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Let's take a quick look at a couple of them: The MoSCoW method There is a wide range of techniques that can help with this prioritization and they will typically cover: So a methodical process is required to determine what projects can be done to deliver the most value, given budget and resource constraints. Budget, talent, or both constrain most organizations. It's reasonably obvious that projects need to be prioritized because we cannot do everything – or not all at the same time.
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And, of course, the need for a systematic process to prioritize these projects. Portfolio managers, therefore, are responsible for determining the relative priority of individual projects across an organization. For that reason, portfolio management is much more focused on strategy and vision and, hence, future projects that might be required to deliver long term objectives. They tend to be accountable for projects in a variety of different areas of the business. Where a project manager has responsibility for a single project, and a program manager has responsibility for a group of related projects, a portfolio manager, on the other hand, has the even greater responsibility to oversee a much broader group of projects and programs the aim being to implement broader business objectives.Ī portfolio manager is responsible for budgets, resources, and schedules across a much wider section of a business or even across the entire enterprise. It is also useful for ensuring adequate resources are applied where necessary, and those skill sets are shared across projects What is portfolio management? One of the main advantages of managing projects as part of a program of changes is to avoid teams working in silos and potentially ending up with final deliverables that don't work well together. This is usually because they are related to each other and are all required as part of a broader strategic aim within an organization. Program management is merely the process of project managing a group of projects at the same time. These are two areas closely related to project management but with their responsibilities and issues and requiring a distinct set of project management skills. This can be taxing even for experienced project managers to handle without an effective method in place.īefore we look at the different ways of prioritizing projects let's look at the difference between portfolio and program management.
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There are more likely to be several projects on the go, and a portfolio manager or program manager will have overall responsibility of a number of projects all competing for attention and, consequently, requiring an effective project prioritization process. Why reinvent the wheel when you can take the best that others have learned, and apply it to your projects?Įxperienced project managers will often have developed the skills and expertise required to prioritize projects through both on-the-job experience, formal training, and study for project management qualifications like APM, PMP, or PRINCE2.īut rarely in business is there just one project occurring at any given time. To manage a single complex project, using a systematic process that follows best practices that have developed in the industry over several decades saves you time and effort. Why do you need a project prioritization process?
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