Improvements in Project and Portfolio Management Yield Immediate Returns

Dramatic increases in project execution capabilities and productivity resulted in $900,000 of operational cost avoidance during the current budget year.

Company

As one of the largest U.S. coal producers with approximately 1,600 employees, this $1.4 billion dollar company is a fuel supplier for approximately 4% of the nation’s electricity.

Challenge

With a limited staff that was overwhelmed by increasing business demands, project quality began to wane for this young company as they grappled with managing the IT project portfolio. Although projects were being completed, the cost of project delivery was also increasing. The client’s leadership team recognized that something was wrong, and knew they needed outside support to evaluate the situation and identify the best what remedies to apply.

Solution

The client decided the best course of action was to bring in seasoned professionals in project management services and PMO remediation. The company engaged PM Solutions to perform an evaluation of the current state of affairs and provide guidance in organizational enhancement.

At the conclusion of the assessment, PM Solutions presented a list of project and portfolio project management improvements that would address the specific “pain points” of the company in order to help prevent further deterioration in execution. Included with the list was a roadmap for implementation of these enhancements.

In just three months, PM Solutions was able to redefine and simplify the company’s project management methodology, reorganize PMO operations, institute a new project and portfolio reporting structure, and establish new portfolio governance processes.

In tandem, PM Solutions performed a detailed review of all current in-flight projects, and brought them into compliance with the newly implemented methodology.

Results

The organization now has a fully vetted, standardized project methodology and portfolio governance process to follow for all future project activities. Implementing methodology changes and restructuring in-flight projects produced immediate, realized savings in project execution productivity, and US $900,000 in non-IT department operations cost avoidance.

One such instance of cost avoidance included redefining and re-launching a stalled project intended to lower the operating costs of the client’s Maintenance Department. After three weeks of review, redefinition, and re-planning, the project successfully concluded in the following two months. The net result was a decrease of $100,000 in departmental costs from the elimination of the old departmental process.


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