Trends and Best Practices Session Reinforces Learnings from PM Solutions Research

May 21, 2013 | by Johanna Mickel

In today's keynote, "Are You Really Practicing Portfolio Management?" Gartner's Matt Light teamed up with PMI's Mark Langley  to cover trends and best practices in PPM. Some of the content, although coming from different research sources, echoed research we have recently released from PM Solutions Research, the State of PPM 2013 study. This is satisfying, because while I love learning new things, I also get a kick out of hearing my own company's assumptions validated. Here are a few high points of their excellent overview:

  • PMI's recent survey, detailed in The High Cost of Low Performance found that about 88% of organizations in their study use PPM - but most of them use it inconsistently. Only 21% say they "always" use PPM.
  • Like the State of PPM 2013, PMI's study finds a strong correlation between PPM ability and project outcomes. And, again similar to our research, only a fraction (8%) report being "fully mature" in their PPM processes.
  • Those that were high performers were three times more likely to report that their organization is flexible and adaptable. This mirrors our finding that companies with high PPM capability report an ROI on their PPM investment of 25% or more three times as often as those with low capability.

What must companies do to ramp up thier PPM process maturity? It's not rocket science. The three top best practices mentioned were:

  • Implement consistent tools and practices
  • Inculcate a "PPM culture" - one where using established practices is the norm
  • Elevate PPM to the strategic level - something we've argued for for years. The proper home for PPM is in an enterprise PMO, and an increasing number of organizations are siting it there.

Langley and Light went so far as to say that PPM "enables organizational agility" and I couldn't agree more. Learn more about this powerful practice by perusing our resources on the topic here.

 

About the Author

Johanna Mickel

As Director of Business Development, Johanna Mickel possesses over 25 years’ experience  as a business development professional working with major organizations by providing IT related services for the planning and implementation of large, complex solutions.  Based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Johanna manages PM Solutions’ U.S. east coast and international business development.

View Posts by Johanna Mickel

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