Explain 3 key activities of portfolio management (30 Marks)
Management of risk across the portfolio
Coordinate the impact on BAU
Provide a holistic view of the workload
Portfolio management provides a holistic
view of risks across all the projects and programmes within the portfoilio. Risks
can be better understood and prioritised and allows the portfolio to balance
the level of risks against its projects / programmes. For example a greater
deal of scrutiny may be applied to higher level risk projects / programmes. It
also allows the organisation to move contingency budgets around more
effectively making best use of resources to rectify those risks with the
highest importance.
view of risks across all the projects and programmes within the portfoilio. Risks
can be better understood and prioritised and allows the portfolio to balance
the level of risks against its projects / programmes. For example a greater
deal of scrutiny may be applied to higher level risk projects / programmes. It
also allows the organisation to move contingency budgets around more
effectively making best use of resources to rectify those risks with the
highest importance.
Portfolio management provides a
clear view of all the projects and programmes and their implementation
schedules. Projects which are not part of the programme may not have visibility
of their respective implementation plans. Potentially this could lead to a
conflict in which multiple projects and programmes are going live at the same
time exposing the organisation to significant risk an putting the organisation
in jeopardy. Portfolio management ensures that change is managed and the impact
is minimised on BAU.
clear view of all the projects and programmes and their implementation
schedules. Projects which are not part of the programme may not have visibility
of their respective implementation plans. Potentially this could lead to a
conflict in which multiple projects and programmes are going live at the same
time exposing the organisation to significant risk an putting the organisation
in jeopardy. Portfolio management ensures that change is managed and the impact
is minimised on BAU.
Portfolio management provides for
a holistic view of the workload across the programmes and projects. Therefore
rather than taking the approach that each piece of work is done as soon as
possible, the organisation can make the best use of resource to achieve the
maximum benefit for the organisation. Without having the view of the workload
at the organisation level its possible that resources could have been better
utilised on other projects / programmes.
a holistic view of the workload across the programmes and projects. Therefore
rather than taking the approach that each piece of work is done as soon as
possible, the organisation can make the best use of resource to achieve the
maximum benefit for the organisation. Without having the view of the workload
at the organisation level its possible that resources could have been better
utilised on other projects / programmes.
Explain two ways that project managers contribute to
portfolio management (20 Marks)
portfolio management (20 Marks)
Project managers implement each
project using a standardised approach. This facilitates the ability to rollup
information into the higher level for management reporting at the portfolio
level. For example within our organisation all risks are recorded in a certain
format which facilitates review at the portfolio level. Without following a
consistent standardised approach it would be much more time consuming and
difficult to compare risks across projects and programmes at the portfolio
level.
project using a standardised approach. This facilitates the ability to rollup
information into the higher level for management reporting at the portfolio
level. For example within our organisation all risks are recorded in a certain
format which facilitates review at the portfolio level. Without following a
consistent standardised approach it would be much more time consuming and
difficult to compare risks across projects and programmes at the portfolio
level.
Project Planning is carried out
using the same tools whether it is part of a project or programme. This allows
for a consistent view of resource utilisation across the organisation.
Therefore if decisions are taken to better utilise the resource organisation
wide it would be possible to see the impact of those changes across the
projects and programmes before they are actually committed to using what if
analysis. Without being able to manage resource organisation wide, the impact
on projects and programmes becomes more difficult to assess.
using the same tools whether it is part of a project or programme. This allows
for a consistent view of resource utilisation across the organisation.
Therefore if decisions are taken to better utilise the resource organisation
wide it would be possible to see the impact of those changes across the
projects and programmes before they are actually committed to using what if
analysis. Without being able to manage resource organisation wide, the impact
on projects and programmes becomes more difficult to assess.
Brian this is a really good answer to quite a hard question