Helpful resources for today's leaders
Companies need to work very hard to survive in the fierce business world. Everyday, companies look at their competitors to understand the future trends and take action beforehand. They constantly try to innovate by taking into account their budgets and the risks of their actions. At the same time, market …
The PMO can be considered the new fuel for organizational change. An effective PMO delivers business results. Everything starts with hiring and empowering key people that build successful teams. It is important to create the right culture and to adopt the concept of servant leadership. The Agile approach provides companies …
There are companies that deliver high profits and grow above their industry average. These high-performance organizations obtain these results not by chance but by choice. Their leaders have decided to create a high-performance culture and put in place the ingredients that will contribute to their success. Improving the level of …
Some of the most successful companies in the world are able to create environments their employees love to go, and job seekers desire to work from. Identifying and developing a company culture that is healthy and productive can make a huge impact on an organization’s success. Organizational culture is the …
The relevance of Project Portfolio Management is growing beyond the project-based business. As many of us know, projects have become the main way for executing the strategy of an organization. In fact, companies that execute projects that align their objectives with organizational strategy have more chances to be successful over …
To develop new products companies can integrate Project Portfolio Management into the Stage-Gate process. This approach works very well for big firms that operate in mature businesses where the portfolio of projects is pretty static. Thanks to this approach, companies can review individual projects and make go/kill decisions on each …
Companies need innovation to increase their market share and profit margin. Thanks to innovation, companies are able to put new successful products on the market. To get the most out of each new product, companies need to deliver them on time. Unfortunately, what usually happens is that most companies have a lot of …
Companies today have a lot of projects they could be working on but a limited amount of resources. Instead of just trying to figure out how to get through as many of them as quickly as possible, organizations can use Project Portfolio Management (PPM) to prioritize those projects. There are …
Companies need innovation to increase their market share and profit margin. Innovation helps companies deliver higher value to customers. The process of converting an idea into a product or service allows companies to remain relevant and competitive in their fields. Innovation through projects Companies can decide to innovate by relying …
Companies are increasingly using projects to manage most of their activities. Managing single projects can produce a loss of transparency and efficiency of the project outlook. To be more effective, companies need to use a management approach, such as Project Portfolio Management (PPM). PPM is an efficient way to manage …
Organizations can benefit from using Project Portfolio Management (PPM) practices. In fact, PPM allows companies to allocate resources, schedule, analyze, and manage projects and business. At the same time, there are problems companies face when using PPM. What type of problems do companies face using PPM? Let’s analyze the three …
Companies can obtain many benefits by adopting Project Portfolio Management. In general, PPM helps companies flourish by allowing them to focus on the most important and strategic projects and programs. In a world that is becoming more and more complex, companies can use Project Portfolio Management to manage the complexity of their portfolios. …
Portfolio Management is evolving over time. Today, Portfolio Management goes over the evaluation techniques. It is going towards a more comprehensive managerial approach that explains how to use Project Portfolio Management (PPM). The trend of interest in the field of PPM and strategy topics has increased regularly in the last …
Organizations need to define a corporate strategy in order to achieve success. Defining a strategy is a critical factor for the future of a company. The right strategy will produce growth, profit, or any other objectives the executives have set. At the same time, an inappropriate strategy not only will …
Today, companies are constantly under pressure to innovate and grow. To reach these objectives, they need to find an efficient way to implement their strategies. Organizations execute their strategies through the creation of strategic initiatives. The execution of the organization’s strategies happens through the use of programs and project portfolios. …
As a program is a group of related projects, planning a complex program requires the planning of all projects that compose the program. It is important to have a process in place that helps in planning these projects. Also, it is crucial to periodically analyze each project to make the …
Managing programs is not as easy as it seems. In fact, there are some aspects that program managers should considered in order to manage programs successfully. Let’s analyze some of the most critical aspects that can support program managers in this tough business. Documenting project activities and tasks Usually, when …
To plan a program you need to plan all projects that compose the program. Developing an effective program plan often requires more than one planning cycle. Feedback and adjustments are important to create a program plan that minimizes interruption and make more efficient all the work that has to be …
Large and complex programs usually have projects with lots of dependencies. Identifying and managing interfaces between projects it is crucial for program success. Identifying project interfaces There can be different types of project interfaces. For instance, let’s imagine that we have two projects that are part of the same program: …
Today’s competition is getting more fierce than ever. In addition, product life cycles are becoming shorter, and never-ending change emphasizes the importance for companies to deliver on strategic intent in the most efficient ways. In fact, it is not acceptable to waste time and money to achieve objectives. Delivering low-quality products is …
There are people who might consider a program to be just a big project. In reality, programs and projects have both differences and shared features. To avoid any possible misunderstanding, it can be helpful to analyze the difference between projects and programs. What is a Project? A project can be …
As a program is a group of related projects, planning a program requires the planning of all projects that compose the program. In fact, it is important to have a process in place that helps planning these projects. In addition, it is crucial to periodically analyze each project to make …
A program is “a group of related projects managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits and control not available from managing them individually” (PMI 2005). Some programs can be complex. To get the most out of them companies need to manage their complexity. They can start by analysing the …
To evaluate program uncertainty it is possible to use a specific technique. In fact, in this case, the most common technique for evaluating project or program uncertainty is the three point technique. What is the three point technique? The three point estimating is a three-step process where project and program …
Have you ever been in a situation where stakeholders did not know where to find project or program information? For example, the program sponsor comes to you and asks: “Where can I find the last program report?” Or one of the key stakeholders complaints because he does not receive periodic …
Communication is the act of moving information from one person to another. We communicate in everything we do. In fact, we cannot avoid communicating with others. Communication is a critical tool in managing programs. In fact, to communicate effectively, program managers must know really well the communication process. The communication …
Planning processes are important to program success. In fact, the type of tools we use to plan a program can make the difference between success and failure. Tools for Project planning Office type documents, such as text documents with tables, spreadsheet and so on, are very useful to create the …
Sometimes it can happen that a Program is killed. The reasons why this happens can be different. In fact, a Program can fail for bad timing, poor management or bad delivery. So, here are the required steps to start a Program again. Program Preparations During Program Preparations it is important …
Program Management is the process of managing a group of related projects in order to achieve a defined business goal or benefit. Managing a program requires a set of phases. Definition phase The first phase of a program is the definition phase. During this phase the program manager initiates the …
A program is a group of related projects that have the same benefit and strategic goal. For this reason, some organizations manage these projects in a coordinated way to increase the probability of obtaining the expected benefits. Programs are complex Today programs are getting more complex than in the past …
Determine program size To run a program it is important to evaluate the number of days needed to complete the program. In fact, it is important to determine the budget of the program. To determine the dimensions of the program it is necessary to evaluate the sizes of the projects …
Scope describes the program’s work Program scope describes the work of the entire program and its overall boundaries. Each project of the program must describe its specific scope of work. In fact, each of them contributes to the overall program objectives. To document program scope you can use roadmaps, narratives, …
Decide the frequency of the delivery One of the things to consider when managing a program is the frequency of the delivery. if you decide to deliver the program all at once you should consider the correlated risks. In fact, some risk arises when you choose the deliverable timing. Actually, …
Program risks can cause a program to fail to meet its objectives. There are different types of risks, and some of them are common to any program. Among these risks we found that the customer may want to change the program goals. The program charter which contains the program’s purpose …
Programs by nature are larger and more complex than projects. As a result, programs have bigger and more complex scope than projects. As a Program Manager, define the scope of the program in order to describe the totality of the work to be done. Then, when you define the scope …
After designing the program roadmap, Program Managers can start defining the scope of the program. Program Managers need to define the detailed specifications for each deliverable to assign to a project team. Deliverables of complex programs have smaller components, parts, and subsystems which in turn may be made up of …
Projects are part of programs and portfolios, and programs are part of portfolios. In fact, a program is a group of related projects that have the same benefit and strategic goal. Each project inside, or outside, a program creates a unique product, service or a result. To be successful organizations …
Before starting a program, Program Managers should establish the program roadmap. A program roadmap is a representation of the program’s direction. It represents a time-scales summary of deliverables. In fact, programs that produce deliverables that will be sold as retail products usually have a roadmap with new offerings several times …
After stakeholder analysis, Program Managers start gathering program requirements. Once program requirements start taking shape, Program Managers should document and review them with key stakeholders. It is important to have a list with all requirements that are within the program scope and collect the ones which are outside. There could …
Program Managers can use the Kano Model to decide which features a product or service should have. This versatile model helps Program Managers to categorize program requirements into three categories: basic, performance and excitement. Stakeholders rarely mention or discuss basic needs when they are interviewed, but they are unhappy if …
There could be legal requirements that restrict what can be done for a program. Program deliverables can be affected by regulations for protecting privacy, handling financial information and so on. For this reason, when a program begins, Program Managers should review external requirements, organizational standards, technological capabilities and other external …
When a new program begins the Program Manager has to understand which are the problems to be solved and the opportunities to be pursued. During stakeholder analysis Program Managers should try to understand expected results and deliverables of the program. They need to understand why people want what they are …
Program managers have to face the complexity of expected deliverables. This is because programs are expected to deliver benefits and there are many possible ways to reach this goal. First of all it’s important to understand the needs and desires of key stakeholders which help to define the scope of …
Programs are complex, so during program startup meeting it is important to spend some time discussing the overall approach the program will use. The startup meeting can begin by reviewing the agenda and clarifying the overall objectives for the meeting. As the meeting proceeds, the Program Manager presents the program …
Program startup meetings begin with building a strong business case which contains costs and expenses for travel, logistics and other needs. To organize an effective startup meeting for your program it is important to develop an agenda that will guarantee a strong start of the initiative. In detail, the agenda …
The first component of a program plan is the program kick-off. Program Manager has to organise kick-off meeting to guarantee a healthy start for the program. The suggestion is to create a clear and motivating vision that describes why the program matters. The Program Manager should work with the program …
When a program starts, it is important to create the program charter. Program charters should include the following: Business case Vision and strategic alignment Objectives Initial costs and expected benefits High-level deliverables A road map for deliverables Governance structure Initial issues and risks Program Managers use data included in the …
Inadequate program management processes create chaotic environments where teams march in random directions with little chance of success. To avoid this from happening, when a program begins it is useful to conduct a review aimed at improving those methods and processes that have not worked well previously. For small and …
Programs usually have lots of information to be managed and diverse teams. These factors make information management and communications difficult. Program Managers can start by organizing an online program information system that allows people to find what they need without assistance. It is also important to tailor communications in order …
Managing stakeholder expectations is extremely important to programs’ success. Stakeholders have a tendency to change their mind over time. Their needs and expectations may shift during the program. To prevent this from happening, it is important that Program Managers develop plans to engage with stakeholders on a regular basis to …
As programs usually have a long duration, program managers need to be ready to deal with changes. There are programs that depend on technologies. When these programs start, it is important to evaluate the possibilities for technological changes that can have an impact on the program. To face potential changes, …
Ongoing funding for lengthy programs is challenging. Continuous programs have to compete with new initiatives that an organization can undertake. For this reason, it is important to prepare compelling business cases and presentations that share past accomplishments to secure ongoing program funding. In general, at the program start, it is …
To successfully manage program of projects it is important to manage complexity from the early stages. When a big program starts it is important to plan how to manage the program complexity. Generally speaking, decomposition is one the techniques to manage system complexity effectively. Breaking things up in smaller pieces …
Program risk management is critical for program success. When a program of projects starts it is useful to conduct a pre-mortem analysis in order to avoid problems and improve the chances of program success. It starts by challenging people to envision failure scenarios. Then the program manager lists all reasons …
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