Dive Brief:
- Just 10% of project management offices say they have the business agility to alter course when needed, according to a survey released today by Changepoint.
- The management solutions firm surveyed 1,200 PMO managers and directors to assess the challenges companies face adapting to rapidly changing market demands.
- Of the respondents, 18% were in IT services, 9% in technology consulting and 6% in healthcare.
Dive Insight:
One thing holding many PMOs back is the use of archaic spreadsheets and disconnected system, such as hosted software and proprietary system, to manage activities and information. Having the right project portfolio management tools can help to integrate and update data so that everyone is on the same page, according to the survey.
“With so many systems identified as PMO tools, the probability that these tools are disconnected affects teams’ abilities to easily collaborate and relay information throughout a project’s lifecycle,” the survey says.
Ineffective communications are also a barrier to agility. Thirty-two percent of respondents said they don’t have access to and utilize tools and technology that would allow them to effectively manage communication across people and project, and 50% said communication is the hardest part of managing a project team.
When asked what were the most important portfolio management capabilities, 35% said project management, 20% said portfolio management and 19% said resource management. However, 41% said they don’t have real-time visibility into project status, and 49% lacked visibility on resources.
Changepoint surveyed PMOs around the globe. More than half of respondents were based in North America, with another quarter in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.