Culture

PofE 090: Are Business Applications Popping Up In Your Environment?

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Weeds often pop up in someone’s yard while they’re away, and unfamiliar applications and software often do the same in technological environments.

5 Things to Think About When Applications Are Popping Up

Sometimes businesses purchase databases, technical solutions, or software without first talking to the IT department or technology group. When this happens, the technology introduced into the environment may not fit with the current architectural plan the organization has in mind. Before a company makes the decision to implement new technology, there are five steps that should first be taken.

Portfolio Management

PofE 089: Scoring Pains: Should You Use Business Drivers or Business Outcomes To Score Your Projects?

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Business Drivers are any important part of a business such has cost, capital expenditures, marketing, custom support or superior products, etc… They are Touch Points that influence an organization's value.

Business Outcomes are items that the customer deems important and that address the customer pain points or an opportunity to enhance the customer's perspective. Think Customer Focus, Getting the Customer's Journey and Experience Right.

 

Learn how business outcomes and business drivers can be applied to score the success of your business.

As technology continues to advance, business owners must be prepared to stay one step ahead of their competitors and the expectations of their customers. To gauge the success of a business, a capable portfolio manager can apply a number of metrics to determine how much of an effect a certain program or project is going to have on the company as a whole. Though both of the following metrics may apply in different ways, utilizing them both is one of the most powerful ways to shape the business approach and provide your end users with the products and services they are looking for.

 

Portfolio Management

PofE 088: Are You More Like A Project or Portfolio Manager?

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Project Managers are like a Music Conductor of a small ensemble – they coordinate with all the players to deliver a solid performance.

Portfolio Manager are like a NFL Scout – Reviewing, finding and selecting the right mix of players to give the team a winning chance to make it to the Super Bowl.

Check out this training session to learn how.

PPM Training

What is your approach to your portfolio? Depending on your mindset, you may be more adept at certain management tasks over others.

The way a business owner approaches their options can make a tremendous difference in the long-term. Gerald Leonard describes two specific mindsets when it comes to pursuing the perfect structure for your business approach. He lists them as portfolio managers and project managers. Both of these roles can have different results, but ultimately it is through the union between the two that professionals are able to achieve the most. By understanding the differences in these two mindsets, anybody has the opportunity to succeed and achieve more.

 

Portfolio Management

PofE085: The History of Portfolio Management

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After the Great Depression, investment diversification became the cry of the decade. It also became the mantra in music, and the Bass instrument led the way. Check out my video to learn what the history of Portfolio Management has in common with the electric Bass.

 

Applied Project Portfolio Management in a Historical Context

Discover what the electric bass can teach you about your investments and the critical role that diversification plays in portfolio management.

To gain a firm understanding of the best portfolio management techniques, it helps to understand the history of portfolio management and how it has evolved from the Great Depression to the present day. Interestingly enough, the electric bass provides a relatable metaphor for how investment diversification emerged out of the Depression. As you'll quickly discover, the two histories have a surprising amount in common.

Portfolio Management

PofE083: The Power of Portfolio Mix Strategies

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Organizing Your Business's Funds Through Portfolio Mix

Portfolio mix allows you to better allocate your business's funds where you need them.
Portfolio Mix
Portfolio mix is a system used by successful brand-name companies like Zappos, Nordstrom, and Amazon that allows business owners to easily allocate funds to different parts of their business. This system, which organizes different business areas into categories, helps business owners to determine which areas are most important and gives them a better idea of where their funds are being spent.

Culture

PofE080: Everything I Learned Playing in an Orchestra

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Conductor CEO

For as long as I can remember, I have been a musician.  I have played the bass, both upright and electric, throughout my youth and into adulthood. During these many years as a professional and classically trained musician, I learned more than just playing notes. I learned systems and how they work together.

Consider an orchestra for a minute. You can break them into four sections:

  1. Strings
  2. Winds
  3. Brass
  4. Percussion

These are all led by a conductor. Within each of these sections, there are smaller sections.

Strings – Violin I, Violin II, Viola, Cello, and Bass (my favorite).

Winds – Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, and Bassoon.

Brass – Trumpet, Trombone, Horn, and Tuba.

Percussion – Timpani, Snare, Marimba, etc., (there are many different instruments in this section).

Within these sections, you can break them down into even smaller categories:

Strings– Inner player and outer player (players share a stand and can read two different parts from the same sheet of music).

Winds– Flute (Piccolo, Alto, Bass Flutes), Oboe (English Horn), Bassoon (Contra), and Clarinet (there are many sizes of clarinet, all the way to Contra Bass).

Brass– Trumpets (Piccolo, and other sizes), Trombone (Bass), and Tuba (Euphonium).

Percussion– Like I said earlier percussionists must be the master of all types of instruments- the one rule is they must be struck. Did you know that a piano is considered a percussion instrument?

In each section there is a hierarchy- usually, the first chair runs the section, and they usually have the second chair as a partner. If there were a president of an orchestra, it would be the concertmaster- or first chair violin. The conductor can be thought of as the CEO.

Portfolio Management

PofE 075: PwC’s 2014 Project Portfolio Management Trends and Insights

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TrendsThree years ago, I published a post on Project Portfolio Management Maturity and the PwC's 2012 global project management report which includes key survey results on Portfolio Management insights collected from over 1500 IT leaders in 38 countries. In 2014, PwC published another report and I've provided my thoughts and insights from reviewing the report and I've provided a list of lessons learned or take aways I've gleaned.

Culture

PofE 072: 7 Principles For Developing A Culture That Works!

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Great organizational culture accounts for a 20% to 30% performance improve according to Harvard Professor Emeritus James L. Heskett. Leaders must implement the principles of great culture development to create a truly high performing organization. These are the same principles required to implement a world-class portfolio management capability for your chapters. This presentation reveals the […]

Portfolio Management

PofE 071: 3 Ways To Improve Organizational Productivity With Portfolio Management

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Productivity gains are key to the bottom line profits of your department and organization because they allow you to accomplish more with less. The purpose of this webinar is to discuss the 3 vital elements that can help you and your organization increase its productivity gains by: Cascading Activity Alignment Optimizing Resource Utilization Increasing Throughput […]