited PRNICE2 training providers ! Take the training and get experienced in advanced tools and gain knowledge that can significantly improve an individual's career prospects and help organizations achieve their business objectives.

Best Tools for Project Portfolio Management   

1. decision tree analysis .

A decision tree diagram is used by PPM to depict the probability of success for the initiatives to understand the value of positive revenue contributors as well as inspect sunk costs or costs of project failures. 

2. Cost-benefit analysis  

CBA or Cost-benefit analysis is one of the most constitutional and commonly used techniques by portfolio managers to get a glimpse of the feasibility, viability, and desirability of project activities. This kind of analysis is used to evaluate initiatives to ensure the profitability of the organization is met as well as keep an eye on the long-term goals of the organization. 

3. Objectives matrix 

Portfolio managers look at the bigger picture but it is not easy to track big items hence PPM works to decompose bigger strategies and objectives into smaller chunks of work to be aligned across various projects and initiatives. This break-up of items and tracking them by projects/initiatives is what is achieved with the help of an objectives matrix. 

4. Scoring model 

Utilizing the scoring model involves assigning weights and scores to various quantitative factors viz. Cost of operations, return on investment, and qualitative factors viz. Market conditions, the value of delivery, and customer satisfaction - to balance both factors to achieve overall portfolio growth and success. It provides concrete information in project evaluation and comparison across the portfolio. Get hands-on with project management in a short time, and explore KnowledgeHut’s best certification for Project Managers today! 

Techniques Used to Measure PPM   

It is imperative for a portfolio manager to actively measure portfolio success rate to align resources as well as create a culture of transparency in the organization, some of the techniques portfolio managers can use include: 

1. Heuristic model  

Heuristics or Heuristic models are useful to overcome critical situations which do not support comprehensive research or analysis. This model of analysis is based on the available information and involves working with loosely defined rules or environments to measure PPM progress and learn by hands-on management of projects/initiatives. Examples of heuristic models include - Fault tree analysis and Failure mode and effects analysis.

2. Scoring technique  

Scoring techniques are used by portfolio managers to create the right mix of activities to achieve the desired profitability, endure surprises and run initiatives as planned. Either of the scoring techniques - Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) or Weighted Product Method (WPM) involve adding numerical and comparable scores and weights to projects/initiatives to plan, execute and drive effectively. 

3. Visual or Mapping techniques  

As the name suggests, visual or mapping techniques involve depicting the overall portfolio and its attributes on a visual representation to plan and track -more as in an information radiator. Visual mapping also involves plotting risks/costs and rewards on the diagram to understand at a simple glance. Examples of visual mapping include - bubble diagrams or portfolio planning matrices. 

Project Portfolio Management Best Practices   

Managing a portfolio is no mean feat, especially with the nature of the environment that projects and programs operate in; every organization has its own set of practices that work uniquely to the kind of governance and way of handling projects. However, some of the common best practices around portfolio management include: 

  • Getting an understanding of the overall vision and strategy 
  • Identify stakeholders and document their requirements 
  • Build a governance model and establish workflows top-to-bottom 
  • Definition of a risk management and change management strategy 
  • Definition of an information sharing and communication model 
  • Creating the right mix of projects and initiatives 
  • Setting up evaluation metrics and defining baselines 
  • Establishing a Project Management Office 
  • Determine standards and guidelines for uniformity 
  • Take the help of PPM software customized to meet the organization's needs 
  • Regular reviews of projects, programs, policies, and procedures 

Why Project Managers Must Focus on PPM?   

So far we have seen what PPM is in project management, its benefits, steps, tools & techniques, and what kind of industries it aids. Now, let us look at why project managers must pay attention to PPM in particular across any organization/industry. PPM is one management focus area that helps planning and coordinates project/program level planning to come under one single umbrella to take thoughtful decisions which may have a larger essence on the organization and impact the costs/revenues.

Project managers must ensure to align with portfolio priorities to secure allocations as per the portfolio plan and must in particular ensure regular communication with portfolio managers to help alter plans and include changes earlier in the cycle. Not all projects being undertaken may be the top priority for the portfolio manager or some projects due to customer issues may suddenly assume a higher priority - it is really important for the project manager to handle such sensitivities thoroughly and for this have an active view of the portfolio management updates is necessitated. Project managers also need to work in tandem with portfolio managers to ensure regular tracking of activities to maximize profits, minimize escalations, and manage pipelines, resources, and budgets to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of operating policies, processes, and procedures.

Benefits of Project Portfolio Management   

The project portfolio management function is a harbinger of benefits and yields a larger customer confidence, satisfaction, and organic growth for the organization. A survey conducted by PMI - the Project Management Institute states that a mature PPM process has both quantitative as well as qualitative benefits and contributes to approximately 35% more successful projects in the organization.

PPM propagates a collaborative and data-enabled decision-making process, thereby leaving little room for discrepancies, empowering practices, and improving efficiencies across the organization. An organization running projects in harmony and having a centralized decision-making structure is proven to make big wins in terms of customers as well as operational accomplishments. 

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Are You Ready to Become a Portfolio Project Manager?   

Project portfolio management acts as an important consolidation and centralization mechanism with the rationale to improve the organization's processes and optimize the way of working across projects. It acts as a risk deterrent to mitigate or eliminate potential risks that may materialize due to a lack of information or systems in the org. Hence, it not only works to align projects and initiatives to goals but also acts as an important risk management strategy to minimize the impact and occurrence of risks.

Maturing the organization's portfolio management function cannot be achieved in a short time and is a journey that the org must embark on at the earliest to yield quantitative as well as qualitative benefits. A mature PPM process helps the organization maximize ROI by not only actively tracking and monitoring projects but also by ensuring control of projects in execution, knowing when a project/operation has to be called off, and finally, how to ensure a smooth transition from project closure to benefits realization. The PPM methodology and tools should also work towards building a portfolio-centric culture with processes being continuous and adaptable to be successful. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Project management focuses on alignment in individual projects whereas portfolio management focuses on alignment across the business unit/function. Also, project management’s area of focus will always be on “doing projects right” whereas, portfolio management always focuses on “doing the right projects”. 

To manage resources across challenging projects with overlapping priorities effectively, the portfolio manager must plan for overlapping priorities and define dependencies to sequence them appropriately, decompose project plans into smaller chunks of work to get rid of blockers, and keep an active view across the portfolio to ensure smooth sharing and require trade-offs when necessary. 

Tracking projects closely with the help of a robust portfolio project management tool comes in handy to ensure optimal tracking and review of projects to complete them following planned baselines as well as minimize variances where they occur. 

Profile

Rohit Arjun Sambhwani

Rohit Arjun Sambhwani is an IT professional having over a decade and half of experience in various roles, domains & organizations, currently playing a leading role with a premier IT services organization. He is a post graduate in Information Technology and enjoys his free time learning new topics, project management, agile coaching, and writing apart from playing with his naughty little one Aryan

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Introduction

When there are many projects run by an organization, it is vital for the organization to manage their project portfolio. This helps the organization to categorize the projects and align the projects with their organizational goals.

Project Portfolio Management (PPM) is a management process with the help of methods aimed at helping the organization to acquire information and sort out projects according to a set of criteria.

Objectives of Project Portfolio Management

Same as with financial portfolio management, the project portfolio management also has its own set of objectives. These objectives are designed to bring about expected results through coherent team players.

When it comes to the objectives, the following factors need to be outlined.

The need to create a descriptive document, which contains vital information such as name of project, estimated timeframe, cost and business objectives.

The project needs to be evaluated on a regular basis to ensure that the project is meeting its target and stays in its course.

Selection of the team players, who will work towards achieving the project's objectives.

Benefits of Project Portfolio Management

Project portfolio management ensures that projects have a set of objectives, which when followed brings about the expected results. Furthermore, PPM can be used to bring out changes to the organization which will create a flexible structure within the organization in terms of project execution. In this manner, the change will not be a threat for the organization.

The following benefits can be gained through efficient project portfolio management:

Greater adaptability towards change.

Constant review and close monitoring brings about a higher return.

Management's perspectives with regards to project portfolio management is seen as an 'initiative towards higher return'. Therefore, this will not be considered to be a detrimental factor to work.

Identification of dependencies is easier to identify. This will eliminate some inefficiency from occurring.

Advantage over other competitors (competitive advantage).

Helps to concentrate on the strategies, which will help to achieve the targets rather than focusing on the project itself.

The responsibilities of IT is focused on part of the business rather than scattering across several.

The mix of both IT and business projects are seen as contributors to achieving the organizational objectives.

Project Portfolio Management Tools

There are many tools that can be used for project portfolio management. Following are the essential features of those tools:

A systematic method of evaluation of projects.

Resources need to be planned.

Costs and the benefits need to be kept on track.

Undertaking cost benefit analysis.

Progress reports from time to time.

Access to information as and when its required.

Communication mechanism, which will take through the information necessary.

Techniques Used to Measure PPM

There are various techniques, which are used to measure or support PPM process from time to time. However, there are three types of techniques, which are widely used:

Heuristic model.

Scoring technique.

Visual or Mapping techniques.

The use of such techniques should be done in consideration of the project and organizational objectives, resource skills and the infrastructure for project management.

Why Project Managers to Focus on PPM?

PPM is crucial for a project to be successful as well as to identify any back lags if it were to occur. Project Managers often face a difficult situation arising from lack of planning and sometimes this may lead to a project withdrawal.

It's the primary responsibility of project managers to ensure that there are enough available resources for the projects that an organization undertakes. Proper resources will ensure that the project is completed within the set timeline and delivered without a compromise on quality.

Project managers also may wish to work on projects, which are given its utmost priority and value to an organization. This will enable project managers to deliver and receive support for quality projects that they have undertaken. PPM ensures that these objectives of the project management will be met.

The Five Question Model

Five Question Model

The five question model of project portfolio management illustrates that the project manager is required to answer five essential questions before the inception as well as during the project execution.

The answers to these questions will determine the success of the implementation of the project.

Project portfolio management is aimed at reducing inefficiencies that occur when undertaking a project and eliminating potential risks, which can occur due to lack of information or systems available.

It helps the organization to align its project work to meet the projects whilst utilizing its resources to the maximum.

Therefore, all the project managers of the organization need to have an awareness of the organizational project portfolio management in order to contribute to the organizational goals when executing respective projects.

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Best Practices for Portfolio Project Management: Processes and Tools

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Managing a single, complex project feels like a Herculean task when you nail the project deadline with a high-quality output. But what if you took that experience up tenfold?

Handling multiple projects, or portfolio project management, is an entirely different beast. It’s a juggling act that could lead to chaos, missed deadlines, and the dreaded burnout without the right tools and processes.

But here’s the real deal: Portfolio project management doesn’t have to be an uphill battle.

You might ask, “How can I navigate the maze of multiple projects without getting lost? What’s the secret sauce to keep everything on track and maintain my sanity?”

Well, you’re in for a treat.

Today, we’re taking the mystery out of portfolio project management. We’re dishing out the best practices, breaking down the most efficient processes, and sharing the most effective tools you need in your toolkit.

Let’s dive into the nitty-gritty of portfolio project management best practices. We promise it’ll be a journey of discovery, empowerment, and many ‘aha!’ moments.

What is portfolio project management?

So, what is this beast called portfolio project management anyway?

Well, here’s the lowdown.

Portfolio project management (PPM) isn’t just about running several projects simultaneously. It’s about strategically managing a collection of projects as a single portfolio that aligns with your business objectives and goals.

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Think of it as conducting an orchestra, where each project plays its part in harmony with the others to create a beautiful symphony of success.

You might be wondering, “What are the moving parts in this well-oiled machine?”

Here are the key components:

  • Strategic alignment
  • Prioritization
  • Risk management
  • Resource allocation

Together, these components help you achieve your business objectives by making informed decisions, prioritizing effectively, managing potential risks, and using resources (both human and non-human) efficiently.

The crux of the matter is that these components are interdependent — neglecting one is akin to trying to run a machine with a missing cog. It just doesn’t work.

And where does your role as a portfolio manager come into play? You are the linchpin, or the conductor of the orchestra, if you will. You’re the one making sure all the components play nicely together.

But here’s the kicker: it’s not just about management. A portfolio manager must also be a leader, seeing the big picture, guiding your team through challenges and uncertainties , and steering toward a successful outcome.

Benefits of portfolio project management

So, why should you bother with this whole portfolio project management thing? Well, the answer is simple — it’s all about the benefits. And trust us, there are plenty.

This strategic approach to managing multiple projects helps you keep your finger on the pulse of all projects and understand if they work harmoniously towards achieving your organizational goals.

Think about it like a compass or map that guides you or keeps you on track as the journey progresses. It’s a recipe for success when you can cherry-pick projects with the greatest impact potential and align them with your business goals.

The result? The ability to make more informed decisions and maximize your return on investment (ROI) — every entrepreneur’s dream, right?

But it’s not just about the outcome. What about the inputs that help you accomplish these goals?

Well, portfolio project management provides a structured approach to resource allocation, making sure every project is prioritized correctly and gets the right amount of love and attention needed to thrive.

So, if you’re planning to start a business , keep this in mind — you’ll want to harness the power of a portfolio project management system early one. Whether running a large business with many projects or a small business with limited resources, portfolio project management is your ally.

The big players with large teams can ensure they’re investing their resources in the right projects, while the small players can make the most of what they’ve got. It’s a win-win.

white puzzle with some pieces missing on light blue table

Best practices in portfolio project management

1. strategic alignment with your business objectives.

Managing projects is like doing a puzzle — each project must fit perfectly, contributing to the bigger picture of your success.

Start by clearly defining your business objectives. What are you trying to achieve? Does your organization have OKRs ? Are you trying to bring a new product to market, or are you doubling down on your marketing efforts for existing products?

Once you have the answers to some of these questions, it’s time to review each project in your portfolio.

You can ask yourself, “How does this project contribute to my objectives?” If a project doesn’t align, it might be time to rethink.

Remember, it’s not just about doing things right, but also about doing the right things.

With over 5.3 billion active internet users worldwide, it is crucial to align your portfolio of projects with your business objectives. This ensures that every project you undertake serves a strategic purpose and contributes to the overall success of your organization.

2. Prioritize projects with the most value

You need a method to rank the priority of the many projects begging for your attention.

Think of it as your project’s America’s Got Talent moment. Which one gets the golden buzzer, and which ones need to wait for the next round?

To put prioritization into action, use a simple scoring system.

priority view in liquidplanner shows high, medium, and low priority projects

Rank each project based on potential impact, resource requirement, risk, and contribution to the goal. The projects with the highest scores get top priority.

Simple, effective, and fair. Some project management software solutions, like LiquidPlanner , have priority-based planning built in so you can drag-and-drop to update your portfolio (more on this later).

3. Maintain a mix of projects to balance risk and return

Like a well-balanced financial portfolio, your project portfolio needs a mix to balance risk and return.

It’s wise to avoid putting all your eggs in one basket. It’s all about finding the sweet spot between high-risk, high-reward projects.

Look at each project’s potential ROI and balance it against the associated risks. Don’t shy away from high-risk, high-reward projects, but hedge them with safer bets to maintain a healthy equilibrium.

The safe bets help keep things running smoothly, while the high-risk bets are often the most fruitful regarding return opportunities.

4. Establish clear roles, responsibilities, and decision-making processes

Time to outline the ground rules. Governance and oversight of projects are all about defining who does what, when, and how.

From day one, make sure everyone knows their role and responsibilities.

Set up regular meetings or check-ins to keep everyone on track for better decision-making and problem-solving. And most importantly, create a culture where everyone feels comfortable raising issues and suggestions as you work towards a common goal.

5. Conduct regular portfolio reviews

Regular reviews are like a health check for your portfolio. They help you spot any hiccups, make the necessary adjustments, and ensure everything progresses.

Schedule these regular portfolio reviews into your calendar. They could be monthly, quarterly, or whatever frequency works best for you.

During these reviews, assess project performance, identify potential issues, and make necessary adjustments to resource allocations. Consider it a tune-up for your portfolio to keep it running smoothly. Not to mention, resource needs can change as projects progress.

6. Manage expectations and foster collaboration

Finally, let’s talk about your stakeholders. These folks have a vested interest in your projects, so keeping them engaged is crucial.

It’s all about managing expectations , fostering collaboration, and making sure everyone’s on the same page.

Be proactive with communication by regularly updating stakeholders on project progress, successes, and challenges. Leverage dashboards that surface key project health metrics like capacity, resource allocation, and timelines. Also, invite their input and feedback — it not only makes them feel involved but could also provide valuable insights. 

three people meeting to review portfolio projects

Key processes in portfolio project management

So how do you get the ball rolling with project portfolio management (PPM)? Let’s break it down.

Suppose you’re launching a new eco-friendly sneaker line. Here’s what your PPM processes might look like:

  • Strategic planning: Start by setting your sights on what you want to achieve. Maybe you want to be the top sustainable sneaker brand within five years. This big-picture goal will guide your whole journey.
  • Project identification: Next, consider all the projects you’ll need to undertake to reach your goal. For instance, you might need to source sustainable materials, design the sneakers, start manufacturing, build an e-commerce website, and plan a marketing campaign.
  • Project categorization: Now, you’ll categorize those projects. Some might be design-related, some might be marketing initiatives, and others could fall under supply chain management. Categorizing them helps you manage them more effectively.
  • Project evaluation: It’s time to examine each project closely. Which ones will help you reach your goal fastest? Which ones are most cost-effective? This step helps you decide which projects are worth your time and resources.
  • Project selection: After evaluating, pick the projects you want to pursue. You can’t do everything at once, so choose the ones that align most with your goal and are appropriate, given your resources.
  • Portfolio balancing: Now, take a step back and look at the big picture. Do your projects cover all the bases and consider the risks and returns? Make sure you have a balanced mix to guide you toward your goal.
  • Resource allocation: You’ve picked your projects. Now, assign the work. Maybe you need to hire a designer or allocate a budget for a marketing campaign. This step guarantees each project has what it needs to be successful.
  • Performance management: Keep track of how your projects are doing. Are they on schedule? Are they achieving what you wanted? Regular check-ins keep you informed and ready to adapt if necessary.
  • Portfolio review: Now and then, take a moment to review your whole portfolio. Things change, and you might need to tweak your projects or goals.
  • Benefits realization: Finally, celebrate your wins! Keep an eye on the benefits each project is bringing in and how they’re helping you reach your goal.

It’s important to note that these processes aren’t sequential, but rather iterative and ongoing. That way, it allows for continuous improvement and adaptation to changes in your organization’s strategy and whatever’s going on in the macroeconomic environment.

In other words, these steps aren’t one-and-done. You’ll likely loop back through them often as you tackle your strategic goals.

Tools for Effective Portfolio Project Management

Managing a complex project portfolio is no small task. If you start tracking work in a spreadsheet, you’ll quickly find yourself overwhelmed. Luckily, there’s a wide range of tools to help you manage your project portfolio, and they come in all shapes and sizes.

Some tools are industry-specific, like fleet management tools that include Electronic Logging Devices (also known as ELD devices ), which are ideal for transportation or logistics companies.

The real-time tracking and reporting capabilities help project managers streamline the delivery process and optimize driver routes, improving efficiency and reducing fuel consumption.

Of course, these industry-specific tools cater to these sectors’ unique needs and requirements. But don’t worry. Most PPM tools are flexible and adaptable, so you can tailor them to your unique projects and processes.

When choosing a PPM tool, you’ll want to look for a few key features:

  • Reporting capabilities to analyze project performance and generate insightful reports.
  • Collaboration features that allow team members to communicate within the tool.
  • Integrations with other software you use, like your CRM or accounting software.
  • Resource management functions to easily allocate and track resources.
  • Project tracking to visualize the progress of your projects.
  • A simple and intuitive user interface.

1. LiquidPlanner

Effectively handling multiple projects often feels like a challenging juggling act as you strive to meet various resource requirements and deadlines without dropping the ball.

And that’s where LiquidPlanner comes into play. It’s the only project management solution that dynamically adapts to change and manages uncertainty to help your team plan, predict, and achieve your desired outcomes.

liquidplanner views surrounding a smiling woman

LiquidPlanner’s predictive scheduling engine considers team availability, work estimates, and priority across your portfolio, clearly showing what’s possible and when tasks and projects will realistically cross the finish line.

You get a bird’s eye view of all ongoing activities and can easily prioritize tasks. Plus, with real-time data available at your fingertips, you can optimize your team’s capacity and consistently deliver high-quality work within specified timelines.

liquidplanner risk alerts showing schedule risk insights for a task in list view

And one of the million-dollar questions all stakeholders ask is: when will the project finish?

Thanks to LiquidPlanner’s sophisticated Monte Carlo simulations, you can quickly see the expected start and finish dates calculated for you in real time. 

In other words, you can unlock insight into when projects will cross the portfolio finish line, and manage uncertainty in your schedule along the way. We promise it’s not too good to be true. Try it out for yourself with a free trial .

Customer feedback plays a crucial role in determining project priorities within a portfolio.

By analyzing customer feedback, you can identify recurring themes, requests, or pain points that require attention. These insights help you and your stakeholders understand which projects align with customer needs and prioritize them accordingly.

So if you’re struggling to prioritize projects in your portfolio, Zeda is your new best friend.

zedo io dashboard

Uncover the true problems that matter to customers and decide what to build next with AI-enhanced product insights and simple integrations with your existing tech stack.

You’ll unlock key information about what, why, when, and how to create new projects to drive successful outcomes that make your customers happy and boost your bottom line.

3. Tempo Timesheets

Time tracking serves as a vital metric for checking project health.

Although it seems like a basic measurement, it helps track other key performance indicators (KPIs) such as project progress, task completion rates, and overall project efficiency.

By analyzing time-tracking data, you can identify potential risks, address bottlenecks before they become bigger issues, and take proactive measures to keep projects on track.

Multiple clock-in and clock-out apps can accurately track workers’ time and keep track of everyone’s working hours, with Tempo making the top of the automated time-tracking list.

tempo timesheets time tracking user interface

With powerful features that include automated time-tracking suggestions and integrations with popular tools like Google Calendar and Slack, Tempo gives you access to everything time-related you could ever need.

Say goodbye to wasted time with Tempo by unlocking a more accurate understanding of where time is invested across teams, projects, and initiatives.

Wrapping up

And there you have it. Managing a portfolio of projects can be complex, but with the right strategies and tools, you can navigate uncertainty and deliver exceptional results.

Embrace these best practices to maximize your organization’s potential, adapt to changing circumstances, and achieve successful project outcomes.

If you’re overwhelmed, break down your portfolio into manageable components to help you establish clear goals and prioritize tasks. And never underestimate the power of portfolio project management software. Let LiquidPlanner do the heavy lifting for you.

Investing in the right tools will help you hit more deadlines , reduce team burnout, and boost your bottom line. What more could you ask for?

About the author

Alex Sloane is a freelance writer and content optimization specialist. He has worked with dozens of SaaS and B2B companies to capture more organic traffic from better content. Recently making the full-time jump to freelance work, Alex loves forming new partnerships.

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How to Use OneNote for Project Management

Shubhangi Pandey

By: Shubhangi Pandey | Published on: Apr 6, 2023 | Categories: BrightWork 365 , Collaboration , Microsoft 365 | 0 comments

How to Use OneNote for Project Management

We’ll take a closer look using OneNote to manage projects: combine OneNote and Outlook, organize content with Tags, project wikis, work in Microsoft Teams, and use Power Automate workflows to save time.

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  • Create a To-Do List
  • Using Tags to Organize Content

Create a Project Wiki

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Challenges to Using OneNote to Manage Projects

Integrate onenote within brightwork 365 templates, collaborate with onenote in microsoft teams and brightwork 365, manage projects and portfolios with microsoft 365.

See how you can start any project using templates for Microsoft 365, Power Platform, and Teams.

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Using OneNote for Project Management

OneNote is a versatile digital note-taking tool for capturing and organizing notes and ideas. There are also a number of ways that you can incorporate OneNote into your collaborative project management workflow:

  • Organize project information: OneNote is a great tool for organizing project information such as project goals, timelines, budgets, and team members. You can create a dedicated notebook for your project and use sections and pages to organize information.
  • Track tasks: OneNote can be used to track tasks and to-do lists for your project. You can create a table with columns for tasks, deadlines, priority, and status, and use checkboxes to mark tasks as complete.
  • Brainstorm ideas: OneNote is a great tool for brainstorming and collecting ideas. You can use the drawing and sketching tools to create mind maps, flowcharts, and diagrams, and you can use tags to categorize ideas.
  • Manage meetings: OneNote can be used to manage meetings by creating meeting agendas, taking meeting notes, and tracking action items. You can create a dedicated section for meetings and use templates to streamline the process.
  • Collaborate with team members: OneNote can be shared with team members, allowing everyone to view and edit the same information. You can use the commenting and tagging features to collaborate and communicate with team members.
  • Capture and organize project-related information: OneNote can be used to capture and organize project-related information such as emails, web pages, and documents. You can use the OneNote Web Clipper to save web pages, and you can drag and drop files into OneNote to save them.

Integrate OneNote with Outlook to organize tasks,  meeting notes , and content in one place.

This ensures your team can access important information, for example, stakeholder feedback, at any time.

To get started, you’ll need to connect OneNote and Outlook.

project portfolio notes

OneNote and Outlook: Store emails

Surface key information and keep everyone in the loop by adding emails to relevant project notebooks.

Open the relevant email and click the OneNote icon. Pick the relevant notebook and section.

The email is stored as a new page.

Likewise, you can share a page via email from OneNote.

Go to the required page and select ‘Home’ on the main ribbon. Choose ‘Email Page’ and compose your email as needed.

OneNote and Outlook: Create Tasks

Creating tasks in OneNote using Outlook is quite straightforward.

project portfolio notes

In this instance, I will add the new task ‘Project Charter Update’ to the ‘Weekly Tasks’ page of my notebook:

project portfolio notes

OneNote and Outlook: Manage Meetings

Using OneNote to document project meetings is particularly helpful for remote team members who cannot attend a session due to time zone differences.

Firstly, schedule the meeting in Outlook.

Select ‘OneNote Meetings’ in the ribbon.

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Create a To-do List

I regularly use the To-Do list feature in OneNote to track small items or ideas when I’m working on a project.

There are two ways to create a list.

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Use Tags to Organize Content

Tags  are a simple way to organize pages in OneNote allowing users to annotate their notes.

project portfolio notes

Tagging content also helps when searching for tasks or notes.

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A wiki is a collaborative website or platform that allows users to create and edit content collectively. Wikis are designed to be easy to use and facilitate collaborative work among a group of individuals. Wikis typically allow anyone with access to the platform to create, edit, or delete content, which can include text, images, videos, and links.

Get more from Microsoft Teams by using OneNote to collaborate with remote team members.

You don’t even need to create a new Notebook – it’s automatically generated every time a new team is created in Microsoft Teams.

Add the Notebook  as a tab  to the relevant channel to make it easier to find.

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  • Use OneNote instead of the standard Teams wiki to record notes, training guides, feedback, and so on.
  • Collaborate during video meetings with your team.
  • Embed audio and video messages to share with remote team members for feedback and input.
  • Use OneNote as a whiteboard during calls. The options in the ‘Draw’ tab are ideal for planning and brainstorm sessions.

Save time with Power Automate

Microsoft  Power Automate  is a no-code solution that allows users to create workflows to automate repetitive tasks.

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While OneNote is a useful tool for project management, there are some situations where it may not be the best fit. Here are some reasons you might not want to use OneNote for project management:

  • Lack of real-time collaboration: While OneNote allows for collaboration, it may not be as real-time as other tools specifically designed for project management. In addition, some users may have difficulty accessing the OneNote notebook if they don’t have a Microsoft account or if they aren’t familiar with the tool.
  • Limited project management features: While OneNote has many useful features for managing project information, it is not specifically designed for project management. Other tools may have more advanced project management features such as Gantt charts, time tracking, and resource allocation.
  • Difficulty in managing large projects: OneNote may not be the best tool for managing large or complex projects, as the organization and navigation of information may become unwieldy.
  • Lack of advanced security features: OneNote does have basic security features such as password protection and encryption, but it may not meet the security requirements of all organizations.

Using OneNote In Your Project Management Process with BrightWork 365

While there are several instances in which OneNote may be suitable for managing work and collaboration, we just noted a few of the reasons OneNote is not a full-fledged project management tool.

That is where BrightWork 365 comes in!

BrightWork 365 ties together several powerful solutions including those in your organization’s instance of Microsoft 365, allowing you to leverage fully your investment in Microsoft 365 and the Power Platform.

BrightWork 365 centralizes all of your project processes and information in one hub, working across Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Office suite, Power BI, Power Automate, SharePoint Online, and OneNote.

The BrightWork 365 Communications tab provides a comprehensive method for capturing various communication related activities at the project, program, or portfolio level.

To access Communications, click on the Communications tab. The initial screen will display a history of previously entered Communications items. Click “+” to create a new Communications item of type Appointment, Email, Phone Call, Note, or OneNote.

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With Microsoft Teams integration, BrightWork 365 provides powerful options for staying connected and keeping your projects organized.

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See how you can manage projects with Microsoft 365, Power Platform, Teams, SharePoint Online, and OneNote.

Shubhangi Pandey

Shubhangi Pandey

Shubhangi is a product marketing enthusiast, who enjoys testing and sharing the BrightWork 365 project portfolio management solution capabilities with Microsoft 365 users. You can see her take on the experience of the template-driven BrightWork 365 solution, its unique project management success approach, and other personalized services across the site and social channels. Beyond BrightWork, Shubhangi loves to hunt for the newest Chai Latte-serving café, where she can read and write for hours.

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Add Project Notes

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To add project notes on the Projects tab in the company's Portfolio tool.

Things to Consider

  • 'Admin' level permissions on the company's Portfolio tool.
  • This task can also be completed by users with the appropriate permissions on the project's Home page or in the Project level Admin tool. See  Configure Advanced Settings: Project Home  or  Configure Settings: Project Admin .
  • A project's notes are viewable in the company's Portfolio tool by anyone who has access to the project.
  • Navigate to the company's Portfolio tool.
  • Click the Projects tab.

icon-view-list.png

  • Click anywhere on the screen outside of the field. Your changes are saved automatically.  
  • Add Filters to the Portfolio Views
  • Switch Between Views in the Projects List

project portfolio notes

Project Portfolio - BSBPMG632

The US is heading towards stagflation, which would be terrible news for stocks, JPMorgan says

  • JPMorgan warned that today's economic situation could shift towards 1970s-era stagflation, characterized by high inflation and low growth.
  • Such a situation would drive investors away from stocks towards fixed-income assets offering higher returns.
  • JPMorgan says current geopolitical tensions have parallels to the 1970s and could similarly drive inflation.

Insider Today

The US economy is at risk of tilting towards stagflation, or a period marked by low growth and persistently high inflation, which would prompt investors to favor stocks over bonds, says JPMorgan.

The firm notes that we could be headed towards a stagflationary redux of the environment in the 1970s.

"Equities were flat from 1967 to 1980, and with yields averaging above 7%, bonds significantly outperformed stocks," JPMorgan said in a note on Wednesday, highlighting that a yield uptick from options like private credit could be game-changing to the potential boost in long-term portfolio performance. 

With a recent series of hotter-than-expected economic indicators , concerns over stagflation have increased, contrasting with many prior optimistic "goldilocks" forecasts that anticipated cooling inflation and strong growth. 

JPMorgan also cited geopolitical tensions as its rationale for potential stagflation, noting that 1970s conflicts in Vietnam and the Middle East led to energy crises, shipping disruptions, and a surge in deficit spending. The firm says this mirrors today's Israel-Hamas conflict-spurred Red Sea chaos , Russia's invasions of Ukraine, and US tensions with China.

An uncertain geopolitical environment, combined with high interest rates, would likely reduce liquidity, JPMorgan said.

"If one adds volatility that can come from political, geopolitical and regulatory uncertainty, public markets are further disadvantaged vs. private markets that can avoid the limelight of daily volatility," the note added. 

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has previously mentioned that 2024 could resemble the 1970s , saying that the significant fiscal deficits, shifts in trade patterns, and dedication to substantial government expenditures — are "all inflationary."

project portfolio notes

  • Main content

Free Project Portfolio Management Templates

By Kate Eby | July 27, 2021 (updated September 28, 2023)

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We’ve compiled the top templates for strategic project portfolio management (PPM). Download free, customizable PPM templates in Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Google Sheets formats. 

Included on this page, you’ll find a project portfolio summary template , a project portfolio management dashboard , and a project portfolio status report template , as well as a link to in-depth information on project portfolio management benefits and processes .

Project Portfolio Summary Template

project portfolio notes

Download Project Portfolio Summary Template

Microsoft Excel  | Smartsheet

This project portfolio template provides spreadsheet and dashboard views, as well as space to summarize details about specific projects and the overall health of your portfolio or project program . The spreadsheet includes columns for a project’s health ratings, priority, status, summary description, budget, progress, and risks. 

Record the outcomes of any cost benefit analysis, and note any links or attachments associated with a given project. The dashboard display offers a snapshot of budgeted costs versus actual spending, as well as the distribution of projects across the health, status, and priority categories.

Project and Portfolio Management E-book

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In this introduction to project and portfolio management (PPM), learn how to streamline your efforts and get multiple projects — or an entire portfolio — over the finish line, on time and on budget.

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Project Portfolio Scorecard Template

project portfolio notes

Download Project Portfolio Scorecard Template

Microsoft Excel | Smartsheet

Evaluate projects in your portfolio with this simple spreadsheet template. The project management office (PMO) section at the top of the template provides a summary review of your portfolio’s progress and costs, as well as room for notes on the risks and cost benefit analysis. 

The template also includes a section for details about each project in the portfolio, with  categories for the priority, status, planned versus actual costs, hours, and quality index rating. This template includes example commentary that illustrates how portfolio managers can use the template to expand on the numerical data.

Project Portfolio Dashboard Template

Customer Facing Project Portfolio Dashboard

Download Project Portfolio Dashboard Template — Microsoft Excel

Get a visual overview of portfolio KPIs with this Excel dashboard template, which includes a Gantt chart that shows the delivery timeline for each project, a pie chart that displays the portfolio’s resource allocation, and bar charts that analyze each project’s financials. 

The bar charts also include categories for risk analysis and open or pending actions. The project portfolio report section summarizes each project’s schedule, budget, issues, and other details in a spreadsheet format.

Project Portfolio Timeline Template

Project Portfolio Timeline Template

Download Project Portfolio Timeline Template

Microsoft Excel | Google Sheets | Smartsheet

This project portfolio planning template provides a visual timeline for multiple projects. The Gantt chart timeline allows you to easily differentiate between projects, and the template automatically generates each bar on the chart based on your start and end dates. 

The template also includes columns for notes on the schedule, budget, resources, risks, and issues for each project in your portfolio. Make strategic plans based on delivery timelines and ongoing performance.

PowerPoint Project Portfolio Template

Project Portfolio PowerPoint Template

Download PowerPoint Project Portfolio Template — Microsoft PPT

Create an in-depth project portfolio dashboard in PowerPoint. Template slides include the portfolio’s timeline, resource allocation, financial status, risk analysis, issues, and pending actions. There is also a slide that displays the duration of each project in days.

The template also includes a table for compiling notes on each project. This thorough presentation template provides a broad overview of your portfolio as well as specific details about individual projects, and also includes sample data to illustrate the charts and graphs in each slide.

Project Portfolio Tracker Template

Project Portfolio Tracker Template

Download Project Portfolio Tracker Template

Track multiple projects with this combined spreadsheet and timeline template. You’ll find two tabs: an example template with color-coded options to highlight a project’s status, priority, itemized costs and hours, duration, and timeline; and a blank template for easy data entry. 

This tracker template divides each project into activities or phases, with columns for assigned owners, deliverables, and percent complete. The timeline provides a weekly schedule based on the start date you enter at the top of the template. Add or remove columns to create a customized template based on the project information you want to track.

Project Portfolio Budget Tracking Template

Project Portfolio Budget Tracking Template

Download Project Portfolio Budget Tracking Template — Microsoft Excel

For each project in your portfolio, this budget tracking template provides a detailed breakdown of the costs, budgeted expenses, actual spending, and outstanding balance. Use the built-in  Gantt chart for visual tracking and to summarize each project’s budget versus actual costs. 

This template calculates subtotals and total costs as shown in the example template tab. The template also lists the status as well as planned and actual start dates for each project phase.

Project Portfolio Roadmap Template

Project Portfolio Roadmap Template

Download Project Portfolio Roadmap Template

Microsoft Excel | Google Sheets

Create a portfolio roadmap with milestone markers and color-coded bars that indicate a project’s status: finished, in progress, scheduled, or proposed. The roadmap format makes it easy to manage a large portfolio, and offers clear timelines and visual status levels.

The roadmap displays quarters and years and lists start and end dates next to each project name.

Project Portfolio Status Report Template

Project Portfolio Status Report Template

Download Project Portfolio Status Report Template

This status template simplifies reporting with a 12-month roadmap, status summaries, and details on each individual project. The portfolio status overview uses green, yellow, and red to indicate whether items are on track, show signs of potential issues, or are otherwise of concern. 

The financial summary calculates budgeted costs, actual costs, a financial forecast, and variance. This PMO project portfolio template also lists individual project status updates, including time frames, progress, and descriptions of risks or concerns.

What Is a Project Portfolio Management Template?

A project portfolio management template allows you to evaluate, choose, and prioritize projects in order to maximize performance and meet organizational goals. The template may include one or more portfolios. 

You can use a PPM template to efficiently evaluate the benefits and risks associated with multiple projects (and possibly multiple portfolios). These templates also enable you to ensure that you’ve aligned your projects with overall business objectives. PPM templates support the process of prioritizing, scheduling, and tracking multiple projects, so you can use an organized, metric-driven approach when making strategic decisions. 

For a comprehensive look at the project portfolio management process, including additional templates (such as a project risk analysis) and PPM for IT projects, check out “Project Portfolio Management 101: Processes, Tools, and Examples.”

Improve Collaboration and Increase Work Velocity with Project Portfolio Management Templates from Smartsheet

From simple task management and project planning to complex resource and portfolio management, Smartsheet helps you improve collaboration and increase work velocity -- empowering you to get more done. 

The Smartsheet platform makes it easy to plan, capture, manage, and report on work from anywhere, helping your team be more effective and get more done. Report on key metrics and get real-time visibility into work as it happens with roll-up reports, dashboards, and automated workflows built to keep your team connected and informed.

When teams have clarity into the work getting done, there’s no telling how much more they can accomplish in the same amount of time. Try Smartsheet for free, today.

Discover a better way to streamline workflows and eliminate silos for good.

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Here are the early LoL Patch 14.5 patch notes

Image of Isaac McIntyre

League of Legends Patch 14.5 is fast approaching, with the March update expected to smash Twisted Fate’s supremacy, reshuffle Rek’Sai and Seraphine’s gameplay loops, and deliver some cool new PROJECT skins.

The fifth update of the 2024 League season is still slowly taking shape in the Riot Games offices and across the PBE testing servers, but we’ve already got a pretty clear picture of what it’s going to look like⁠—including the nine champion buffs and nerfs, seven item changes, and three fresh cosmetics being added to the store.

In focus this time around are champions like Rek’Sai, Seraphine, and scorching dragon Smolder, with Season 14 power pick Twisted Fate, who continues to rise across three lanes, also very much in Riot’s crosshairs when it comes to balance changes.

Runaan’s Hurricane is also notably being changed into a general item that can be used by melee champions from this update on.

Here’s everything about League’s Patch 14.5 update.

When will League Patch 14.5 go live?

Twisted fate supremacy leads to nerfs, project returns to league with three more skins, kai’sa, rek’sai, twisted fate, celestial opposition, dream maker, frozen heart, navori quickblades, rod of ages, runaan’s hurricane, solstice sleigh.

League Patch 14.5 is going to hit live servers on Wednesday, March 6 , according to the official Riot schedule . This update will bring us back to regular programming after February’s last patch release dropped a day late⁠—a built-in delay because the devs were away for President’s Day.

Here are all the key patching times:

  • 3pm CT (NA)
  • 5am GMT (EU West)
  • 3am CET (EU North East)
  • 8am KR (Korea)

Here’s a countdown to the NA League release.

⁠Expect several hours of server downtime once patching begins. Matchmaking will be disabled across all League queues three hours before the update is set live.

What’s in League Patch 14.5?

The card-wielding mage has been all but out of control in Season 14 so far, popping up⁠—and dominating⁠—in three roles : Mid lane, top lane, and AD carry. Riot did rush several nerfs into Patch 14.4 to try and mitigate his power, with those changes mostly targeting his attack speed as well as his Stacked Deck and Pick a Card abilities, but they did little to stem the cardsharp’s power.

So, the League devs are upping the ante, slashing the attack damage scaling on his Wild Cards and hitting his Stacked Deck through its attack speed and attack damage⁠—both to curb the AD build Twisted Fate has leaned into recently.

This update is only adding a small pile of new skins to the store, with Naafiri, Jax, and Gangplank the lucky trio this time around . All three are joining the long-running PROJECT line with futuristic designs.

In the skinline’s lore, Jax is an Outcast while Gangplank slots into the Command Line, a counter-espionage unit in the alternate world. The Hound of a Hundred Bites meanwhile becomes just the second champion to get a Virus-themed design in the iconic cosmetic set⁠—her programming infects enemies.

Here are all the PROJECT skins coming this patch:

  • PROJECT: Gangplank (1,350 RP)
  • PROJECT: Jax (1,350 RP)
  • PROJECT: Naafiri (1,350 RP)

These skins will go live during the Patch 14.5 cycle.⁠

PROJECT Naafiri skin

While all these changes are likely to make it through League PBE testing, do keep in mind everything is tentative until it’s added to playing servers. Any listed buffs, nerfs, and changes could be pulled at any time.

League Patch 14.5 patch notes

  • E reset cooldown reduced from 0.5 to 0.25 seconds.
  • Passive cooldown duration increased from five to six seconds, is now reduced by four seconds when hitting champions with abilities (once per cast), is now applied as static.
  • Passive base damage reduced from 15-200 to 5-200, ability power scaling reduced from 50 to 30 percent, now also scales with plus five percent base health.
  • W magic damage reduction ability power scaling reduced from five to three percent.
  • Range indicator updated to match R cast range in 14.4.
  • Passive red healing now scales by plus 0.5 percent base health.
  • R red healing pre-mitigation damage increased from 65 to 75 percent.
  • Coming soon…
  • Q base attack damage scaling reduced from 50 to 40 percent.
  • E attack speed reduced from 10-60 to 10-50 percent, base attack damage scaling reduced from 75 to 50 percent.
  • E bonus damage from ghouls reduced from 30 to 20 percent.
  • R Maiden resists increased from 10-50 linear (10-18) to 30-90 linear (6-18).
  • Cooldown reduced from 20 to 18 seconds.
  • Slow increased from 50 percent for 1.5 seconds to 60 percent for two seconds.
  • Blocked damage changed from 140 constant to 75-255 linear, bonus damage changed from 90 constant to 50-170 linear.
  • Cost increased from 2,400 to 2,500.
  • Armor reduced from 70 to 65.
  • Attack damage increased from 60 to 65.
  • New recipe: BF Sword + Caulfield’s Warhammer + Cloak of Agility + 300 gold.
  • Can no longer buy second Rod of Ages after Ornn upgrades first one.
  • Can now be purchased on melee champions.
  • Bolts have minimum range of 350.
  • Tooltip now notes that bolt damage scales with on-hit modifiers.
  • Cooldown increased from 20 to 30 seconds.
  • Speed reduced from 25 to 35 percent.
  • Bonus health changed from seven percent total health to 50-230 linear from levels 6-18 (breaks even at 714-3,286 health, nerfed above).
  • Tooltip tracker now refers to “total proc times” as “sleigh rides.”
  • PROJECT: Gangplank
  • PROJECT: Jax
  • PROJECT: Naafiri

Update Feb. 27, 1:01am CT : Added all datamined League champion buffs and nerfs.

Update Feb. 27, 12:14am CT : Added all datamined League item changes.

This article is being updated through the League patch cycle.

Keria leading a bunch of LCK players in the LoL Park and high fiving fans.

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project portfolio notes

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What are you looking for?

Some topics you might be interested in, launch of technical staffing services in mozambique.

We are pleased to announce that we are now licensed to offer our global technical staffing solutions to the Mozambique market.

SGS has been providing customer focused technical recruitment solutions to the energy, mining and industrial market sectors for over 50 years. With access to a global database of over 500,000 multinational candidates and adaptable placement modules, we can provide skilled experts to meet our clients’ ever changing project demands.

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IMAGES

  1. What is Project Portfolio Management? Challenges and Benefits in 2022

    project portfolio notes

  2. Project Portfolio Management a Complete Guide for Beginners

    project portfolio notes

  3. Everything about Project Portfolio management and rationalization

    project portfolio notes

  4. Project Portfolio Management (PPM)

    project portfolio notes

  5. Project Portfolio Management Templates

    project portfolio notes

  6. Project Portfolio Template

    project portfolio notes

VIDEO

  1. Project Portfolio Management [A BEGINNER'S GUIDE]

  2. Project Portfolio Management

  3. Project Portfolio Management: How to Craft a Portfolio in 5 Steps

  4. Project Portfolio Management

  5. Project Portfolio Management Defined

  6. How to prepare your design portfolio / Design Tutorial

COMMENTS

  1. Project Portfolio Management (PPM): The Ultimate Guide

    A project portfolio is a collection of projects, programs and processes that are managed together and optimized for the financial and strategic goals of an organization. A portfolio can be managed at either the functional or the organizational level.

  2. PPM 101: What Is Project Portfolio Management?

    According to the Project Management Institute (PMI ® ), project portfolio management is the "centralized management of one or more portfolios that enable executive management to meet organizational goals and objectives through efficient decision making on portfolios, projects, programs and operations."

  3. Project Portfolio Management 101 [2023] • Asana

    Project portfolio management (PPM) is the centralized management of multiple projects. With project portfolio management, you gain visibility across projects and initiatives to connect your team's daily to-dos with your company's organizational strategy.

  4. PDF Project and Portfolio Management 101

    According to the Project Management Institute (PMI), project portfolio management is: The centralized management of one or more portfolios that enable executive management to meet organizational goals and objectives through efficient decision making on portfolios, projects, programs, and operations.

  5. Project Portfolio Management Guide

    The term project portfolio management (PPM) refers to the way a team efficiently organizes and manages groups of related projects to achieve strategic goals. Managers prioritize portfolios using predetermined criteria, and allocate resources according to priority level.

  6. The Complete Guide to Project Portfolio Management

    Project portfolio management (PPM) helps organizations to execute projects in support of strategic goals and priorities. Mature project portfolio management processes ensure organizations deliver more projects on time and within budget. PPM helps organizations to rigorously prioritize their project pipeline and focus on delivering business value.

  7. How to Manage Your Project Portfolio Like a Pro

    Portfolio management involves four main steps: 1. Planning. This step involves defining the strategic goals and objectives of the organization, identifying the potential projects that can contribute to those goals, and assessing the feasibility, risks, benefits, and costs of each project. 2.

  8. How Do You Manage a Project Portfolio?

    At its core, Project Portfolio Management is the centralized management of one or more project portfolios to achieve strategic objectives. It involves selecting, prioritizing, and controlling an organization's projects and programs in alignment with its strategic goals and capacity to deliver.

  9. A Complete Overview of Project Portfolio Management

    Project Portfolio Management is the centralized management of all components of a project, from processes and methods to technologies. Projects are prioritized based on their quantitative and qualitative factors, driving efficiency upwards by implementing only the most reliable, profitable, and risk-less projects.

  10. Project Portfolio Management: The Ultimate Guide

    ‍Project portfolio management is the practice of choosing the right projects and programs at the right time to ensure your resources are used as efficiently as possible to further your goals. ... (Note that, if you're doing departmental project portfolio management, the goals you should refer to are the goals of your individual department ...

  11. What is Project Portfolio Management (PPM)?

    Project portfolio management (PPM) is a holistic management strategy used to align an organization's software, portfolios, and projects for analysis and collaboration. Project portfolio management gives organizations and managers the ability to see the big picture. Let's see how? As an executive, you'll know which project managers to reach

  12. Key Elements of Project Portfolio Management

    A key element of project portfolio management is understanding of the relationship of work, where projects reside, and how they operationalize strategy. PMI's Pulse of the Profession 2020 found that nearly 12 percent of investment is wasted due to poor project performance. Oftentimes, leaders say yes to too many projects and focus on the ...

  13. Project portfolio management

    A major concern in managing projects and programs is doing projects right. But in the world of project portfolio management (PPfM), the goal is doing the right projects at the right time, and with this, aligning projects with strategy, rationing resources, and building synergies between projects. This paper examines techniques that organizations can use to effectively select, prioritize, and ...

  14. Project Portfolio Management Defined

    Project portfolio management (PPM) refers to a process used by project managers and project management organizations (PMOs) to analyze the potential return on undertaking a project. By organizing and consolidating every piece of data regarding proposed and current projects, project portfolio managers provide forecasting and business analysis for companies looking to invest in new projects.

  15. Project Portfolio Management (PPM): Meaning, Tools, Process

    Project portfolio management also popularly known as PPM in project management is the centralized management of an organization's projects and programs carried out by portfolio management or Project Management Office (PMO) to drive several benefits, viz: Uniformity of processes. Management of dependencies. Economies of scale.

  16. PDF Portfolio Management A practical guide

    2 Adopting portfolio management and the organisational context 7 2.1 The strategic plan 7 2.2 Portfolio governance 10 2.3 Sponsorship and stakeholder engagement 13 2.4 Portfolio management and management of risk 14 2.5 Portfolio management ROI and benefits management 18 2.6 Portfolio management of projects with different delivery

  17. Project Portfolio Management

    Project Portfolio Management (PPM) is a management process with the help of methods aimed at helping the organization to acquire information and sort out projects according to a set of criteria. Objectives of Project Portfolio Management

  18. Portfolio Project Management Best Practices

    It's important to note that these processes aren't sequential, but rather iterative and ongoing. That way, it allows for continuous improvement and adaptation to changes in your organization's strategy and whatever's going on in the macroeconomic environment. ... Tools for Effective Portfolio Project Management. Managing a complex ...

  19. Project Portfolio Management

    Explain establishing the framework, prioritizing potential projects, taking resources into account, making decisions, managing the portfolio, and improving the process. Note how communicating the ...

  20. How to Use OneNote for Project Management

    Manage Projects and Portfolios with Microsoft 365 Challenges to Using OneNote to Manage Projects Using OneNote In Your Project Management Process with BrightWork 365 The Microsoft 365 suite includes on the most widely used digital note-taking applications, OneNote. This article will cover some tips for how to use OneNote for project management.

  21. Implementing Project Portfolio Management

    The project portfolio management (PPM) implementation process is an organizational endeavor. The company establishes an action plan and a framework for governance, then standardizes new practices around those elements. ... You need to identify the long-term benefits to ensure the longevity of the business," notes Mastin. Confronting Changing ...

  22. Add Project Notes

    Steps. Navigate to the company's Portfolio tool. Click the Projects tab. Click the list icon. Click into the editable field in the Notes column for the relevant project. Click anywhere on the screen outside of the field. Your changes are saved automatically.

  23. Project Portfolio

    Business document from TAFE NSW - Sydney Institute, 14 pages, PROJECT PORTFOLIO STUDENT VERSION BSBPMG632 Manage program risk Student Project Portfolio - BSBPMG632 Manage program risk Issue date: 31/07/2023 NVR Education Australia ABN: 40 622 911 826, RTO ID: 45529, CRICOS ID: 03794C Level 10, 10 Barrack Street Sydn

  24. Thinkering, Making, Sharing, and Reflecting: A Model for Online

    Project-based learning (PBL) is a teaching method that calls for students to actively build knowledge by producing something. PBL assignments are designed to help learners observe and explore problems and content and make connections between their existing knowledge and new ideas. ... Notes. Michael Prince and Richard Felder, "The Many Faces of ...

  25. US Economic, Market Outlook: Possible Stagflation Would Be Stocks-Negative

    The US economy is at risk of tilting towards stagflation, or a period marked by low growth and persistently high inflation, which would prompt investors to favor stocks over bonds, says JPMorgan.

  26. Project Portfolio Management Templates

    Project portfolio management Free Project Portfolio Management Templates Try Smartsheet for Free By Kate Eby | July 27, 2021 (updated September 28, 2023) We've compiled the top templates for strategic project portfolio management (PPM). Download free, customizable PPM templates in Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Google Sheets formats.

  27. LoL Patch 14.5 patch notes

    League of Legends Patch 14.5 is fast approaching, with the March update expected to smash Twisted Fate's supremacy, reshuffle Rek'Sai and Seraphine's gameplay loops, and deliver some cool ...

  28. I can not publish the project in the portfolio

    I am trying to add my recent project to my Upwork portfolio, but the preview button is not working. I have filled in all the details. We and selected third parties use cookies or similar technologies for technical purposes, to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, assist in our marketing efforts, and for other purposes as specified in ...

  29. SGS Launches Technical Staffing Services in Mozambique

    With access to a global database of over 500,000 multinational candidates and adaptable placement modules, we can provide skilled experts to meet our clients' ever changing project demands. Our comprehensive technical staffing portfolio covers: Permanent recruitment, executive search and headhunting; Outsourcing, contract recruitment and leasing