Risks

If you fail to follow Best Practices for project portfolio management, you risk:

• A portfolio of incremental projects, never taking the risk needed for exceptional payback and a truly significant improvement in the company. PPM will help you balance your investment in all dimensions including long-term and short-term or low risk and high risk.
• One business in your company improperly dominating at the expense of others, and not in accordance with your goals. PPM will level the playing field and drive discussions and decisions based on the common unit of money, including uncertainties.
• A weak strategy not tested frequently against the realities of execution and changing markets and industries. PPM will constantly test your strategy and execution.
• Too many projects in your active portfolio creating long development cycles and poor schedule accuracy. PPM will challenge your ability to execute all projects in the portfolio effectively.
• Having the wrong projects initiated because just because they pass financial hurdles. PPM helps drive the frequent comparison of newly proposed projects with the rest of the portfolio, and the proper balance of projects to maximize ability to accomplish your corporate goals.

 

Opportunities

If you follow Best Practices for project portfolio management, your opportunities will include:

• Meeting your company goals thanks to a better balance of projects: balancing risk and payback, long and short-term returns, current and new markets and many other dimensions.
• More innovative offerings since you will finally fund those breakthrough but riskier projects.
• The ability to enter new markets while still maintaining the necessary cash flow from your current markets.
• Less political infighting as the tools and processes show clear linkage between portfolio decisions and corporate goals.
• Improved strategy and execution processes as PPM challenges both.