project portfolio management consulting

Project and Portfolio Management Experts

Submitted by Jamal Moustafaev on Mon, 04/28/2014 - 14:03

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Jamal is the author of three books and many online courses dedicated to project, portfolio, and scope management:

Phone: +1 778 995 4396

E-Mail: jamal@thinktankconsulting.ca

Below you will find ten symptoms of a company that is in dire need of project management and/or project portfolio management. Read through the list and count how many of these characteristics can be attributed to your organization:

  1. Unexpected issues and problems arise in the middle of projects
  2. Communications seem to be ad-hoc; too often important stakeholders are not informed about key decisions
  3. Project's requirements are never clearly defined
  4. Project managers and functional managers (department directors and managers) constantly fight over resources.
  5. Priorities of the projects initiated by the executives constantly change, resulting in quick resource reassignments.
  6. There is a chronic shortage of resources at the organization. Employees are constantly complaining about being overworked, while the managers insist that they must roll up their sleeves and work harder
  7. Projects are frequently late and/or over budget and/or do not deliver the full scope promised and the quality of the project product is low
  8. Even if the strategic idea is implemented, the company sometimes fails to achieve the expected improvement or fails to receive any value from the said project at all
  9. The strategic plan – even if the company has one - is presented as a list of projects, but the cause-effect logic tying those initiatives to the company’s mission, goals and the strategy is absent
  10. The list of company projects is not prioritized. Therefore it is assumed that all of these initiatives must be started and implemented more or less simultaneously

Did you count more than three symptoms present at your company? We can help! We offer project management, project portfolio management consulting and both live or online training services to help get your business back on track.

Please contact me directly via email at jamal@thinktankconsulting.ca or by phone +1-778-995-4396.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Jamal Moustafaev, MBA, PMP

President & CEO

Thinktank Consulting, Inc.

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Top 10 Signs Your Company May Need Project Portfolio Management

Submitted by Jamal Moustafaev on Thu, 02/11/2016 - 08:30

Sign #1: Project and resource managers often fight over resources.

Example: The head of the Finance department asked IT services to install a new accounts payables system. When approached by the project manager, requesting to assign two financial analysts to formulate the requirements of the system, the Director replies with unequivocal, "Are you nuts? There are too busy!"

Sign#2: Priorities of projects frequently change, with resources reassigned from one project to another.

Example: At the beginning of the year the CEO of your company announces that project A is the most important endeavor and will have the highest priority when it comes to resources - both financial and human. Sometime in March you suddenly discover the project manager of project A aimlessly wondering the hallways of your office. When you inquire about the status of her project, she lethargically replies, "Oh, the strategic priorities have shifted ... All resources have been reassigned to project B! And by the way, my deadline and scope remain unchanged."

Sign#3: Senior managers have authority to unilaterally approve and release projects.

Example: Your recent project got initiated simply because the CEO of your company walked into the conference room and uttered something to the effect of, "Wouldn't it be really cool if we could do this!" No feasibility study, no conversation with your technical or marketing experts. Nothing.

Sign#4: Projects are started as soon as approved by senior managers, irrespective of the resource availability.

Example: Project C has been approved by the executive committee and the project manager has been assigned to run the new initiative. Unfortunately, right at the Initiation stage, he hears the following from the PMO Manager, "I hope this project does not require too many resources. We simply don't have any ... People are too busy working on other tasks. Just be creative and deliver this!"

Case Study – Ibaraki Airport - An Airport without the Planes

Submitted by Jamal Moustafaev on Tue, 01/26/2016 - 12:51

 

On March 11 2010, the new Tokyo-Ibaraki Airport (IBR) opened. The first flight to arrive was an Asiana Airlines‘ Airbus A321 from Incheon International Airport in South Korea. This was the first and the last flight for that day.

Let us examine this case study from the very “beginning”.  The airfield was first developed in 1937, under the orders of Emperor Hirohito. and for the next several decades served as a Japanese Air Force base. Several years after the start of the 21st century the local government decided to convert the military installation into a civil airport.

According to different sources the cost of the construction project was somewhere between $220 and $230 million.  Also, according to multiple publications, the project was completed on time and on budget with all the requested features delivered. Therefore one could come to a conclusion that from a project management point of view this project was a complete success.

However, at the time of the project inception both of the two major Japanese airlines – All Nippon Airways and Japanese Airlines – notified the local government that they did not intend to use the airport after its completion. These airlines’  decision implied that 90% of the air traffic in Japan would be absent from the airport.

Another issue that was known right from the beginning of the venture is the problematic location of the airport. It was located 96 miles (155km) from the Shinjuku district of Tokyo.  Another problem at the time the airport opened was there were no plans to offer any type of public transportation from or to the airport. It was estimated that the passengers trying to get to the center of Tokyo would have to spend more than three and a half hours to reach their intended destination.

Furthermore, the facilities at Ibaraki Airport were minimal. While the provincial government marketed the airport as a low cost airline hub, the facilities at the airport were totally insufficient to meet the needed requirements.

Video - How to Prioritize Your Company Projects?

Submitted by Jamal Moustafaev on Wed, 01/20/2016 - 12:32

 

In these two-part video series Jamal will talk about how to prioritize the projects in your portfolio. Topics include:

 

 

About the Author

Jamal Moustafaev, MBA, PMP – president and founder of Thinktank Consulting is an internationally acclaimed expert and speaker in the areas of project/portfolio management, scope definition, process improvement and corporate training. Jamal Moustafaev has done work for private-sector companies and government organizations in Canada, US, Asia, Europe and Middle East.  Read Jamal’s Blog @ www.thinktankconsulting.ca

Jamal is an author of two very popular books: Delivering Exceptional Project Results: A Practical Guide to Project Selection, Scoping, Estimation and Management and Project Scope Management: A Practical Guide to Requirements for Engineering, Product, Construction, IT and Enterprise Projects.

Video - Project Portfolio Management - What is Optimism Bias?

Submitted by Jamal Moustafaev on Thu, 01/07/2016 - 16:22

 

In the this two-part video series Jamal will talk about the definition and the potential impacts of optimism bias as well as three theories attempting to explain this phenomenon: Topics include:

 

About the Author

Jamal Moustafaev, MBA, PMP – president and founder of Thinktank Consulting is an internationally acclaimed expert and speaker in the areas of project/portfolio management, scope definition, process improvement and corporate training. Jamal Moustafaev has done work for private-sector companies and government organizations in Canada, US, Asia, Europe and Middle East.  Read Jamal’s Blog @ www.thinktankconsulting.ca

Video - What is a Successful Project?

Submitted by Jamal Moustafaev on Thu, 12/17/2015 - 15:14

 

In this video Jamal will talk about the definition of the project success. What constitutes a successful project? Does it have to be on-time? On-budget? Deliver the full scope? Provide business value? 

 

About the Author

Jamal Moustafaev, MBA, PMP – president and founder of Thinktank Consulting is an internationally acclaimed expert and speaker in the areas of project/portfolio management, scope definition, process improvement and corporate training. Jamal Moustafaev has done work for private-sector companies and government organizations in Canada, US, Asia, Europe and Middle East.  Read Jamal’s Blog @ www.thinktankconsulting.ca

Jamal is an author of two very popular books: Delivering Exceptional Project Results: A Practical Guide to Project Selection, Scoping, Estimation and Management and Project Scope Management: A Practical Guide to Requirements for Engineering, Product, Construction, IT and Enterprise Projects.

Video - Should You Consider Internal Resource Costs?

Submitted by Jamal Moustafaev on Thu, 12/10/2015 - 10:43

 

In the this video Jamal will talk about the importance of including your company resources in project portfolio management calculations. 

 

About the Author

Jamal Moustafaev, MBA, PMP – president and founder of Thinktank Consulting is an internationally acclaimed expert and speaker in the areas of project/portfolio management, scope definition, process improvement and corporate training. Jamal Moustafaev has done work for private-sector companies and government organizations in Canada, US, Asia, Europe and Middle East.  Read Jamal’s Blog @ www.thinktankconsulting.ca

Jamal is an author of two very popular books: Delivering Exceptional Project Results: A Practical Guide to Project Selection, Scoping, Estimation and Management and Project Scope Management: A Practical Guide to Requirements for Engineering, Product, Construction, IT and Enterprise Projects.

Video - Will Project Portfolio Management Help Us Develop Exciting New Products and Services?

Submitted by Jamal Moustafaev on Thu, 12/03/2015 - 09:23

 

In these three-part video series Jamal will talk about how project portfolio management helps in assessment of multiple project proposals, how to nurture project-friendly environment and about the “Gut Feel” projects and “joker” concept. Topics include:

 

About the Author

Jamal Moustafaev, MBA, PMP – president and founder of Thinktank Consulting is an internationally acclaimed expert and speaker in the areas of project/portfolio management, scope definition, process improvement and corporate training. Jamal Moustafaev has done work for private-sector companies and government organizations in Canada, US, Asia, Europe and Middle East.  Read Jamal’s Blog @ www.thinktankconsulting.ca

Video - How to Develop a Scoring Matrix?

Submitted by Jamal Moustafaev on Thu, 11/26/2015 - 09:54

 

In this three-part video series Jamal will explain how to develop a project scoring matrix for your organization, including the variable selection process, the "Halo Effect" and imposing measurability on the matrix parameters. Topics include:

 

 

About the Author

Jamal Moustafaev, MBA, PMP – president and founder of Thinktank Consulting is an internationally acclaimed expert and speaker in the areas of project/portfolio management, scope definition, process improvement and corporate training. Jamal Moustafaev has done work for private-sector companies and government organizations in Canada, US, Asia, Europe and Middle East.  Read Jamal’s Blog @ www.thinktankconsulting.ca

Video - What is the Value of Project Portfolio Management?

Submitted by Jamal Moustafaev on Wed, 11/18/2015 - 18:23

 

In this two-part video series Jamal will talk about the value of project portfolio management for various organizations around the world. We will share the results of a famous study as well as describe typical situations that happen at the companies that do not have sound project portfolio management. Topics include:

 

About the Author

Jamal Moustafaev, MBA, PMP – president and founder of Thinktank Consulting is an internationally acclaimed expert and speaker in the areas of project/portfolio management, scope definition, process improvement and corporate training. Jamal Moustafaev has done work for private-sector companies and government organizations in Canada, US, Asia, Europe and Middle East.  Read Jamal’s Blog @ www.thinktankconsulting.ca