Source: PMI’s 2015 Thought Leadership Series on Portfolio Management: The Practitioner’s Perspective: Winning Through Project Portfolio Management (in partnership with BCG); Implementing the
Project Portfolio: A Vital C-Suite Focus (in partnership with EIU); and Delivering on Strategy: The Power of Portfolio Management (in partnership with Deloitte).
High-maturity organizations cancel fewer projects (12%)
compared to low-maturity organizations (19%). Why?
Strong Processes
Leadership, Sponsorship and Support
An Enabling Culture
Successfully rank-
ing and prioritizing
projects
Processes that
enable change and
adjustment
Projects with clearly
defined financial and
nonfinancial benefits
vs. vs.
vs.
vs.
85% 58% 55% 55% 83% 83%
What organizations say is the top criterion for making portfolio decisions:
Alignment with strategy “gut feel” of senior decision makers
High maturity Low maturity
89% 73% 9% 31%
Some of the biggest discrepancies between high- and low-performing organizations:
Most C-suites aren’t championing
strategic portfolio management.
Setting the Agenda
30% of
respondents
say that senior
executives actively
engage in portfolio
management.
48% of
portfolio
management leaders
say senior executives
are actively engaged.
56% of
respondents say
members of the
C-suite undermine
formal portfolio
management by
following their own
interests and pet
projects.
83% of executives
at portfolio
management
leaders say portfolio
management is
a high strategic
priority, versus
56% at other
companies.
90%
of high-maturity
organizations
A culture of portfolio management is built on two dimensions:
1Intellectual: The organiza- tion values objective, quanti- fiable facts, not gut instinct. 2Emotional: There’s no stigma of failure if a project has to be shut down.
47%
for low-maturity
organizations
Organizations that say their C-level executives
are strong advocates of portfolio management.
High-maturity
organizations have
a culture explicitly
supportive of portfolio
management, according
to respondents.
<66%
Though executive
sponsors are the top
driver of project success,
they are assigned to
fewer than two-thirds
of projects and
programs.
88%
at high-
maturity
organizations
44%
at low-
maturity
organizations
Continuous evaluation:
Tools such as lead indicators generate operational
insight, aiding course corrections and re-scoping.
Still, 33% of respondents say their firms are too
slow to terminate projects that should be ended.
Transparency:
Projects are fixed
before they reach the
point where cancella-
tion is the only option.
