As the first “P” in “PPM” suggests, the practice of Project & Portfolio Management often represents nothing more than an outgrowth of project management. Once the volume of projects and project managers achieves critical mass, the concept of portfolio management emerges from the rather basic organizational challenge of managing a lot of moving parts at once. Read this white paper to learn how this top-down approach offers a more practical alternative to existing PPM maturity models. Read the full paper here: http://info.powersteeringsoftware.com/Top-Down-Portfolio-Management-Whitepaper.html?description=top-down-ppm-wp-slideshare&source=Slideshare

1. DRIVING RESULTS WITH TOP-DOWN
PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT
FOCUS ON THE RIGHT “P” IN PPM
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP WHITE PAPER

2. Driving Results with Top-Down Portfolio Management
Introduction
As the first “P” in “PPM” suggests, the practice of Project & Portfolio Management
often represents nothing more than an outgrowth of project management. Once the
volume of projects and project managers achieves critical mass, the concept of portfolio
management emerges from the rather basic organizational challenge of managing a lot
of moving parts at once. In this evolution, PPM is simply project management in the
aggregate: a means to track a large number of projects and people at one time. This
“bottom-up” perspective informs the way many organizations both conceptualize and
deploy PPM.
The problem with this model is that it puts too much emphasis on the wrong “P.”
Optimizing the quality of project execution means little if the organization is not
working on the right projects in the first place. To deliver the most benefit to the
organization, the primary focus of PPM must be on the portfolio – a “top down”
approach. Projects that are both on time and on budget but are misaligned with
strategic goals or redundant with other work in the organization represent nothing
more than corporate waste. To realize the most value from Project & Portfolio
Management, emphasis should be placed on the business processes of project
prioritization and selection, which together are often referred to as “demand
management” or “demand optimization.” Only once the business is sure it is doing the
right things need it concern itself with whether or not those things are being done the
right way.
Focusing on Value: The PPM Capability Model
To further codify what is meant by such a “top-down” approach to PPM,
PowerSteering has developed the PPM Capability Model (Figure 1). It categorizes
Project & Portfolio Management into 4 key business processes: Demand Optimization,
Governance, Execution, and Analysis, and defines three levels of capability (Crawl,
Walk, and Run) within each. This approach offers a more practical alternative to
existing PPM maturity models and differs in three key ways.
Rather than treat all PPM processes equally, PowerSteering has developed
estimates of the relative value of each activity and capability phase based on
data and experience with program portfolios at over 150 major organizations.
Consistent with the argument above, this places significantly more value on the
top level of demand optimization and governance than the more tactical areas
of project execution and reporting.
PowerSteering Software 25 First Street Cambridge MA 02141 1.866.390.9088 www.powersteeringsoftware.com 2

3. Driving Results with Top-Down Portfolio Management
Using the classic 80/20 rule, PowerSteering attributes greater value to creating a
basic level of rigor and discipline within each capability area than the
incremental benefit of advancing from that basic level to more advanced
approaches.
PowerSteering does not advocate advancement to the next level of capability as
a goal unto itself, but rather encourages organizations to assess their current
capabilities and pursue those incremental improvements of greatest value. For
much of your organization, a brisk “walk” may be the ideal level of capability
and control to balance effectiveness and overhead.
Conclusion
As such dramatic results testify, organizations looking to build a successful PPM
practice should avoid approaches that focus on perfecting project management
processes first and only worry about the portfolio later. Strategy execution, as former
CEO of GE Jack Welch often proclaimed, is about doing the right things in the right
way. The unspoken corollary is that if you’re not doing the right things, how well you
do them doesn’t matter at all. Adopting “top down” PPM, which emphasizes
optimizing the investments in the portfolio, ensures the organization only works on
those projects that align with corporate objectives and deliver the most value. In this
way it delivers better program results, and with less effort, than attempting to build
portfolio management capabilities from the bottom up.
Read the full white paper now.
PowerSteering Software is the leader in business-driven project &
portfolio management (PPM) solutions for managing IT
Governance, New Product Development, Performance
Improvement, and other Business PMO initiatives. Its easy-to-use
software provides executives at BayCare, Johnson Controls,
Merck, PolyOne, Shaw Industries, UK National Health Service, US
Department of Defense, and over 140 other customers with
executive visibility, strategy alignment, and team productivity to
drive strategy and accelerate results across the organization.
PowerSteering was rated “Strong Positive” in the "MarketScope
for Project and Portfolio Management Applications" published
by Gartner, Inc.
PowerSteering Software 25 First Street Cambridge MA 02141 1.866.390.9088 www.powersteeringsoftware.com 3