Using project portfolio management software can help your team keep multiple, complex - simultaneous - projects on track. However, using the wrong software, or not creating the right workflow and processes to manage the software you use, could mean that you'll still have mistakes.
Let’s take a closer look at why project portfolio management software is a good idea. We'll also check out some of the more common mistakes teams make when they're managing project portfolios digitally.
When construction or project management companies are small and have a limited number of projects happening concurrently, it’s relatively easy to keep everything on track.
However, as companies grow and their workload increases, they might have a dozen or more projects happening at the same time.
Even larger companies have finite resources in terms of people, equipment, and capital, which means it becomes even more critical to ensure that every resource is being used as efficiently as possible.
Project portfolio management software helps teams to keep track of multiple projects at the same time, allocate resources, reassign them when necessary, and see what impact specific changes to the overall plan will make.
This kind of software is invaluable in planning, executing, and managing multiple projects, but like everything, it’s only as good as the teams and their processes.
Most teams who use project portfolio management software correctly will get some benefit from this kind of tool. It’s almost always better than trying to manage multiple concurrent projects using spreadsheets or whiteboards.
But there are some things that your team might be doing that could affect just how effective this tool is.
You’ve heard the saying, “Too many cooks in the kitchen?” That applies to construction projects, too.
If you’ve got a lot of people working on various projects and no clearly defined team leader for each one, then you might not be getting the best results.
Every project should have a team leader who sets and manages goals, defines priorities, and monitors and manages deliverables. This not only ensures that there’s accountability on every project, but also helps teams to understand the hierarchy for decision-making on each project.
Collaborative project portfolio management software is great for connecting teams and stakeholders, but things can get messy quickly if everyone has Create, Edit, and Delete permission on everything.
Even an innocent error could be disastrous to your project portfolio planning and management.
So always ensure that every team member has clearly-defined security and access permissions, and that you limit the number of people with administrative permissions.
Project portfolio management software serves as a single source of truth for your team and a critical part of your document management system.
If you’re using this kind of software without defining backups and versioning, you might be overwriting critical information that should be retained for your records.
Always ensure that there’s a clear system and process for creating new versions, as well as where and how to store previous versions. You never know when you might need to revert back.
Every company will have unique resources and capacity, and those might change over time. Sometimes, those changes can even be quite sudden, such as when a team member is ill or a machine needs to be repaired.
It’s super important that every team using project portfolio management software also creates a system to manage a live list of all available resources, and that it is updated in as close to real time as possible.
It’s usually a good idea to designate one or two people on your team – often someone like an operations manager – to manage this part of your software.
Any kind of software is only ever as good as the user operating it, and very often, that user is only as good as the software provider and their training and onboarding system.
When you’re investing in something as critical to your business and profitability as project portfolio management software, the software provider you work with is almost as important as the features the software offers.
Look for a company that offers customization options, including training and onboarding during the setup process. Trying to master new software without support is difficult enough, but it's nearly impossible when you’re also trying to roll it out throughout your organization and teams.
Don’t forget to ensure that the project portfolio management software provider also offers ongoing tech support and updates when necessary.