Realigning And Prioritizing The Project Portfolio

The Client's Challenge

The Department's technology projects typically were not completed on time and the scope was often reduced to meet a project schedule thereby destroying business value.

More projects were being juggled than resources were available to action them, and there was little clarity on priority and value.

The Project List had a backlog of over 100 projects and was growing faster than projects were being completed.

The technology group prioritized projects based on their view of the business need.

The business impact of projects were not clearly understood before the project was commissioned and not realized after the completion of a project.

Scope

The assignment was to

• Review the process for initiating and prioritizing projects
• Recommend and make the necessary changes to maximize business results and value delivered.

Approach

Used TOP's Strategy Alignment Module’s Strategic Contribution Assessment Tool (SAT) process to identify and prioritize the strategic elements that were critical to delivering the strategy of the Finance Department.

Performed an initial screening of all projects within the project queue to assess their alignment with the strategy and ability to deliver the strategy

Developed a new project initiation process and a project scoring method utilizing the Strategic Contribution Assessment Tool (SAT) to prioritize all new projects.

Department executives were trained in the new process and the need for the change was communicated to all employees in the department.

All managers were trained in the new project initiation process.

Established a method to monitor progress and project business impact.

All executives and managers in the department were trained in project governance so they understood their role in project sponsorship and steering committees.

The Results

• A new project initiation process was implemented.
• As a result, 7 Projects were identified as high priority projects and their scope was expanded, a business sponsor assigned and given responsibility for the business outcomes beyond the project delivery.
• A new project governance training program was implemented.
• The executives and managers in the department said they now understood their role in project steering committees and as project sponsors.

The Payoff

A quarter (25%) of 106 projects were measured as critical business support activities that needed to be completed but were not being addressed because they were sitting in a project queue. They were immediately prioritized for action.

One third (27) of the remaining projects were eliminated because they were not aligned with and/or contributed little to the strategy.