March is here, and many of us are thinking about spring cleaning in our homes, but have you thought about a project portfolio management spring clean? Frameworks and business processes just like your kitchen cupboards need to be checked in on from time to time. Are they still working, have people quietly added in addition steps, are they still relevant to the business?
Just like anything, the cycle of Plan, Do, Check needs to be applied to your frameworks, guidelines, processes you name it. The business environment is continually changing, so it’s important that you pivot and adapt your business processes as necessary. As hopefully in your home, spring cleaning is not a one person job, it’s a group job. Involvement from various groups is critical to success, collaboration is key. Think about asking these questions when you start to do your spring cleaning on your processes, framework, guidelines:
- Is this being followed?
- Does this add value?
- Is this supporting the business in getting things done in a timely manner?
- Is this still relevant?
- Is there something missing that is needed to better support the business?
- Is this supporting other business processes outside of project portfolio management?
Life is constantly changing and continuous improvements are key! I will also add that you can have the best processes and frameworks, but if no ones knows about them then they are useless. Continuous education and training is key to have success!
Happy project portfolio management spring cleaning!