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How To Use a Structured Project Intake Process to Improve your Project Portfolio
The document outlines the use of project intake processes to effectively manage a project portfolio, highlighting Don Clarke's extensive experience and the value of structured project management practices. It emphasizes the importance of governance committees, a well-defined project intake process, and actionable steps for leaders to enhance their PMO capabilities. Additionally, it offers resources for developing these processes and encourages the sharing of knowledge within the project management community.
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How To Use a Structured Project Intake Process to Improve your Project Portfolio
- 1. How To UseProject Intake Processes to Manage Your Project Portfolio
- 2. DON CLARKE Don hasover 20 years of experience in the Project Management / Program Management space. Having worked for a variety of companies over the last 20 years, Don brings a strong base of knowledge in the industry. Establishing or helping redefine multiple PMO’s during this time, there is a unique perspective to Don’s approach to developing the value of a Project Management Office (PMO), as well as his approach to leadership development within the organization. Having been privileged to have multiple career defining mentoring experiences, Don realizes the importance of sharing that experience and giving back to the organizations where he is engaged. Don is available for Speaking Engagements, and can be reached at don@pmfortoday.com or through our website at http://www.pmfortoday.com
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- 4. 4Page: ABOUT PROJECT MANAGEMENTFOR TODAY The goal is to facilitate the process of digitizing and marketing of the development efforts for each of our Contributing Author’s personal brands. We come together to share knowledge and experiences about how you take the skills you have learned over your career and contextualize them to be successful today. For example, you will find content showing how you can change your PMO’s Project Deliver Life- Cycle so that you can deliver your projects successfully in a lighter, process-driven methodology. Our Goal Project Management for Today is a group of Project Management Professionals who have come together to share our skills, capabilities, and growing knowledge among ourselves and our peers in the greater Project Management Community. Over time, we have learned that we are better together than we are apart, and that the more we share our knowledge, the better we all become. About Us The Purpose of the Project Management for Today is to develop a community of Project Management Professionals that can share knowledge about how their Project Leadership skills are used TODAY. We have all discovered that how we managed projects 20 years ago is different from how we manage projects today. We are expected to be more nimble, move faster, deliver with lighter methodologies and always be “Agile”. Our Purpose
- 5. 5Page: Session Overview -How To Use Project Intake Processes to Manage Your Project Portfolio • Relationship with and Purpose of PMO Governance Committee • Value of a Structured Project Intake Process • Detailed Overview of a Project Intake Process • Action Plan For Leaders • This Presentation and a Foundational Project Intake Process Template Package are available for download at our website – www.pmfortoday.com • This Video on Demand Session Qualifies for .75 PDU’s from PMI. For more information on registering your PDU’s with PMI visit our site at - https://www.pmfortoday.com/pmi-pdus-earn-pdus-investment-reading- articles/
- 6. 6Page: Purpose of aPMO Governance Committee • Simple Relationship Definition –The PMO is the functional and operational arm of the Governance Committee –Data Driven Decisions • We provide them the information in support of data driven decision making, and then we provide the operational execution of their decisions
- 7. 7Page: Purpose of aPMO Governance Committee • Decision Making Authority –Accept / Reject / Defer Project Intake Requests –Prioritize PMO Managed Portfolio –Escalation Path for Portfolio Clashes
- 8. 8Page: Value of aStructured Project Intake Process • Begin with the End in Mind – Stephen Covey (Habit 2) – (The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People) –Begin with the End in Mind means to begin each day, task, or PROJECT with a clear vision of your desired direction and destination Active Backlog GovernanceIdea Intake Pipeline
- 9. 9Page: Value of aStructured Project Intake Process • Intake Process is driven by SLA for all process steps –This establishes clear expectation management for all process steps –Provides clear metrics / reporting of success or failure points in the process Active Backlog GovernanceIdea Intake Pipeline
- 10. 10Page: Value of aStructured Project Intake Process • Business Sponsor Relationship –The ability to provide and train your Business Sponsor(s) on their role within a structured Intake Process –Structured Process will reduce Business Sponsor(s) stress over the process and helps build a stronger relationship Active Backlog GovernanceIdea Intake Pipeline
- 11. 11Page: Value of aStructured Project Intake Process • Metrics Driven Reporting –Share SLA Based Metrics on each step of your process –Improves your PMO Transparency Active Backlog GovernanceIdea Intake Pipeline
- 12. 12Page: Value of aStructured Project Intake Process • Cost savings generated through a structured Intake Process –The earlier a decision is made to Decline or Defer a Project Intake Request, the lower the cost associated with early project investment Active Backlog GovernanceIdea Intake Pipeline
- 13. 13Page: Detailed Overview ofa Project Intake Process • Ideation Phase –“The formation of ideas or concepts” –The creative process of generating, developing and communicating new ideas Active Backlog GovernanceIdea Intake Pipeline
- 14. 14Page: Detailed Overview ofa Project Intake Process • Ideation Phase –The Process of translating “Ideas” into formal “Request” –Partnership between Requestor and Intake Manager RequestsIdeaIdeaIdea Request Submission
- 15. 15Page: Detailed Overview ofa Project Intake Process • Request Submission Phase –Formal Project Request –Submitted by Business Sponsor or Delegate –Starts the Intake Process SLA Active Backlog GovernanceIdea Intake Pipeline
- 16. 16Page: Detailed Overview ofa Project Intake Process • Request Submission Phase –Focuses on Three Key Areas of Information • Problem Statement • Business Need • Business Value Active Backlog GovernanceIdea Intake Pipeline
- 17. 17Page: Detailed Overview ofa Project Intake Process • First Opportunity for Governance Engagement and Review –Early review of the Intake Request to determine: –Is this effort part of the larger Organizational Roadmap –Is this effort budgeted for in the Current Budget –Does this effort deliver substantive value Active Backlog GovernanceIdea Intake Pipeline
- 18. 18Page: Detailed Overview ofa Project Intake Process • Solution Assessment Phase –Primary Objective is to determine the appropriate proposed solution (technical and non-technical) –Determine an “Initial Estimate” of effort • Recommendation of +/- 50% Contingency Active Backlog GovernanceIdea Intake Pipeline
- 19. 19Page: Detailed Overview ofa Project Intake Process • Solution Assessment Phase –Response should meet specific criteria • New or current technology / solution • CapEx / OpEx Budget Estimates • Man Hour Estimates – Role Based if Possible Active Backlog GovernanceIdea Intake Pipeline
- 20. 20Page: Detailed Overview ofa Project Intake Process • Security Assessment Phase –In today’s data sensitive environments, the performance of a formal Security Review and Assessment of the proposed solution should be a required step in every project Ideation Request Submission Solution Assessment Security Assessment Approval Decision Portfolio Management Active Backlog GovernanceIdea Intake Pipeline
- 21. 21Page: Detailed Overview ofa Project Intake Process • Security Assessment Phase –Standard Security Review Process –Formalized Standard Response • Even if response is as simple as “no security impact” Ideation Request Submission Solution Assessment Security Assessment Approval Decision Portfolio Management Active Backlog GovernanceIdea Intake Pipeline
- 22. 22Page: Detailed Overview ofa Project Intake Process • Approval Decision Phase –Presentation to a Governance Body –Business Sponsor Presentation of Request / Solution –Approve / Decline / Defer –Prioritization Ideation Request Submission Solution Assessment Security Assessment Approval Decision Portfolio Management Active Backlog GovernanceIdea Intake Pipeline
- 23. 23Page: Handoff to PortfolioManagement Process • Portfolio Management Phase –Active / Backlog –Resource Capacity Planning –Active PM Assignment –PDLC Engagement –Requirements Definition Ideation Request Submission Solution Assessment Security Assessment Approval Decision Portfolio Management Active Backlog GovernanceIdea Intake Pipeline
- 24. 24Page: Action Plan forLeaders • What Do You Do Now? –Next Week • Make sure you download the presentation and review • The Presentation contains detailed speakers notes –Consider purchasing the PMforTODAY Project Intake Process Template Pack • This Template Pack contains a variety of easy to use and edit templates that will make a good starting point for your structured Intake Process.
- 25. 25Page: Action Plan forLeaders • What Do You Do Now? –Next 90 Days • Gain Executive Support / Sponsorship to formalize your Project Intake Process • Evaluate your current Project Intake Process against your goals and Objectives • Perform a Gap Analysis (Current State / Future State) • Evaluate your Project Portfolio and determine your specific needs regarding your Intake Process
- 26. 26Page: Action Plan forLeaders • What Do You Do Now? –Next 12 Months • Run this like any other project – BUILD A PLAN • Deliver on your plan to improve / build a Project Intake Process based on the Gap Analysis you performed
- 27. 27Page: Thank You forAttending This Session • Its been my honor to be your presenter today • I can be reached at – Email • don@pmfortoday.com – LinkedIn • https://www.linkedin.com/in/dsclarke/ • https://www.linkedin.com/groups/1204557 9 – Facebook • https://www.facebook.com/groups/34093 8792959969/ This Video on Demand Session Qualifies for .75 PDU’s from PMI. For more information on registering your PDU’s with PMI visit our site at - https://www.pmfortoday.com/pmi-pdus-earn-pdus-investment- reading-articles/
Editor's Notes
- #6 Speaker Notes: Video on Demand Session - How To Use Project Intake Processes to Manage Your Project Portfolio – Brought to you by Project Management for Today – www.pmfortoday.com Purpose of a PMO Governance Committee – Relationship to a Project Intake Process Any Structured Project Intake Processes begins with the establishment of a PMO Governance Committee Value of a Structured Project Intake Process There a multiple ways to measure the value of your Structured Project Intake Process – In this section we will review some of those ways Detailed Overview of a Project Intake Process In this section we will discuss at a detailed level the steps involved in the Project Intake process Action Plan for Leaders Simple Steps to take to start your process development
- #7 Speaker Notes: Purpose of a PMO Governance Committee My personal position of the relationship between the PMO and the PMO Governance Committee is very simple. We provide them the information in support of data driven decision, and then we provide the operational execution of their decisions It is a symbiotic relationship that requires both partners to achieve the highest levels of success for the PMO This provides the necessary information to support the leadership team in “Data Driven Decision Making
- #8 Speaker Notes: Purpose of a PMO Governance Committee The intent of this session is not to go in-depth into the role or function of a PMO Governance Committee – That can be a session all on its own. I am starting my session with the acknowledgement that a PMO Governance Committee is a key success factor in the establishment and function of a structured Project Intake Process The primary purpose of a PMO Governance Committee within the context of the Project Intake Process, is to function in the role of the decision making authority. Upon presentation of completed intake request to the PMO Governance Committee, it is their responsibility to discuss / debate / decide on the alignment to the strategic roadmap, the organizational budget, and resource capacity of the teams, to make the fundamental decisions on the next steps for the request Accept / Reject / Defer – these are the normal outcomes of a decision within the committee. Prioritize PMO Managed Portfolio – This is not just the definition of the “High / Medium / Low” priority classification of each individual project, but also the classification of the top 5 or 10 projects within the total portfolio, which becomes your first level of classification within your portfolio. Escalation Path for Portfolio Clashes. - When multiple projects need access to the same resources, and decisions can’t be made based on other criteria, the first level of escalation for the decision making process would be to present back to your PMO Governance Committee
- #9 What is the value of having a structured and defined Project Intake Process. Your Project Intake Process is the foundational step in effectively managing multiple areas within your PMO. From Project Portfolio Management to Resource Capacity Planning. If you don’t know what your working on, what’s coming in the future, and what the priority of all the projects are, how will you be effective as a PMO? How will you provide support and data to your Leadership Team? IF the end game is success as a Project Management Office, then Project Intake is a beginning of that success. Your Intake Manager / Leadership Team needs to take special care to study the organizational strategy and ensure that the governance process is facilitated with an eye on the overall organizational strategy.
- #10 Structuring your Project Intake Process with defined Service Level Agreements (SLA’s) / Operating Level Agreements (OLA’s) is a key success factor in the establishment of your process. Defining your service agreement provides you with a variety of opportunities to show your success within this process It helps educate your user base and set basic expectations for how long a request should take from submission to decision. If you don’t have the ability to measure it, you can’t report on it, and you can’t show improvements over time It will show the areas within the process that need improvement / assistance to make the full process successful
- #11 Development of a strong relationship with your project’s Business Sponsors is a key success factor in the development of a solid Project Intake Process. Having a structured process that is clearly documented is important to development of your relationship with your Business Sponsors. Many time, your intake process will be the first point of engagement between the PMO and the Business Sponsor. You should have a process goal that provides for the business sponsor to be the formal intake request presenter at your Governance Meetings.
- #12 Metrics are a key deliverable of your Intake Process. Knowing how long each step is planned to take, and how long each step actually takes allows you to understand the areas of delay in your process Each step should provide metrics on: How many intake requests are in this step How long have they been in this step Average time for all requests to complete this step If you know the metrics for each step, you can then provide trends for each step an the overall process The quicker the turn around time the higher the overall business satisfaction will be with the intake process.
- #13 Throw the decision making process of a structured Intake Process. You can generate cost savings for your organization. Cost Savings Opportunities: The earlier a project is declined or deferred is a proven cost savings opportunity Preventing duplication of efforts is a proven cost savings opportunity
- #14 Ideation Phase is the initial engagement of a project sponsor with the structured intake process. This is where they enter the process and begin the discussion and formulation of their idea. This is where your intake team engages with the business and while maintaining a “high-touch” relationship with the business, helps develop the early stages of the business case, and Intake Request Submission
- #15 Through the partnership of the business and the Intake Team members, you manage the process to translate the business “Ideas” into formal Intake Requests. By partnering with the business, the Intake Team can make recommendations on projects being combined into larger projects or programs to save duplication of effort
- #16 The intake Request Submission should follow a standardized process. Every submission should contain a minimum amount of information. Submission of the completed Intake Request Form – starts the formal SLA for this process step
- #17 There are multiple ways to structure an Intake Process. I am a believer in keeping the intake process focused on three key areas. Problem Statement What is the problem being solved by this request? What process is in need of change or improvement? Business Need Why does the business need this specific request? New Software? Product Upgrade? Business Value What value is being delivered by the successful completion of this request? What is the success criteria for completion? What does success look like?
- #18 There are multiple ways to structure an Intake Process. I am a believer in keeping the intake process focused on three key areas. This is part of the value of the structured process. By having governance review of the initial submission. Governance can make an intentional decision as to the value of the effort. This approval initiates the next step in the process, which is the solution assessment phase. By allowing the Governance Committee to review early in the process, you can save considerable effort and costs by not moving the request into more labor intensive steps. This cost savings brings value in both dollars and resource capacity
- #19 The purpose of the Solutions Assessment phase, is to develop a propose solution that meets the business needs and business value, as well as determining the best solution within the boundaries of existing or new technology, that meets the needs of the business. Recommendations: Standardized Solutions Assessment team – the same team should develop the proposed solution for all requests Every solution should be presented with an Initial Estimate of effort and cost The Effort should include a high contingency – consider +/- 50% contingency WHY? The solution is done at a very high level. You have not invested time and effort into full requirements definition. As a result, any attempt an accurate estimate would be difficult, without the full knowledge of detailed requirements.
- #20 Creation of a standard solutions assessment response template is suggested. It should include a variety of information
- #21 Formal security reviews are of every project effort are becoming more common. Does the project touch any sensitive data? Does the project store data off site
- #22 Formal security reviews are of every project effort are becoming more common. Does the project touch any sensitive data? Does the project store data off site
- #23 This Intake Request should now be reviewed with the original Project Sponsor, prior to review and decision making actions by the governance committee Presentation of the Intake Requests should be done in a structured and formalized meeting. Expectations of this meeting should include: Project Requestor / Sponsor presentation of the request Review of the Proposed Solution / Budget Question / Answer – open discussion of proposed solution Decision on Request Approved – Request moves forward Decline – Request is declined and does not move forward – appeal process is available Deferred – Project is deferred for a specific window of time and is represented to the governance committee to be reapproved. Governance should also provide a “Priority” to the approved projects, in review of the current active portfolio
- #24 Approved projects would then move to your Portfolio Management Processes One additional consideration is to have the project represented to governance for review after full requirements are defined, and your contingency can be reduced to +/- 10% - giving the governance committee one final opportunity to review the value and take an opportunity to change decisions.
- #25 Action Plan for Leaders Learning new information / skills is great, but now its times to put them into practice. Next Week Download this presentation and review the content again. Different items will trigger your memory and help you with the next steps in this process Next 90 Days Gain Executive Support / Sponsorship for the new Project Intake Process Evaluate your existing Project Intake Process and perform a Gap Analysis on the current state and future state Develop a plan to move from Current State to Future State, based on the Gap Analysis Run this effort like any other project Education of the process is a KEY SUCCESS FACTOR Next 12 Months Deliver on your plan Run prototype project intake efforts – single project efforts Test your data collection process – insure you have the right information Partner with your PMO Governance Body to imp
- #26 Action Plan for Leaders Learning new information / skills is great, but now its times to put them into practice. Next Week Download this presentation and review the content again. Different items will trigger your memory and help you with the next steps in this process Next 90 Days Gain Executive Support / Sponsorship for the new Project Intake Process Evaluate your existing Project Intake Process and perform a Gap Analysis on the current state and future state Develop a plan to move from Current State to Future State, based on the Gap Analysis Run this effort like any other project Education of the process is a KEY SUCCESS FACTOR Next 12 Months Deliver on your plan Run prototype project intake efforts – single project efforts Test your data collection process – insure you have the right information Partner with your PMO Governance Body to imp
- #27 Action Plan for Leaders Learning new information / skills is great, but now its times to put them into practice. Next Week Download this presentation and review the content again. Different items will trigger your memory and help you with the next steps in this process Next 90 Days Gain Executive Support / Sponsorship for the new Project Intake Process Evaluate your existing Project Intake Process and perform a Gap Analysis on the current state and future state Develop a plan to move from Current State to Future State, based on the Gap Analysis Run this effort like any other project Education of the process is a KEY SUCCESS FACTOR Next 12 Months Deliver on your plan Run prototype project intake efforts – single project efforts Test your data collection process – insure you have the right information Partner with your PMO Governance Body to imp
- #28 Action Plan for Leaders Learning new information / skills is great, but now its times to put them into practice. Next Week Download this presentation and review the content again. Different items will trigger your memory and help you with the next steps in this process Next 90 Days Gain Executive Support / Sponsorship for the new Project Intake Process Evaluate your existing Project Intake Process and perform a Gap Analysis on the current state and future state Develop a plan to move from Current State to Future State, based on the Gap Analysis Run this effort like any other project Education of the process is a KEY SUCCESS FACTOR Next 12 Months Deliver on your plan Run prototype project intake efforts – single project efforts Test your data collection process – insure you have the right information Partner with your PMO Governance Body to imp