Page 353 - Global Project Management Handbook

17-10 MANAGEMENT OF GLOBAL PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS

collection of projects or programs and other works that are grouped together to
facilitate effective management of the work to meet strategic business objectives.
Organizations as such, portfolios usually are managed based on specific goals. A
project management office is an organizational unit to centralize and coordinate all
the projects under its portfolios. A project management office also can be referred to
as project office. The projects or programs supported or administrated by the same
project office may not be related other than by being managed together. Under the
current trend, more and more organizations manage projects by portfolios based on
their business goals. The project office also has been used to manage a portfolio of
projects.
In the proposed collaborative knowledge framework, the project center is a concep-
tual/logical structure for managing project(s). The same structure can be adopted by
the project management office for managing portfolios as well. The proposed project
center has the following four major functions to plan and manage project(s) based on
the organization’s processes:
● Creating and managing the project space
● Monitoring and scheduling activities
● Controlling and tracking progress
● Optimizing and integrating processes
The project center allows the project manager to manage the project life cycle from
initiation, planning, and execution to closure. All the project data are provided by the
project team members through the project management tools, information repositories,
and workbenches from the project workplace. The project center operates on top of
the project workplace connected by the connectivity map on the collaboration plat-
form. The infrastructure support of the collaboration platform for each project center
function will depend on it communication and collaboration methods. Figure 17.3
shows the layout of the project center and describes four major functions of a project
center: (1) project creation, (2) project monitoring, (3) project control, and (4) process
optimization.

Creating and Managing the Project Space. To initiate a project, a project manager

needs to identify the goals of the project and then define the scope and make the esti-
mation based on the given project charter and mission. According to the scope and
estimation, the project manager will break the work down further into an executable
plan. In general, a project plan consists of a work-breakdown structure (WBS), schedule,
budget, and required resources. Quality goals, risks, and project-related assumptions
and constraints are also stated in the plan. If outsourcing, procurement, and additional
service activities are required, all these work items also should be identified upfront
and included in the WBS. This overall project plan creates a project space for the
project manager and team members to work together as an organic entity.
For a global project, the project team members may be pulled together from differ-
ent geographic locations. To maintain a unified view of the project, all the project
members are required to update their progress regularly into the project space.
Through this unified view, the project manger then manages the schedule, budget, and
resources according to the tasks defined in the WBS. Most of the project management
tools provide a dashboard viewer, traffic lights, scorecards, and reports for the project
council to conduct routine project review. The project council is a committee repre-
sented by stakeholders, domain experts, and the project manager.