Help. It’s such a simple word, but it’s one of the most difficult to say. We hate asking for help, whether it is because we don’t want to admit that we don’t know or can’t do something or because we fear that it reflects badly. Usually, the call to hire a consultant comes from a senior executive, but, occasionally, it may fall upon a project manager to wave the white flag. In that case, how do you convince the boss that you need a consultant?

Just recently, Antenna Software released their Mobile Business Forecast 2012, which polled 1,000 CIOs and business unit leaders in the UK and US. The report indicated that the average spent on mobile investments would increase from $422,000 to $926,000 in the next year and a half, and that one-third of companies planned on launching four or more mobile projects in the same timeframe. This is just one slice of the world economy, but it does give us insight on how much organizations invest in their projects, and just how many balls they’re juggling at once. This is exactly why project portfolio management is such a crucial function.

What is Portfolio Management? 

If you have someone manage your investment portfolio, he/she would make decisions about the mix of investments you should hold, which will help you meet your objectives, etc. It is much the same with project portfolio management. This process involves analyzing and managing a group of projects. The objective is to determine the best mix of projects and sequencing in furthering the organization’s goals, optimizing costs, and balancing risk. So you look at factors like:

Change is never really “done.” The completion of a project may give us the illusion that we’re finished, but what happens next is crucial. A major factor in project failure is ineffective implementation and change management. To look at it in a more glass-half-full way: a major factor in project success is effective implementation and change management. This is why measurement and feedback is so important for any project. You’re not done yet.

At the end, you have to go back to the beginning. It’s a very cyclical process.

“Meetings are indispensable when you don’t want to do anything.” John Kenneth Galbraith

Meetings. The bane of all organizational existence. I’m not just saying that; it’s scientifically proven. Researchers from UCLA and the University of Minnesota found that executives spend between 40 and 50 percent of their work time in meetings, and that as much as 50 percent is wasted time. Here’s another way to look at it: a University of Arizona study found there are more than 11 million formal meetings per day in the US (but Canada can hold its own, thanks). The cost of this to a Fortune 500 company is more than $75 million a year.

Bill Ford, Jr., says that by 2025 cars will be autonomous; they’ll be able to communicate with each other, use the road most efficiently, warn drivers of obstructions, and even valet park for you. In slow traffic, you could disengage your body as well as your brain and let the car take over. Autopilot is a great feature – on a car. It’s not so wonderful in your project team. It takes over when people are disengaged; they are in a never-ending traffic jam at work. No exciting corners, no high-speed chases, no scenic detours. The Centre of Excellence (COE) approach focuses on putting team members back behind the wheel.