Why it’s high time that Project Managers prioritize Portfolio Management

How do project managers estimate potential returns on doing a particular project? Project portfolio management considers complex processes, analysis and technology of existing as well as future projects finalized. Focused at forecasting success rates and company’s future prospects, portfolio management is an essential area to look into.

Project portfolio management presents a win-win situation for everyone involved in the process. Here is how this happens:

• Project managers – It provides easy access to team members, so collaborating between them becomes super easy
• Stakeholders – Continuous supply of feedback regarding progress of the project
• Team members – Significant improvement in communication with the teammates and leadership capabilities

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Hones Risk Management abilities in Managers

One must understand that taking bigger risks does not simply equate to bigger rewards. At times, less than intelligent decision making can lead to disastrous consequences. Hence the project managers ought to resort to smart decision making in order to achieve success.

With Project portfolio management, companies could plan smartly for upcoming projects and accurately predict the outcomes. Some obvious questions include –

• Are the requisite resources and budget for a particular project readily available?
• Can this project be modeled on an existing project?
• Would the progress on this project be hindered by any current project?
• Are the expectations of various stakeholders relevant and what are the avenues where the company would need to compromise on various accounts?
• Whether the project would lead to meeting the overall objectives as an organization?

Managers can seek help from PPM in several other ways. For instance, they can obtain detailed breakdown of costs, resources, timelines, tasks and overall goals. Depending on the available information, they can take stock of their risk taking capabilities in regards to current projects running in the company. In addition, they can analyze whether it would make perfect sense to go forward with an upcoming project or not! There are a whole lot of possibilities regarding what can be achieved with its help.

How does Project Portfolio Management (PPM) help in risk mitigation?

It is quite incredible to know that PPM can help in significant mitigation of risks. With its help, project managers can obtain a bird’s eye view of the overall project and predict correctly where things can go wrong and mistakes can occur. Hence, corrective action can be taken in time and mistakes could be minimized! A smart manager would take its help to predict potential risks and necessary action be taken well in advance. In this way, potential delays can be avoided, thereby leading to timely delivery of the project and happy customers!

Here is what risk mitigation can lead to:

• Organizational goals can be aligned with every single proposed project
• Effective risk and reward management
• Identification and mitigation of potential design flaws and bottlenecks at an early level

There are an incredible lot of things that could be achieved with portfolio management. Managers are going to find their hands full when they utilize the technique for managing their projects better and letting their companies take intelligent decisions.

Thus, portfolio understanding is an integral part of a project processes.

Must focus upon portfolios and help the aspirants from beginning.

Explore more about PPM before plunging at any offered course. Probe more and act wisely.