How to Effectively Prioritize Projects
Portfolio management is about maximizing organizational value delivery through programs and projects. In order to maximize value delivery, the governance teams that approve work and prioritize projects need to share a common view of “value” in order to select the most valuable work and assign the right resources to that work.
Understanding the relative “value” of each program and project in the portfolio is at the heart of portfolio management and determines what work is selected, how it is prioritized, where resources are allocated, etc. In order to select a winning portfolio, every governance team needs to share a common understanding of value; without it, you’ll fail to realize the full potential of your portfolio.
Best Practices for Resource Capacity Planning
Resource capacity planning is one of the most commonly cited functions of project portfolio management. Senior leadership rightly wants to understand whether they have adequate resources to take on more project work and whether their existing work will get done on time. Most companies recognize the scarcity of resources to do project work and thereby look for portfolio capacity views to answer these two important questions:
- When can we take on new projects?
- Can we get our existing work done?
Solutions at Work: Bechtel
Bechtel is a world-wide engineering and construction organization serving customers in a variety of industries from power, petroleum and chemical plants, to aviation services and the hotel industry. The equipment leasing arm of the company, Bechtel Equipment Operations Inc. (BEO), supplies all the tools and equipment needed to keep their global construction projects operating efficiently.
Equipment SOLUTIONS Tool Inventory Management
One of ToolHound’s clients is a construction firm with two branches: large commercial projects and small projects and maintenance. Between new construction, demolitions, interior renovations, and space maintenance, their toolroom is home to a substantial inventory of tools and supplies. But managing that inventory proved challenging—not only did they have trouble tracking where tools were, but they were also losing tools and supplies at an alarming rate. They needed a solution that would reduce loss (to assets and profits), that would be easy to implement, and that would allow them to have instant, on-demand access to their inventory.
Solutions at Work: Reliant Energy Wholesale Group
Reliant Energy Wholesale Group, a division of Reliant Energy, is a leading provider of electricity, natural gas and energy services in the U.S.A. With a portfolio of electric power and co-generation plants in the Northeast, Midwest, Southeast, Texas and the West, Reliant has 20,000 megawatt of power generation capacity in operation, under construction or under contract.
Like any power generating facility, plants in the Reliant system experience routine outages for scheduled maintenance and forced outages due to mechanical failure that require immediate response. A single Reliant maintenance shop in Brookville, PA issues all the tools required for maintenance and repairs for some 25 plants from New York to Oregon and south to Florida. Some tools are drawn from satellite tool cribs that are moved where and when needed.
Boost Your Bottom Line with One Powerful Tool
Since 1985, ToolHound has been the standard in tool inventory management for companies in construction, maintenance, petrochemical, mining and more. Need proof? Five of the top ten companies on ENR’s Top 400 Contractors list use ToolHound.
ToolHound efficiently tracks tools issued to and returned by employees and contractors, as well as equipment transfers between various job sites and tool room locations. Using a comprehensive database, coupled with a simple and accurate barcode or RFID-based transaction system, ToolHound inventory management software can be securely accessed online from anywhere.
Solutions at Work: TransAlta
TransAlta, Canada's largest investor-owned electric utility, boasts more than $5 billion in assets and $1.6 billion in revenues, it recently discovered a problem at one of its plants that was costing the company both time and money. In its Edmonton plant tool crib, tools were flowing out to work sites but were not always being returned, and the company had no way to accurately track where the tools were or who had them last. Crib operators were armed with nothing more than a sign-out sheet and when tools didn't come back, there was no way to assign responsibility to anyone for the loss.
Unfortunately, tool theft, unreliable tool tracking, and a lack of tool accountability are common problems at plants everywhere. Too often, these plants operate with archaic "pen and paper" procedures that not only slow issue/return times, but also lack the tracking information required to help curb tool-related losses within an organization. TransAlta decided it was time to fix this problem in its Edmonton plant. A main ingredient...
Innovative Solutions That Actually Work
Technology is often a driver of innovation, especially in the people management, HR, and payroll space. But far too often, technology becomes an additional burden HR and people leaders must bear while they try to make changes and go after bigger, more positive outcomes.
The good news is, there are HCM systems out there that accelerate you forward, causing positive disruption.
The Changing Future of HR
Before the pandemic, digital transformation was a competitive advantage, but an optional one. It was often cited as a priority for HR and business leaders, but not treated with urgency. Today, however, digital transformation is table stakes for identifying and meeting the needs of your workforce and monitoring the productivity of that workforce — two foundational elements of companies that will thrive post-COVID-19.
This eBook represents three ways HR leaders must adapt to the future world of work.
The Right Tools to Thrive as a People Leader
Your expertise is in leading people - so why do you end up wearing so many hats in your organization?
Learn about the importance of efficiency when managing a growing - and increasingly remote - workforce. With over 80% of U.S. small and medium sized businesses implementing robust HR software, what are the key functions a tool needs to provide to those organizations?
This eBook represents 6 reasons why people leaders are switching their teams to focus on digital workforce management.
5 People Metrics That Matter
Cut through the noise with HR stats that matter most. Today, as HR has become influential in driving ideas towards sustainable change, the easy-to-understand HR “People” metrics have become vital for evaluating business processes and developing ‘people’ strategies.
To help you drive HR strategy with concise data, our industry experts have developed this list of the top five “people” analytics. You’ll also get concrete advice to translate each metrics’ results into actions that will help you drive more successful business outcomes.
Innovative Solutions That Actually Work
Technology is often a driver of innovation, especially in the people management, HR, and payroll space. But far too often, technology becomes an additional burden HR and people leaders must bear while they try to make changes and go after bigger, more positive outcomes.
The good news is, there are HCM systems out there that accelerate you forward, causing positive disruption.
The Changing Future of HR
Before the pandemic, digital transformation was a competitive advantage, but an optional one. It was often cited as a priority for HR and business leaders, but not treated with urgency. Today, however, digital transformation is table stakes for identifying and meeting the needs of your workforce and monitoring the productivity of that workforce — two foundational elements of companies that will thrive post-COVID-19.
This eBook represents three ways HR leaders must adapt to the future world of work.
The Right Tools to Thrive as a People Leader
Your expertise is in leading people - so why do you end up wearing so many hats in your organization?
Learn about the importance of efficiency when managing a growing - and increasingly remote - workforce. With over 80% of U.S. small and medium sized businesses implementing robust HR software, what are the key functions a tool needs to provide to those organizations?
This eBook represents 6 reasons why people leaders are switching their teams to focus on digital workforce management.
5 People Metrics That Matter
Cut through the noise with HR stats that matter most. Today, as HR has become influential in driving ideas towards sustainable change, the easy-to-understand HR “People” metrics have become vital for evaluating business processes and developing ‘people’ strategies.
To help you drive HR strategy with concise data, our industry experts have developed this list of the top five “people” analytics. You’ll also get concrete advice to translate each metrics’ results into actions that will help you drive more successful business outcomes.