Is it time to consider adopting PPM tools? (The ho hum blog)

The probability is that your company has been running projects for many years. Over that time the numbers have increased, the complexity, and the expectation of the executive has grown also, so now you have the tracking mechanisms in place, and its all under control.......or is it?

Sure, you have that master list of projects, as long as those other guys stop using their own lists, and their own secret updates, that they forget to tell you about, until they embarrass you in front of the big boss, but.... ho hum.

Naturally, you transcribe all those costs every week from the timesheets that don't really look true, and seem to no longer match the names in your project list anymore. And those purchase orders, did they actually arrive, in full or not. Why doesn't everyone follow that agreed procedure that you wrote ... ho hum.

And why do you seem to never agree with the Project Managers financial summary, or the Development managers report of worked hours? That makes the reconciliation of contractors invoices a nightmare....ho hum.

Then those budgets! Never quite seem to remain aligned as those projects keep evolving, so its hard enough working out what's going on, let along forecasting the cost for the year.... ho hum.

Capex/Opex, now we're well into the black arts. But never mind, even if there's a lot of guesswork probably no one else will be brave enough to challenge your analysis, so you'll all just agree on some mutually acceptable numbers that finance want to show this year. ho hum...

So, sure, you manage the projects, just as long as someone does not then tell you to change the portfolio structure, and you have to change all those 100's, 1000's of excel formulas, again. Hard to be sure you got them all...ho hum.

But don't let anyone else touch your excel list, since they won't understand all those hidden features. So yes, you can cope, you're focused, resilient, great professional stamina, and you use every ounce of it.

So if I then ask you whether your work supports the new normal, Organisational Agility, you'll roll your eyes and stop talking to me altogether.

And tomorrow they might ask you to forecast the workload for everyone in the portfolio or department. So many moving parts. So much uncertainty, What work is really approved, when precisely is a project official? Wow, now its now become a complete cottage industry in itself. Joiners, leavers, skills sets, actuals vs forecasts, roadmaps. Deep breath, you're tough, you can do it. ho hum...

So that's your world, the heavy cross you carry, not leaving much time to actually use your many years of experience and management skill.

Its such a complex end to end process, that no one else can be trusted to do it. But that's what you have to do, right? Push the rock up the mountain, alone, every day ...ho hum.

But it doesn't have to be like that!

Some years ago, to automate this work those consultants told you that you had to buy into an expensive complex enterprise thingy, with yet more consultancy, and embark on micro management and heavy governance, And if it was not working, well then, you just had to try harder and spend more, much more.

But it doesn't have to be like that, either!

There are now easily deployable PPM toolsets, cloud based, that have been created with a low entry point. But they are not magic. You have to really work out what you need and go about configuring it, step by step. And, not surprisingly, you discover that some elements of your operation are genuinely unique, just like you always told them. Perhaps budget agreement and management, perhaps treatment of BAU, perhaps variations on how you manage your development methodologies. So probably no toolset can be a total turnkey solution, but if it is highly configurable that you can succeed anyway.

The great thing is, once an investment commences, you see results fast! No need to be under the pressure of huge distant expensive promises. The benefits can come along the journey. An agile PPM deployment, a step at a time, controlling your rate of change management. Keep going for as long as the benefits are being delivered because the savings of so many other folk doing hidden uncoordinated activities are more than offsetting the PPM cost.

Choose the PPM tool carefully, validate the case studies supported by success stories from organisations that did not have deep pockets and numerous dedicated technicians.

Personally, I have experienced great success with Clarizen PPM. Its not trivial, but it is not at all overwhelming. It does not claim to be the most functional solution in the world, but its functionality moves forward with reassuring monthly releases. Due to the ease of configuration/customisation you do have to be careful that you put enough thought into the design and evolving architecture, so as to maintain easily supportable structures.

For a low entry start, the costs can be made proportionate to the user numbers benefiting from the implementation and breadth of functionality deployed.

If all the above resonates with your challenges, then there is now a different world for you to explore. PPM can build a solid but flexible foundation for your processes and Portfolio management and help you be that Agile organisation. But one article can't win anyone over. Its far too big a leap of faith. You need to go out and see it, talking to organisations who can tell you what it cost, how long it took, some of the local exceptions it had to address, and precisely what it has achieved (so far).

So, no longer does portfolio management have to feel like pushing a rock up the mountain.

Julian Banasiewicz

www.gabluca.com