I sighed as I flipped through my emails. The pandemic had impacted everyone, and as upbeat as I tried to be, it was hard. I stayed positive for my kids and for the musicians. The world had changed so much that I was worried it had become the new normal.

The symphony had to cancel two concerts, and the quartet had been stuck because they couldn't fly home. They were supposed to teach, play in the symphony, and also have a chamber music series. None of that was happening, and I was having a hard time with the board. They wanted to cancel the musicians' contracts, but that would strand them, unable to go home. It could cause issues with their visas as well.

I finished my coffee and got ready for a call with Sam. I had a plan that I hoped would work.

“Hey there, Jerry,” said Sam when he logged in. “Do you have your arm sling off?”

“Yeah, physical therapy has helped a lot,” I replied. “I may even be able to play bass soon.”

“Are you kidding? That's great news,” he said. “Have you been able to go to their office?”

“Yes, with some pretty tight restrictions,” I said. “But my progress has exceeded their expectations.”

“That's great,” he said. “Listen, I know you're concerned about the quartet.”

“I am, but I think I have a plan,” I said. “In fact, I think we can get the entire orchestra on board.”

“I'm all ears,” said Sam.

“I believe we can do concerts with social distancing. They can be spread out on stage, and those who don't play wind or brass instruments can wear masks.”

“What about the audience?” Sam said. “The local laws say we can't have a performance.”

“We stream it online through one or more platforms. I know it's not optimal, but it is better than having nothing,” I said.

Sam scribbled some notes and was silent.

“Can we charge for it?” he asked.

“We could, but the season ticket holders have already paid. The point of the concerts is to keep us in the minds of our patrons. And people are stuck at home and would love an excuse to watch something live.”

“I see your point, but how do we monetize it?” Sam asked.

“At this point, we don't. This is a value‐added proposition. Right now, we are in survival mode. We have no idea how long this is going to last, nor do we know what things will be like after the restrictions lift, so it's important we don't wait to do something. If we want our patrons to support us, we need to support them through music.”

“Okay, I can see that,” remarked Sam.

“In addition, I thought we could get the musicians to make some videos individually. They can introduce themselves, talk about their instrument, and even play some excerpts. I have plenty of volunteers all ready to step up to do that.”

“They're willing to volunteer?”

“Yes, because not only are they loyal to the symphony, they're trying to figure out what to do during the pandemic. They don't want their skills to go soft, and they're looking for new ways to reach audiences. Many, including me, are giving private lessons virtually. Performing can be a little trickier. But they have cameras and are willing to put themselves out there. In return, the patrons can feel closer to the musicians. We're also considering some live small ensemble performances, such as the quartet in their living room.”

“Are you willing to share all of this with the board? While the musicians are willing to volunteer, I feel this falls under marketing and advertising, and so perhaps we can divert funds from those budgets to pay them.”

I took a breath. “Really? That would be outstanding.”

“Can you get one or two of those videos done and send me the links to share?” asked Sam.

“You bet.” We disconnected.

The response from Sam was greater than I had imagined. He had seen the vision and understood the value of what I was proposing. Maybe things weren't as bleak as they seemed.

I looked at my watch. It was time to log on with my therapist. Since being served with papers, I had been on edge. Seeing counselors in person hadn't been possible, but I found an online option.

* * *

“Hey, Jerry, how are things going?” Rachel, my therapist, began the session.

“Well, you know, I'm taking it day by day.”

“Anything new this week?”

I told her the good news about my arm and also that things were looking up at work.

“How is virtual school going with the kids?” she asked.

“They are online right now. I don't think they mind it, but it can be frustrating because the teachers haven't been prepared to teach online. Also, they miss their friends. They can call them and see them online, but it's just not the same.”

“I get that, but you're doing a great job,” responded Rachel. “How are things going with Laura?”

“Frustrating. She doesn't talk to the kids nearly enough. She sometimes forgets calls, and I have to text and remind her. She's in lockdown with her boyfriend, so I guess she's distracted.”

“And the divorce, how are you coping with that?”

“Well, it's hard. At first it felt like it came from nowhere, but after working with you, I'm able to see more clearly that things have been headed this way for a long time. I just wanted to make you aware. I do feel guilty about it.”

“Why?”

“Because of the kids. They didn't deserve a broken family.”

“From your description of them, they seem happier with the situation than in the past. Your son has found music and has connected more with you. And your daughter was heading down a bad road, but because of you she's doing well and seems more stable.”

“Yeah, that's true, but they need their mom,” I said.

“And they have that, Jerry. You're doing everything you can to facilitate time with them. It is Laura's choice beyond that. You can't control that, nor are you responsible.”

“I suppose you're right, but I feel like if I had done something sooner. …”

“You can live in a world of ‘what if’ if you choose. But there is nothing you can do about the past. You can only control what you do right now.”

“You're right … I get it.”

“Have you considered dating?”

I laughed. “Well, it's a little tough in the current situation.”

“Yeah, but after we get through the pandemic, will you be open to other people coming into your life again?”

“To be honest, I don't see myself active in the dating scene. But I suppose if I met someone, I would be open to dating. Right now, my focus is on work and the kids. And I really want this divorce to be finalized. Everything has been delayed in the courts.”

“I can understand your frustration. Honestly, it sounds like you're doing the best you can in extraordinary circumstances. Try to take time for yourself and be mindful. It's hard when you are working, living, and parenting all in the same space all day. But it will help your anxiety to do something for yourself.”

“I have been on the treadmill every day,” I offered.

“That's great. Exercise can help in many ways – both physically and mentally. Have you considered yoga?”

“No,” I admitted.

“Think about it. It's something you can do at home. There are many apps and videos you can use.”

We wrapped up our call, and she gave me some suggestions for yoga apps. As usual, I felt better after the session.

“Dad, I'm hungry,” I heard from down the hall. It was dinnertime. No rest for the weary.

* * *

“It sounds like things are going well,” said Dr. Richardson on our video call.

“As well as can be expected,” I said.

“I really like the plan you came up with for the musicians,” he said. “This week, I want to talk to you about portfolio management implementation and adoption. It's all about project and program execution to get your portfolio started and set up. You've already done some of this, but I hope you learn something new that can help you as you shift to new projects due to the pandemic.”

“I'm ready to go!” I said.

“We've gone through a lot as we've talked about portfolio management. We've talked about why to use it and some of the how‐tos around the concept. Now I want to talk about setting up your PMO, and again, remember that the PMO could be a project PMO, a program PMO, or a portfolio PMO. So at this time, we're talking about the portfolio PMO.”

“Got it,” I said.

“So where do you start, and how do you get there?” Dr. Richardson began. (See Figure 10.1.) “You really want to start from the bottom up. You want to capture the projects that are in flight and how much work is going on in the organization. When I first joined the international law firm, I went and met all the senior leaders within the IT group just to get a good handle on the different projects between New York, Boston, and the DC office, even over in Europe. Everyone had a list in their back pocket, but they weren't all open and sharing their lists across the organization. When I consolidated them, instead of having seventy projects going on, there were two hundred to three hundred projects on the list, and many were duplicates, but they weren't all talking to each other, so they didn't know. I know you have these new projects you want to implement. Do you know what else is going on at the symphony right now?”

“You know, I don't,” I admitted. “But after this call, I am going to find out. I am so siloed here; I don't even think to ask.”

“Getting that project inventory is critical, and then you can go from there,” Dr. Richardson continued. “You want to categorize the inventory and decide if there are themes and categories. Do you remember the categories we talked about before?”

“Yes.”

“These are about how to transform the business, to grow the business, and run the business. And it includes themes like strategic planning, operational excellence, knowledge sharing, and revenue‐generating so that you can grow the business. These are the things I am sure are on everyone's mind at the symphony right now, and it's important for them not only to understand what you're doing, but what others are doing in the organization.”

“Makes total sense,” I replied.

“Back to my story about the law firm. We went through this process and got business insight around reporting. Once we got all this information in the system, we were able to get some reporting going on and start getting business insights, and then we started the project portfolio measure piece, where we began ranking and scoring the projects, prioritizing and recalibrating. And by the time I went back into consulting, we were meeting and taking the strategic plan, working with the enterprise architecture, and marrying the organization's strategy with their project portfolio measurement capability. It was amazing to see how many projects we were able to get done. All the business analysts who were project managers became PMPs. The executive team had amazing visibility into the projects, and we were able to get a lot of work done for the business because now we were able to prioritize their projects and really move them ahead.”

“You think I can do that with the symphony?”

“Absolutely. Sharing is the key, and then you can work together rather than, as you put it, in silos.”

Dr. Richardson shared a diagram. (See Figure 10.2.)

“Now, something else you need to think about is conducting a project management 360 maturity assessment of your environment, and here's why. If you went to a doctor who had you open your mouth, took your blood pressure, took your temperature, gave you a prescription, and wrote things up without actually doing any kind of blood work or really checking your vitals, you would be very suspicious of that doctor. They're trying to treat you when they really don't know what's going on. They really need to give you a full physical and do blood work. They need to do a stress test or whatever they have to do to get to the root of what's going on.”

“True.”

“The project portfolio management 360 assessment is like having a diagnostic exam on your portfolio and on the organization. Because in this environment, you're able to capture your as‐is, your to‐be, to do a gap analysis, and the to‐be is basically: where do you need to be able to deliver the types of products and programs and capabilities that the organization needs the project management group to deliver? Remember, the portfolio management practice is like the corpus callosum to the brain of the organization. The corpus callosum allows the right and left hemispheres to communicate, and the portfolio management framework and process, if it's done correctly, allows the strategic plan, which is vision and goals and objectives, to connect to projects and programs, which is the execution and getting things done and tactical work.”

I was writing notes. I knew that it was all being recorded but making notes helped me think and process what he was saying.

“And then you want to analyze the credit gap analysis, analyze that gap and really develop that roadmap,” he said. “And from this you develop a roadmap of activities, and then usually it turns out to be a one‐year or a two‐year roadmap. I've even worked with organizations where it turned into a three‐year roadmap because they had so many things that needed to change, and they couldn't change them all at one time. And again, you have to consider the culture. Here's a link for a free test drive of a Project Portfolio Management 360 assessment if you'd like to try it.”

“Yes, thanks,” I said, making note of the link (https://principlesofexecution.nsvey.net/ns/n/PMO360.aspx).

“You're going the right route by working through Sam and the board as directly as you can. On all of my projects that have gone well, I had a very strong executive who championed the work. When the project didn't go well or even got killed – and that has happened to me – I had to learn some lessons early on from that. Sometimes it happened because I didn't have a strong connection to an executive or I didn't know how to onboard to help them buy in.

One of the ways to get the executives to buy in is you have to poll them and figure out their main points. Other times you have to learn to speak their language and give them what they need.”

“I'm trying,” I said.

“And you are succeeding. At the law firm, when we first started to try to roll out the portfolio solution, the executives thought I just wanted to spend money, so they shut the project down and said I didn't bring enough evidence to show them that they really needed to go this direction. I went back and did some homework, read a couple of books on the subject, and figured out how to present it to them in a way that they could see, feel, and smell the pain that they were in because they were oblivious to it. When you're at a high‐level firm and things are going well, you're so far removed from the challenges that you don't see them. I had to rewrite my charter; I onboarded a consulting group because I knew I couldn't do it all by myself – I was still doing a lot of the day‐to‐day work of managing my portfolio and managing my team.”

“I understand that,” I said. “I have that to do, plus all of the other duties I am juggling.”

Dr. Richardson continued, “I needed to develop charts to show that if an area was focused around a capability and if a capability didn't have the technology, or it didn't have people who were trained in it, or didn't have a tool to support it, or didn't have the process documented, that process was red. When we looked at all of the processes that make up the portfolio management framework, I would say more than two‐thirds of their processes were red and yellow. And when I demonstrated it by showing them that chart, they saw they were really good at financial management and at project execution, but portfolio management, demand management, and all the other parts of the portfolio management framework they were really bad at, but they didn't see that until I displayed the chart and I explained it to them.” (See Figures 10.3 and 10.4.)

Note to self: Develop a chart before the board meeting.

“That helped them to get on board. And once they got it, the CIO jumped on board as the champion, and that charter got approved. We were able to deliver the portfolio solution and really help the firm go to another level. But it took learning in that situation and showing them their pain to help create the buy‐in.

“Jack Welch once said, ‘Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion. And they do it by sharing their vision.’ All the great companies have leaders who tell stories about why they started the business, or why they do what they do, and they share their heart, and the organization takes on the character of the leader.”

I wrote the quote down to ponder more later.

“Because you love music and the symphony, you can see the power and the great things that a strong project portfolio management solution can provide them and how it can really impact the organization in amazing ways. It does require you to have passion and share your vision – getting that sponsor or executive buy‐in and getting them to share the vision, and then getting them to tell their story of why they're on board. So your meeting with Sam was spot on. There's so much more emotion in business than people realize, but people are motivated by passion and by someone who has a good why. It's kind of like what Simon Sinek says, ‘If you start with why, the how and the what begin to take care of itself.’”

I had heard the quote before, and it definitely held true for the symphony.

Dr. Richardson showed me a chart to use for conducting a gap analysis (see Figure 10.5) and told me, “I really like this chart because you look at the current capability or the current state of the environment, and you basically ask the questions for the current state: What happened? Where's the confusion? When is it done? How does it work, and how is it sequenced? And for the future: What should it look like? Where will it change? When will it change? Who will do this? And how will it be timed and resourced? When you get to the gap analysis section, you're asking questions such as: What's the difference between the current state and the future state? Where will it be different? When are the differences needed? Who will identify and validate the gap? And how will the gap be improved? And for the actions to close the gap, you want to ask these questions: What will be done to address the gap? Where will it be addressed? When will it be addressed? Who will make the decision and complete it, and how will it be rolled out?”

“So gap analysis is about insight between the current and the future portfolio state?” I asked.

“You've been paying attention,” Dr. Richardson chuckled. “By conducting a gap analysis on your current environment and comparing your current and future capabilities against industry best practices, you are able to identify critical processes that can be implemented to improve the organization. And many times, you find a lot of quick wins or a number of quick wins where things are half‐baked, or you don't have the document fully done, or the person didn't complete the training, and you can take advantage of those quick wins and start seeing improvement in your organization immediately.”

“Let's go back to the chart on the capability assessment I showed you earlier,” he continued. “This is the document I came up with when I had to redo the charter. It looks at each of the portfolio management processes and asks what the overall score is. From a people standpoint, have people been trained in this particular area? Like demand management, portfolio selection, or portfolio tracking? Are there processes? Are there documented steps and processes that people can follow? Are we using technology? Not just spreadsheets, but are we using automation and technology to make the process easier? And is there a governance process that can help support that particular capability? As you can see, you may be all green on project scheduling and financial tracking, and even portfolio reporting or requests, but when it comes to demand management, portfolio selection, and so on, you can see that there are some serious gaps there, and for an executive, this is a perfect way to be able to show them that there are some gaps in what we're doing.”

“In our earlier talks, we discussed the development of a portfolio strategic plan, but I think it is worth reviewing,” he said. (See Figure 10.6.) “This is not the same as the strategic plan for the organization or the strategic plan for the business. This is a strategic plan for the portfolio management office and how you're going to leverage portfolio management skills and tools and techniques and training and business models and risk and communication – all the things that you've been learning. How are you going to strategically roll these out? What's the vision and objective for the portfolio itself? How are you going to structure the organization when we talk about the operational models? What about measuring goals and guidance? We talked about governance, funding, allocation of funding, the portfolio assessment, and how you are going to go about funding projects. How are you going to manage the portfolio benefits, performance results, and value expectations?”

“Those are the questions that have kept me up some nights,” I said.

“It shouldn't stress you out. You are doing an outstanding job. I just want to make you aware of some of these things. Some other questions surround communication requirements. When they're successful implementations, and when there are changes, how are you going to handle the cards? The constraints, the assumptions, the risk, and dependencies. And then what are the portfolio prioritization model and the decision framework that you're going to adopt? Are you going to use an analytical hierarchy processing? Are you going to look for something else? Are you going to use an enterprise solution? Are you going to try to do it on a spreadsheet? All of that has to be thought through and thought out, and I know you are already doing that. Trust me, and you are ahead of the curve; I just don't want you to miss anything.”

“I get it,” I replied.

“There are just a couple of final things I want to go over. First, are there steps for setting up a portfolio management office? In your current position, this may not be relevant, but you've shown interest in perhaps using these skills in bigger organizations in the future.” (See Figure 10.7.)

“Absolutely,” I replied. As the pandemic dragged on, I might be looking for other employment sooner rather than later.

“First, you want to create a portfolio management strategic plan and a charter, and you want to get those signed off on by the executive team so that they get on board. You want to develop a portfolio management framework and a plan. You want to set up an enterprise portfolio organizational chart where you have the operational body; you want to do a WBS of the things that need to be done. Work breakdown structure, you need a budget and a plan; you need policies and procedures. You also need to set up a portfolio steering committee with an action plan. And you also need to document your portfolio management process. You need tools; you need reports; you need portfolio information and a communication strategy. Then you also need portfolio management sign‐offs and closeouts and a lessons learned portal. The steps are there to help you get to the next level and really help you to grow and be able to meet the business needs and be aligned with your organization.

“The last thing I'd like to discuss is establishing your project portfolio management practice. The first tip to establish in your PPM practice is developing a streamlined process. Keep it simple at first. Have a process, but make it streamlined because if it's too complicated and difficult, most organizations will not adopt it. And that will usually be because it's harder to get the executives to buy in when it's not streamlined and they don't see the benefit to the business or to themselves personally. You've done an excellent job streamlining what you've done with the symphony. Just think back at where you started and where you are now.”

“I really don't want to think about where I started; it was a mess!”

“But now it isn't,” he replied. “You need to ensure that the processes are flexible to meet the organization's needs. The framework you give them should only be one they're willing to adopt and that is a cultural fit with the organization. You need to have a document repository where all the projects being managed are visible. Visibility creates accountability. You'll need ownership processes and an executive champion to provide support. And then you need a straightforward process for recalibration.

“Remember, recalibration of the portfolio is something that happens on a quarterly basis. It's something that you want to do; again, it could be monthly, it could be quarterly, but if there are changes in the market, new products coming in, you want to be aware of that and be able to know that the products that are in the portfolio may not be the right ones and that you have the ability to adjust those projects and still see the value and benefits that you're trying to create. You also have to have the courage to address those because sometimes you have to say, ‘I'll make a recommendation that a project needs to be killed. Not just put on hold but terminated,’ and it doesn't map to the strategy because the strategies change.”

“Even though I've been buried in stuff, I have tried to establish a schedule.”

“It will come,” he said. “Just keep working at it until it becomes a habit. Finally, we want to develop a maturing PMO. We want to ask questions like: Are we investing in the right things? Are we optimizing our capacity? How well are we executing our projects? Can we absorb all the changes we are implementing? Do we realize the expected returns and benefits? Realize that there are levels of maturity for accomplishing this, and it doesn't happen overnight; it's an incremental process that takes place.”

“Yes, all of those things are critical right now,” I said.

“That's all I have for today. Again, I can't emphasize enough how impressed I am that you have improved your portfolio management practices and understanding. Especially in light of everything else going on in your life and in the world.”

“I can't thank you enough. I'd still be floundering and arguing with people and would probably have quit or been fired by now. Take care of yourself.”

As we hung up the call, I walked to the corner of my office. I unlatched the oversized case of my bass, and for the first time in months, I drew my bow across the strings. Ouch – was it out of tune!

Dr. Richardson's Tips

• By conducting a gap analysis of your current environment and comparing your current and future capabilities against industry best practices, you are able to identify critical processes that can be implemented to improve the organization. And many times, you find a number of quick wins where things are half‐baked, or you don't have the document fully done, or the person didn't complete the training. You can take advantage of those quick wins and start seeing improvement in your organization immediately.
• First, you want to create a portfolio management strategic plan and a charter, and you want to get those signed off on by the executive team so that they get on board. You want to develop a portfolio management framework and a plan.
• The first tip to establish in your project portfolio management practice is developing a streamlined process. Don't make it too complicated. Keep it simple at first. Streamline the process, because if it's too complicated and difficult, most organizations will not adopt it.