Comments on: Book Review: Advanced Project Portfolio Management and the PMO

By: PM Hut

PM Hut — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:15:23 +0000

#2 is spot-on. Methodologies are useless if they can’t get the work done. The whole point of Project Management is getting the project done, and it seems that some Project Managers out there are overseeing this point, for the sake of applying a certain PM methodology.

By: Demian Entrekin

Demian Entrekin — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 03:04:18 +0000

In the private sector, it’s usually about competitive advantage as a means of driving profitable revenue. In the public, it’s usually about providing services via a transparent budget for the taxpayers. From there, the key is to pick measurements that the budget owners can make sense out of. You need to get them to help you pick.

By: admin

admin — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:08:41 +0000

Well said Demian, and I’m right with you: primordial is a great word

So what are the PPM measurements which you consider essential?

By: Demian Entrekin

Demian Entrekin — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:47:21 +0000

At the risk of sounding flip, I just want to say that I love it when someone, anyone, uses the word primordial. It makes me think of crude little creatures squirming around in a salt pond a few hundred million years ago. While “throughput” is certainly part of the story, it might inadvertently suggest quantity over quality.

Perhaps it sounds simplistic, but the “why” for PPM is really quite simple. Here’s how I would explain it to the Executive. “You are spending X dollars on Y projects to achieve Z results. How do we improve X and Z? Let’s start with visibility and measurement and go forward from there.”