The portfolio manager is responsible for creating and managing the portfolio for a project. When it comes to portfolio management, one cannot just say that because Project Managers are responsible for managing projects, they are responsible for managing portfolios. When it comes to managing projects and portfolios, several people are engaged. A portfolio manager must be consistently linked with his team to check if the assigned tasks are correctly being performed or not. While the project manager has been thoroughly researched, this post will focus on the part of the portfolio manager and the related activities.
When an organization has multiple projects, initiatives, and processes that are all handled together, it is referred to as a portfolio. Functional or organizational portfolio management options are available.
On the other hand, a portfolio is a long-term commitment to maximizing the allocation, prioritizing, and scheduling of resources across several different initiatives. Project portfolio management (PPM) defines how managers handle the often-confusing mix of interdependent, reliant, and connected projects. All projects, present, past, and future, are viewed as a single unit in PPM, which then determines the most efficient way to prioritize and sequence them to maximize return on investment.
What Is The Project Portfolio Manager’s Role?
- As the person in charge of an organization’s project portfolio, the portfolio project manager is critical to the successful implementation of the organization’s strategy.
- A project portfolio manager’s job often entails overseeing one or more portfolios and collaborating with various financial algorithms and models to align projects with the company’s strategic goals. Portfolio managers frequently create management criteria to steer the portfolio and maintain a high-level perspective of everything in it.
- Project portfolio managers are frequently employed by Project Management Offices (PMO). The PMO’s responsibilities include establishing project management and portfolio management methods and standards for the entire department.
- The PMO could also define which techniques, such as Agile or Scrum, are utilized and guarantee that they are followed in individual projects.
Other Roles Linked with Project Manager
The Project Manager, the Project Coordinator, and the Project Administrator will emphasize this section.
- Project Manager
A project manager’s job is to manage a team to produce a new product, service, or other consequence. Soft and technical abilities must be balanced to communicate, plan, and manage projects successfully.
- Project Coordinator
A Project Coordinator is responsible for planning meetings, taking notes, data entry, scheduling updates, and keeping track of the status of a project’s tasks. For more sophisticated projects, a Project Coordinator may serve as an assistant to a more senior Project Manager, who is leading the project.
- Project Administrator
In some organizations, a Project Administrator is employed to assist in a Project Management Office (PMO). Depending on the PMO Director’s needs, the Project Administrator may assist in conducting status reviews, governance meetings, and collecting project team status. Having a Project Administrator on hand can help manage more straightforward and less risky tasks.
Why is the Portfolio Manager Role Necessary?
When it comes to project management, the goal is to optimize its return on investment (ROI). Only those initiatives that provide a sufficient level of value considering the number of resources required and the available resources, and the company’s long-term strategic fit must be selected.
Additionally, a well-balanced project portfolio should include both long-term and short-term projects, with a good mix of the two. PPM ensures a company’s operational and financial goals are better met by generating an ideal mix of projects.
Final Terms
For a manager, this may be quite a complicated process. This post tried to simplify it here. An effective and efficient process will be achieved with the proper tools and internal commitment to the PPM approach. For PPM to succeed, a manager must be committed and flexible.