Programme and Portfolio Capability/Portfolio Project Management

Programme and Portfolio Capability/Portfolio Project Management Order Description Based on the topics discussed in this week’s Learning Resource, write an assessment of the various change agents that an organisation could utilise as part of a major change initiative to develop its programme or portfolio management capability. Find attached learning resources for this week, to be used to write this essay. School of Management Key Concept Overview Programme and p ortfolio c apability KMGT 702 Sustainable Programme and Portfolio Management Week 8 © 2014 Laureate Education, Inc. Page 0 of 6 Key Concept Programme and p ortfolio c apability The successful implementation of programme/project portfolio management (PPM) requires the balancing of the elements of processes, structures, technologies and people. The last several weeks focused on issues related to the first three of these four elements, including managing the life cycle (processes), establishing a project m anagement office [PMO] (structures) and utilising software for multi-project planning (technologies). These are all important elements and are necessary for success, yet on their own are not sufficient. A PPM system comprising of processes, structures and technologies is only effective if key stakeholders are appropriately engaged with the system. This final week of the module is focused on the last element, people. It is through the actions of people that an organisation’s capability to deliver effective and efficient PPM is ultimately realised. Agents of c hange The development of programme or portfolio capability in an organisation will typic ally involve significant change in the way things are done. Academic literature highlights that the successful implementation of change needs people in the organisation who have the requisite skills to facilitate and enable change to take place, i.e. change agents. Caldwell (2003) defines a change agent as ‘an internal or external individual or team responsible for initiating, sponsoring, directing, managing or implementing a specific change initiative, project or complete change programme’ (pp .139 -140). Ca ldwell analyses prior theoretical developments and empirical research to develop a fourfold classification of change agents: ‘leadership’ , ‘ management ’ , ‘consultancy’ and ‘ team ’ models. The author provides a synthesis of the prior work into each of the four models in Figure 1, page 140. Caldwell makes the important point that seeing change agency from the perspective of a one-dimensional model or a generic type is limiting—the role © 2014 Laureate Education, Inc. Page 1 of 6 is multi-dimensional. In the case of developing programme/portfolio capabili ty , it is important to recognise this fact. Whilst there will undoubtedly be a requirement for change agents who are leaders (the first box in Figure 1) and are needed to fulfil the roles of visionary, sponsor, change leader; there might also be a role for external consultants, lower level managers and specially created teams (as reflected in the remaining three boxes in Figure 1) to undertake other important change agent roles. Training The Enterprise Portfolio Management Council outlines five stages (see Enterprise Portfolio Management Council , 2009, pp.165 -182) that lead to a ‘functional and sustainable PPM process’ (p.181). In the fifth and final stage, the processes, structures, and technologies are in place, though a number of key activities remain to be undertaken, such as matching demand with the capacity of the organisation to deliver and developing a PPM implementation communication plan (which gives information about the status of individual projects in the programme/portfolio and the availability of resources to work on the individual projects). In addition, there is a need to provide adequate training in relation to both the PPM and project management (PM) processes that exist and also in relation to any particular technologies, such as PPM and PM software packages that are being utilised by the organisation. Thiry (2004) investigated the effectiveness of PM training programmes in six organisations in which the training had a pan-organisational impact and, hence, was undertaken in a multi -project context. The author concluded that most training programmes are managed like projects, with the sponsors of such programmes setting product-centric deliverables to measure their effectiveness, such as the number of people attending training events or the number of people achieving certification by one of the PM professional bodies. Whilst such metrics are important, according to Thiry, what is required is a more strategic and high-level understanding of the organisational needs in terms of PM-related training. Such understanding leads to the establishment of softer and more subjective measures of the benefits of training programmes. Thiry makes a distinction between those organisations that need to improve the ‘change enablers’ of projects that constitute programmes/portfolios, as these organisations © 2014 Laureate Education, Inc. Page 2 of 6 PLACE THIS ORDER OR A SIMILAR ORDER WITH US TODAY AND GET AN AMAZING DISCOUNT :)