Introduction
As a Project Manager, do you use an excel spreadsheet to keep track of your improvement projects? Sure, you can track your projects’ timeline, resource usage and money spent, but you probably have a worksheet for each project you manage. Does this feel a bit clumsy? Can you see, in one spreadsheet, how all of your projects are doing? While excel can be powerful, it is an imperfect solution for a complex problem.
Would you use an excel spreadsheet to manage your investments?
You could put each investment in its’ own workbook, enter a stock’s up and down trends, the number of shares you own, P/E ratio, Market Capitalization, etc. But is this efficient?
Most likely, you’ve signed up with an online broker and use the array of sophisticated tools to better your understanding of your investments and assess opportunities for your own financial portfolio management. With your ultimate financial picture in mind, you can buy, sell or reallocate your investments based on your financial goals. Using an investment portfolio manager gives you an overall picture of your financial situation.
You use a portfolio management software for your finances? Why wouldn’t you use it for your improvement projects?
Overview
Project Management itself, sets out to accomplish a goal pre-determined by what outcome is desired: tasks needed to complete the goal, the resources and manpower required, scheduling time to do the project and setting milestones and deadlines. The Project Manager sets out the scope of the project and makes sure it proceeds on schedule. Typically, these tasks are tracked on an excel spreadsheet or in MS Project.
PM focuses on the specific project at hand only.
Project Portfolio Management(PPM) takes project management to a higher level. PPM gives you the big picture and allows Project Managers to see a more enterprise view of all active, inactive and potential projects.
Project Portfolio Management can help determine if:
- The project is worth doing before starting
- How much savings (money/time/resources) could potentially be realized
- Prioritize projects based on their projected outcome
- Implement statistical data, testing tools and methods that can show you, in real time, if the project is going as planned
- Provide robust reporting on all tasks associated with the project
- Track all projects in progress so you don’t overlap your efforts
- Track all notes regarding projects in one place (version controls need not apply)
Can an excel spreadsheet do that? Hardly. That’s why you need a PPM software.
“Benefits realized in the first year of implementation of COMPASS include $134,000 ROI. The system has harnessed a unified team approach to problem solving center-wide while ensuring executive level engagement with every launched project.”
Rene N.
Chief Complance Officer at Emergence Health Network
Your Solutions-Driven Management
As a Project Manager, a PPM software, like the COMPASS QMS, can help you build your own efficiencies for implementing your efficiency projects. In other words – handle your efficiency efforts efficiently.
Tired of chasing down your team for updates?
You won’t have to with a PPM software. Your team will enter their updates in the system for you, in real-time.
Not sure if the projects you’re prioritizing are the right projects to prioritize?
No problem. A PPM software can analyze all projects across the board and determine which projects, based on company goals and project expected outcomes, should be prioritized. A bonus is a star rating system that can allow you to gauge the popularity of a project and the support it would receive.
Struggling to build useful reports for yourself and management?
A PPM software can automatically generate relevant and accurate reports based on information your users input. The work is done for you!
Not sure how to implement some of the more sophisticated data analysis tools?
A good PPM software will have in-software tutorials that will teach you how to use, implement and analyze your statistical reports. You don’t have to be a LEAN Black Belt to understand this.
Concerned that the projects are not returning the biggest bang for the buck?
PPM software can track, in real-time, milestones made or missed, money spent, time spent, work in progress, finished steps, tasks to do and more. You will always know where you stand with your projects and can plan or alter the project accordingly with confidence.
Want to know how your company is doing with performance improvement overall?
Executives and CEO’s can gain an enterprise-level view of all projects in the works. Top level assessment helps shape further implementation of improvement projects.
Have project ideas but aren’t sure if they are worth it?
A PPM software will allow you to enter in your project ideas and offer assessment of their potential return based on a set of pre-determined parameters. The software can add your idea into the improvement pipeline for future reference and future consideration.
Summary
Managing your project well means having access to information regarding your projects milestones, how resources are being utilized and knowing if the project tasks are completed on time. A Project Portfolio Management software can help you assess this information as well as give management a high level overview of your project as well as company-wide improvement projects.