Create the Project Portfolio: Match the Work to the Goals

Every group or department has a mission—it’s their reason for being and describes how they provide value to the organization. As organizations evolve, people take on work that makes sense at the time. As goals and priorities change, the work should change, too. As you start gathering information for your project portfolio, you’ll see some work that no longer serves the department’s goals.

Every organization we’ve ever been in has at least one report—usually one that eats scads of person hours—that ends up recycled because the mailstop no longer exists. The person who originally requested the report has moved (on, up, or out), and no one needs the report anymore. And this is just one obvious example. We’re good at identifying the need for ongoing work, but often don’t recognize when that need no longer exists.

Update your big visible chart.

As you learn more about what’s happening, update your big visible chart. Using a big visible chart for planning is useful. It helps everyone see the same picture at the same time. Keeping it up-to-date creates shared ownership and lets people see patterns and problems—and sometimes solutions. We often see people clustered around big visible charts talking about how the work fits together.

Clarify and communicate department goals.

You can’t make decisions about priority without understanding your department goals. Write your department goals on one page and post them prominently. Goals belong not just in management offices but also in the public spaces of your groups’ work areas. Visible reminders keep people on-track, help people make good decisions, and make it everyone’s job to challenge work (especially ad hoc work) that doesn’t fit the department goals.

Product or Force Behind the Product?

Working in a company that makes money from selling a software product is different from working in an IT group that supports a company that makes money from selling some other product or service. But not that different.

In a company that generates revenue by selling the software product your group participates in building, the connection between your work and the bottom line is clear. When you work in an IT group, the tie between your group and the bottom line may be less direct but it’s still important.

The questions you ask to help define the mission of your group—and the strategically important work—have a different focus.

In a product company, ask these questions:

  • How does the work of this group contribute to generating revenue?

  • How does the work of this group attract new customers and keep existing customers?

In an IT group, ask these questions:

  • How does the work of this group enable the company to do business (or to do more business more efficiently or effectively)?

  • How does the work of this group affect the company’s bottom line?

  • How does the work of this group’s support the business unit’s ability to generate revenue and continue business operations?

For both companies that sell software and companies that sell some other product or service, the focus is on generating revenue and attracting and retaining customers. A product group’s mission will look different from an IT group’s mission. Once you’ve defined the mission of your group, managing the work is actually quite similar.

Don’t fall into the trap of waiting for your manager to define department goals for you. Formulate goals that fit your understanding, and give them to your manager for feedback. You need to have some working set of goals to prioritize work and do your job effectively.Setting Clear Priorities [Der04b]

Categorize all the projects.

Once you have a complete list, review each project against your department’s goals. Create four lists:

  • Projects and work you know you will continue.

  • Projects and work you know you need to stop—the “not-to-do” list. This is work that provides no value to anyone in the organization. Stop it now.

  • Projects and work that may be important but may not fit in your group. This is work you can’t just drop; transition it to a more appropriate group.

  • Projects and work that you don’t know where they fit. This is work that you aren’t sure whether it’s in the second or third category. Investigate before canceling or transitioning projects.

Discuss the last two lists with your manager to determine what to do. Work with your boss to reassign work that’s not strategically important—work you shouldn’t do.Project Portfolio Management 101 [Rot01] Decide whether you need to continue performing that work until someone else takes it or whether you can just drop it. Make a conscious decision, and communicate it to your boss and other people who need to know.

Stepping Back from Management

Management isn’t for everyone. If you find it’s not for you, or it’s not for you yet, it’s okay to step back into a technical role. Some people attach a stigma to “moving backward,” but we’ve never seen anyone do long-term damage to their career. And, we’ve seen the stress level plummet both for the person who re-chose a technical role and the group they were managing.

If you’re not convinced, ask successful technical managers in your organization about their career paths. If you probe, most managers will tell you they veered between technical leadership roles and technical management roles, not following a linear career progression.

In our work with managers, we have found that the best managers practice management and practice technical leadership, moving between both types of jobs before they decide to focus on one or the other.

Remember, technical management is about working with people, not technology. Sure, a component of the role is focused on technological decisions, but if you don’t want to work with people in this organization or in this role, step back from management. Ask yourself these questions:

  • Do I want to control more of the technical decisions?

  • Am I more interested in fixing technical problems than people problems?

If you answered “yes” to both questions, you may be more comfortable in a technical leadership role than a people leadership role. You can always practice people skills in a technical role. This will give you information to see whether a people-oriented management role may fit in the future. If you think management might be for you, ask yourself:

  • Do I like working with people?

  • Do I like coaching and mentoring people?

  • Am I willing to learn how to provide feedback and have difficult conversations with people when I need to?

If you answered “yes” to these questions, management may be a good fit for you, now or in the future. No one is born a great manager; it takes practice.

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