Aligning Projects With Corporate Strategy

PM-Partners own research shows that 87% of executives surveyed recognise they have not adequately made the connection between project selection and corporate strategy. PM-Partners offers tips on creating greater alignment.

The objective of project portfolio management is to prioritise the list of proposed projects to achieve the strategies within an organisation. Usually a portfolio relates to key business benefits sought by the organisation, and within the portfolio are projects that are ranked in sequence based on the constraints of budget, time, people and capacity.

The question is, what can you do as a project portfolio manager to help your organisation align strategies with portfolios?

There are 4 key questions to help you assess that alignment:

1. Is each project aligned with strategy and business benefits?
2. Has a shift occurred in strategy or expected benefits, do these call for re-balancing or re-structuring of the project portfolio?
3. Is each project performing well with regard to the actual and forecast time, cost and quality?
4. Will a project propose a positive opportunity or negative risk for other projects in the project portfolio?