PMcrunch

There is always something going on that we can “take advantage of”. When we are in school, we can take advantage of the opportunity to learn new things in a free thinking environment. When we are on vacation, we can take advantage of the opportunity to sit back, relax and have a good time. When the weekend comes, we can take advantage of the opportunity to get some extra things done around the house, or to see to some friends. Now, we find ourselves in a recession. So, the natural question is, “What can we do to take advantage of the recession?”

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I am struck by one common thing called Integration Across Disciplines. I think this is one of the most important concepts in project management, and even more so in program management.

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Most of us as project and program managers are constantly looking to improve ourselves, our performance, our skills, and our influence on our respective organizations. There are some trends at work that I think we can tap into that can help us to do all of these things and more. They can help us to move our careers to the next level.

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Organizations of all sizes have been taking a much closer look at their project portfolios in these tough times. One of the bigger questions is “where does innovation fit in in the portfolio?” There are some interesting ideas around this and organizations must reckon with the fact that decisions about innovation could very well set the stage for the future of the company. At the same time, we must reckon with the fact that, in order to reach a future, we must be financially sound through the crisis. I have been thinking a bit about the relationship between innovation and portfolio management in tough times.

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Innovation is a popular topic these days. It is rare to read much in the business accross something about innovation. I have, at times, perceived innovation to be open creativity. However, based upon my experience, I have found that it is more of a deliberate act of which creativity is a part.

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As project managers we are responsible, typically, for our specific projects. Sometimes we might be working on portfolio management and sometimes we may be working in a PMO-type environment that offers project management help around the organization. However, more often than not, we are focused on our individual projects. Regardless of where you fit in to this spectrum, it is good to take a look at the kinds of projects that your company is implementing right now, as this can foreshadow the future for the organization.

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Uncertainty is part of the territory for effective leaders. Certainty simply does not exist for effective leadership, since if it did, leadership would not be needed! Whether in executive leadership or project leadership, it is the ability of the leader to manage uncertainties that most defines success.

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Sometimes I wonder if we are too success oriented. In other words, we as project managers feel that we have failed if our projects fail in anyway, and we define ourselves by project success and project failure. This reminds me of children in school striving all the time to get perfect grades. The problem with this is that sometimes failures produce our greatest successes. Do we have a project management expectation that acknowledges that?

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Innovation has a real diseconomy: What is making the organization work now can become at odds with what might make the organization work well, or better in the future. What effect does this have on Project Management, and where can Project Portfolio Management make a difference?

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As project managers, we all know that the project sponsor is the most important stakeholder. Without the project sponsor, it would be very difficult to get any project very far off the ground. I have been thinking about some of the risks of not having proper sponsorship, but the real issue is in defining what proper sponsorship really is – and of course, what it is not.

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