In the "Execute" area of Lean PPM™, what the portfolio approved in the "Decide" area will be implemented.
Lean PPM™ Context and Roles Involved
The approved project portfolio is executed by the selected resources (people or project teams). Project managers keep track of the respective project status. During execution, questions and problems inevitably arise that need to be solved. This happens in several stages. First by the project managers and resource managers involved in the Resource Conflict Resolution meeting. What is not resolved are topics for members of the Execution Steering Committee. Any issue that is still unresolved is brought to the next Portfolio Board Meeting by the Portfolio Coordinator.
Implementation with Meisterplan
It’s clear when executing projects that project portfolio management only works when resource management is a constant part of the process. With Meisterplan, all involved not only see the projects, but also the resulting resource utilization.
Solving Resource Conflicts
The longer resource conflicts remain unresolved, the longer portfolio implementation is inefficient. Because resource utilization and conflicts are clearly shown in Meisterplan, the project leaders and resource managers involved can independently seek a solution or do so with the portfolio coordinator as moderator by setting up a Resource Conflict Resolution meeting.
Step 1: Open the sub-portfolio with the resource conflict in Meisterplan.
Step 2: Identify the resource conflict and analyze the utilization of the affected resources.
Here, the Portfolio Designer view also displays non-portfolio projects and corresponding allocations of selected portfolio resources to give you a view of the overall picture.
Figure: In the Resource Conflict Resolution meeting, resource utilizations are analyzed – including non-portfolio projects.
Step 3: Solve the resource conflict.
One way to solve the conflict is by shifting work within projects. If all project leaders are involved, a solution might also include shifting resources between projects. However, this must not result in any changes to the schedule that was approved during the previous Portfolio Board meeting.
Step 4: Inform employees affected by allocation changes.
Step 5: If necessary, inform the Portfolio Coordinator in the comments about issues that cannot be resolved. These will then be addressed in the Execution Steering Committee meeting.
By using the Resource Conflict Resolution meeting, most resource conflicts can be resolved without the involvement of other decision-makers.
Steering Individual Projects
In order to ensure project success and meet challenges during project execution, regular Execution Steering meetings are held for individual projects. The participants are typically business unit managers, experts and other relevant stakeholders.
The project lead gives a status update and highlights which decisions need to be made. If there are resource conflicts that could not be solved in the Resource Conflict Resolution meeting or if there are large deviations between the actual times worked and the approved effort of a project, the project lead can now propose changes, such as to the scope of the project.
Thanks to the multi-stage conflict resolution meetings in the "Execute" area of Lean PPM™, the portfolio coordinator only addresses the necessary topics with board members during the portfolio board meeting.