I spent the morning in two good sessions on project portfolio management. The first, delivered by Sandeep Marthur (currently of the Commercial Bank of Australia where he is deeply involved in project portfolio management), discussed the approach used there to manage portfolios and provided a case study in which addition of two strategic projects to a scheduled release of projects within the portfolio was evaluated within the context of that portfolio's goals and constraints.
Sandeep had some interesting points with regard to portfolio management discipline. One striking point was the concept that in most companies, the senior leadership up through the board of directors generally does not know if poor portfolio management strategies or poor project execution is the reason that many firms feel they do not receive the full expected value from their portfolios. His point was that senior leadership may very well focus their energies in the wrong areas, attempting to fix execution when in fact they are selecting poor projects, or worse have no strategy and process for managing the portfolio.
Sandeep spent some time on the PMI portfolio management process groups and also reminded me of the distinction between program management and portfolio management: Program management focuses on executing the projects right, where as portfolio management focuses on ensuring the right projects are being executed.
Sandeep was followed by Stephen Gorfein, a consultant in the field of project and portfolio management with a deep background in aerospace companies, having worked at one point for Howard Hughes. Stephen's discussion of portfolio management was more focused on the executive level processes that need to be in place to ensure effective portfolio management.
Interesting points from Stephen included the concept that portfolio management failures occur at the C-level and generally not due to actions or decisions below this level. Stephan also noted (as did Sandeep) the importance of having enterprise project management systems and data to feed the portfolio management process, noting that much of what is currently in the marketplace is too complex to be usable by many of those who need to develop and manage this type of data.
Following the extended lunch break, I sat through a rather poorly delivered and uninspired presentation on stakeholder management. It looked like the pain was going to end 30 minutes early as the presenter wrapped up, but then she ended with a controversial statement about being motivated solely by reward (versus recognition) at this stage of her career. So instead of getting loose a little early, many in the audience suddely felt compelled to bat this topic around for 20 minutes. Outcomes: Most people think that recognition is at least as important a motivator as reward.
The poor early session was more than offset by SoonKheng Koor's fantastic presentaion on Program Risk Management on Asian High-Profile Mega Project Success Stories. Presented by the Information Technology and Telecommunications Special Interest Group, SK's presetation was high-energy, very humorous, and full of excellent insight into risks that can occur in various areas in large multi-national, multi-cultural projects. He used case study examples from each of five huge airport projects he's worked on since the late 1990's, walking us through the development and resolutions of risk situations from each and how they could be avoided. He closed with insight on how the good program risk manager will never be noticed due to good risk management techniques while the crisis manager will be high-profile, rescuing projects from risks that could have been avoided through better risk management.
The Taste of Australia reception at the Museum of Contemporary Art got us all quickly out of learning mode and into networking and relaxation mode. Located near the Rocks area and with a spectacular view of Sydney Harbour, the Museum served as a great location for a great reception, with what looked like nearly all of the 1000+ attendees at the reception. Conversations with people from around the Asia Pacific region were interspersed by greetings from other Wisconsinites who had somehow found their way here. I followed this with dinner at one of the Rocks great restaurants with my old friends and colleagues Tony Munos and David Antonioni from Wisconsin and the UW System and new friends and colleagues Derek Walker and Paul Steinfort of Melbourne.
As I noted in yesterday's post, the energy level and opportunities for learning here are amazing. The most interesting conversations of my day were with a woman who has spent the last several years in Australia earning her master's degree in project management and then doing project management consulting, but is planning to return to her home in Indonesia to take over her family's businesses in marine logistics, shipbuilding and seaport construction.
The interesting thing here is how her decision to do this is in part motivated by the realization that all of the project management practices she's learned and applied over the last few years can be leveraged to projectize and streamline the various businesses and ventures of her family's company, leading to efficiencies and growth that might not otherwise be possible.
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