Essentials of Project Portfolio Management

Length: 1 day
PDUs:  7
PMI Activity ID#: 000435



Who Should Attend
This course is ideal for anyone who needs a quick understanding of PPM: Portfolio Managers; anyone who uses projects to execute Business Strategy; CEO, CFO, CIO, other Senior Executives; PMO Directors; Functional Managers and Executives with project responsibility.

The Challenge
It has become widely understood that Project Portfolio Management (PPM), when properly implemented, can have a dramatic impact on the bottom line. What is not well understood is that every enterprise already has PPM in place. The question is not "Does it exist?", but rather "Is the current PPM process effective?" Given that PPM is essential to carrying out Business Strategy, there is every reason to want an effective PPM process. So what does it take to make this happen?

The Solution
PPM is a business process of some complexity and with many participants. This1 day course explains what PPM is and provides examples of the processes and governance structures the management team needs for its successful implementation. This course explains how to optimize PPM, e.g. the steps that are necessary to ensure that only the highest value projects receive funding. Participants discuss portfolio definition, governance options and the need for measurement of business value. They are shown the ingredients for a project environment that ensures every project is fully supported and given what it needs to succeed. Essentials of Project Portfolio Management demonstrates how to get the most out of every project dollar. Learning Objectives include:

• Why project success is not enough
• The promise of PPM
• Steps for improving the PPM process
• The power of a PPM charter
• Role of the Executive Team in PPM
• Primary business processes of PPM
• How to choose the right projects at the right time
• Role of formal project management in PPM
• Reporting on portfolio results
• Considerations for formal PPM implementation

Course Outline

Instructor Background:
A certified Project Management Professional, the instructor for this course is highly experienced in all aspects of project management.  As a past member of the Board of Directors for the North Carolina Chapter of the Project Management Institute, he has presented numerous workshops and seminars at PMI events, most recently as the keynote speaker at the Palmetto Chapter Symposium in 2010.  He brings that experience with him into the classroom, and uses an endless supply of stories to bring the concepts of project management alive for his students.  Just in the past few years he has trained hundreds of students in both fundamental and advanced project management topics through delivery of courses and workshops.  His unique take on the central importance of Business Value, human factors and implementation of best practice in project management influences his entire curriculum, which takes students far beyond standard Project Management instruction.

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