DR. RICHARD'S LESSONS
LESSON 1, CHAPTER 1: THE RIGHT PEOPLE AND THE RIGHT TIME
- Identify ideal candidates to manage the organization's project portfolio.
- Understand the difference between project, program, and portfolio management.
- Learn about the value portfolio management can deliver to your organization.
- Identify the questions to consider when implementing portfolio management.
The goal in lesson one is to be able to identify ideal candidates to manage an organization's project portfolio. In addition, you'll gain an understanding of the difference between projects, programs, and portfolio management. It is essential to be able to distinguish between a project PMO, a program PMO, and a portfolio PMO because those three are very different in how they operate and their governance processes. The value of portfolio management and how you can deliver that value to your organization cannot be understated. You will learn as a consultant or as a practitioner how to do this, how to deliver value to your client's organization, and the questions to consider when you're implementing the project portfolio management processes.
LESSON 2, CHAPTER 2: CHOOSING YOUR PORTFOLIO, AND CHAPTER 3: SELECTING YOUR PROJECTS
- What is portfolio theory?
- What is a portfolio?
- What is portfolio management?
- What is the role of a portfolio manager?
- Review the history of portfolio management.
In this lesson, you will gain a better understanding of: What is portfolio theory? What is a portfolio? What is portfolio management, and what is the role of the portfolio manager? You will learn some of the histories of portfolio management and how we've gone from where it started to where we are today. Portfolio theory states that for any allocation of resources, there is an efficient set that yields the greatest return for a given level of risk. While the right level of resources to allocate to projects cannot be known without considering further factors, what is clear is that once that level of investment is determined, then an optimal set of projects to implement for a given level of risk and investment can be selected.
LESSON 3, CHAPTER 4: CHOOSING YOUR PORTFOLIO PROCESSES
- Identify portfolio management process groups.
- Learn about strategic planning and the portfolio delivery process.
- Discover organizational strategy and portfolio management.
- Uncover the corpus callosum for the business.
In this lesson, you'll learn to identify portfolio management process groups and understand how strategic planning and portfolio delivery processes work together. You will learn about organizational strategy and portfolio management integration points. You will learn about the corpus callosum, which is a portion of the brain that bridges the right and left hemispheres, and how it helps to explain the concepts of how portfolio management integrates your business.
LESSON 4, CHAPTER 5: CHOOSING YOUR STRATEGY
- Understand the power of strategy links and strategic alignment.
- Learn how to determine the value in business value creation.
- Why are business drivers critical to aligning the project portfolio to the organization's strategy?
- Understand the bridge and hub approach to portfolio management.
Linking portfolio management to strategy balances the use of resources to maximize the value delivered in executing programs, projects, and operational activities. In this lesson, you will learn about strategic management. You will understand the power of strategic links and strategic alignment and learn how to determine the value in business value creation. You'll also learn why business drivers are critical to aligning the project portfolio to the organization's strategy and understand the bridge and hub approach to portfolio management.
LESSON 5, CHAPTER 6: CHOOSING YOUR RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
- What is governance?
- What is a governance framework?
- What are governance policies, processes, and procedures?
- What is the portfolio governance operational model?
- What is the PPM governance decision process?
Governance is the process of putting policies, procedures, and processes in place to guide organizational, operational activities, and change. Governance should provide a streamlined approach and process. If governance becomes a bottleneck, then there's something wrong with the design of the governance processes. The goal of governance is to make things run faster, not to become a bottleneck. In this lesson, you will gain a better understanding of what governance is, what the governance framework is, and what types of policies, processes, and procedures you should create for your portfolio management governance. You will learn what a portfolio governance operational model is and how a project portfolio management governance decision process works. In this lesson, you will look at the five processes that make up the portfolio governance process group: develop a portfolio management plan, define the portfolio, optimize the portfolio, authorize the portfolio, and provide portfolio oversight.
LESSON 6, CHAPTER 7: CHOOSING YOUR PERFORMANCE METRICS
- What is performance management?
- How is performance management implemented?
- What are portfolio management performance metrics?
- Describe portfolio demand and supply.
- Describe the portfolio efficiency frontier.
In this lesson, you'll be able to describe what performance management is, understand what it takes to implement a performance management system, have an idea about portfolio management performance metrics, be able to describe portfolio demand management and supply, and talk intelligently about the efficiency frontier in portfolio management. In performance management, the process groups we're tracking have three processes. The first is to develop a portfolio performance management plan, which is part of the project portfolio management plan. The second is to manage supply and demand. And third is to manage the portfolio value.
LESSON 7, CHAPTER 8: CHOOSING YOUR COMMUNICATION STRATEGY
- What is communication management?
- Discover stakeholder expectation: influence and interest.
- Elicit stakeholder requirements.
- Understand the power of culture.
Selecting a communication strategy is focused on satisfying the most important information needs of stakeholders so that every portfolio decision is made and organizational objectives are met according to the Standard for Portfolio Management. In this lesson, you'll learn to understand and communicate what the communication management strategy is, discover stakeholder expectations, learn how to handle influencers and their interests, learn how to elicit stakeholder requirements at a portfolio level, and understand the power of culture and your need for a communication strategy that addresses the current and target company culture.
LESSON 8, CHAPTER 9: CHOOSING YOUR RISKS STRATEGY
- Learn about managing risk.
- Understand portfolio management risk tolerance.
- Identify risk rating (impact and likelihood).
- Find out about the portfolio risk register.
- Recognize Pugh's risk strategy matrix.
Measuring risks is a part of the project portfolio management function both at the project initiation and throughout the life cycle of a project portfolio. In this lesson, you'll be able to manage risk, understand portfolio management risk tolerance, and have a better understanding of risk rating, likelihood, and impact. Receive a copy of a risk register and understand Pugh's risks strategic or strategy matrix.
LESSON 9, CHAPTER 10: CHOOSING YOUR IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY
- Understand where you should start when developing a project portfolio management office and solution.
- Learn about obtaining executive buy‐in.
- What are the steps for setting up a PMO?
- Learn how to establish a PPM practice.
In this lesson, you will learn about portfolio management implementation and adoption. It's all about project and program execution to get your portfolio started and set up. In this lesson, you'll understand where to start when developing a project portfolio management office and solution, how to obtain executive buy‐in, find out the steps to setting up a PMO, and learn how to establish a project portfolio management practice.