No event in recent business history has accelerated digital transformation quite like the pandemic. The sudden shift to remote work and social distancing forced businesses to quickly adapt and, thus, adopt digital technologies or risk falling behind.
In the aftermath, we have all come to appreciate the benefits of a hybrid work environment, which has opened doors to new talent, improved efficiency, and greater flexibility. However, these benefits can only be fully realized when the right tools, strategies, and methodologies are in place. This is even more crucial for Project Portfolio Management.
As North America's leading PPM implementation service provider, Winmill PPM has been at the center of driving this transformation. In partnership with Broadcom, we helped organizations streamline their PPM processes and enhance collaboration with their ValueOps offerings (Clarity, Rally, ConnectAll, and Insights). Since the pandemic, businesses that moved quickly to embrace digital change updated their systems with our help and laid a strong foundation, and they are now moving forward smoothly.
On the other hand, companies that delayed their transition and needed to update their tools or strategies faced a rocky road. Their progress stalled for a long time, and they struggled to keep up during the hybrid shift.
If you are looking to quickly adapt to the hybrid world by pivoting your PPM with the right retooling and implementation, like the businesses that embraced change early, this blog is for you.
This blog will discuss the challenges project teams face when they do not restructure their strategies or update their PPM tools. We will also discuss how most PPM tools fall short and share how Broadcom’s ValueOps Solutions can help you adapt and improve your PPM in this hybrid world.
Traditional PPM tools are designed for in-person work environments but often fall short in a hybrid world. Like anything else, it usually starts with minor issues, creating a domino effect, growing exponentially, and stealthily bringing down overall performance. So, here are the most common pitfalls of traditional PPM tools, which begin small but can quickly spiral out of control, along with some insight into how Broadcom’s ValueOps products address these pitfalls.
With people in different places, maintaining the visibility of overall projects is often the first hurdle that shows up in project portfolio management.
Updates, status changes, or roadblocks might be more evident to in-office folks, while remote team members (and project leaders) stay out of the loop. In-office staff may also have quick and direct access to shifting priorities and feedback, which may differ for remote team members. This imbalance often leads to difficulties, particularly in aligning project prioritization and resource distribution across teams.
Broadcom’s Clarity solution offers many features to help communicate project status and streamline communication of risks and issues. Their flexible and personally configurable canvas dashboards give all users a quick way to view important information about any project or program they are working on. Here is an example of a project's landing page that quickly communicates Open To Do items, risks, Milestones, and more, all presented front and center for anyone who can access the project.
Speaking of To Do’s, If you are unfamiliar with them, they are a powerful tool to help keep project WBSes manageable while improving the collaboration of a project team. To Do’s are simple checklist items that can be created and assigned at any project level. Team members can visit their ‘My Workspace’ page to view a complete list of anything that needs their attention. No more waiting for meeting minutes with actions buried in the message body to figure out what you need to do next!
Without the right tools, a hybrid model can complicate smooth, quick decision-making. Remote team members often rely on formal meetings to voice their opinions. In contrast, in-office teams can easily have spontaneous discussions that speed things up. This mix of methods can add an extra layer of complexity that slows decision-making when teams need fast alignment.
Clarity incorporates these spontaneous discussions into project management with their Conversations modules. Again, these can be incorporated at any level of the project, and a simple @ tag of someone’s name will notify that user when they are mentioned in a conversation. Here, we can see a conversation about our project and a view of the notifications listed when you click on your notification bell, which keeps collaboration rolling despite a geographically dispersed team.
Tracking and managing cross-project dependencies in a hybrid work environment demands exceptional coordination, communication, and swift decision-making. Project managers must juggle different work schedules, time zone differences, and other logistical challenges to prevent new dependency issues from piling up. Without the right tools, managing these dependencies becomes yet another losing battle.
Tracking dependencies for Agile teams using Rally is paramount to keep teams moving forward. While cross-functional teams can easily work through internal dependencies, it’s inevitable that dependencies with other teams will arise. Utilizing the Timeline view in Rally, cross-team dependencies are readily visible. The image below shows cross-team dependencies between the Core and Mobile teams.
In Clarity, interproject dependencies are shown in several places to ensure that all levels of the organization can see when conflicts may occur. The image below shows tasks in a project that depend on an outside project. The outside project’s dependent tasks are included in the Gantt chart of the original project.
Inconsistent access to PPM tools is another common headache that leads to disconnect between team members. Tools designed mainly for on-site use might offer different functionality for remote users, and security restrictions can create visibility and collaboration issues. Without the right mobile-compatible PPM tools that allow secure, equal access, existing knowledge gaps widen, and misalignment crops up, which worsens existing issues.
Clarity also comes with a mobile app to keep teams connected. In the app, a team member can manage their time, and approvers can manage their action items to keep work progressing even when away from their offices.
Every hybrid project management team faces the challenge of agile decision-making and quickly adjusting to shifting priorities. Communication gets tricky with asynchronous updates, limited data access, and delayed reporting, making brainstorming or generating ideas on the fly harder. This often slows down decision cycles, especially regarding real-time risk management.
Disparate communication channels, time zone differences, lack of standardized reporting, and technical difficulties - every existing reporting problem only gets compounded in hybrid work environments. A centralized platform with automated real-time reporting, collaboration tools, and clear reporting guidelines and expectations can help mitigate these reporting disparities.
As challenges in the hybrid work environment continue to grow, many project teams have turned to popular project management tools to stay on top of their tasks. While these tools offer essential features, they often need more depth for robust Project Portfolio Management (PPM).
For example, some tools provide the proper visibility but fall short in risk and issue management. Some struggle with scalability, while others lack accuracy in managing complex, interdependent projects. Limited customization, cross-tool integration, and real-time, seamless reporting are Achilles' heels for many of the rest.
While these tools offer some value, they frequently need to improve their flexibility, adaptability, and overall functionality to drive successful PPM in a hybrid world. For many businesses that partner with Winmill PPM, leveraging Broadcom's ValueOps solutions was the moment they finally found the full support they needed to navigate today's challenges effectively.
Offering a centralized and powerful platform, ValueOps delivers robust functionality that improves visibility, fosters alignment, and optimizes PPM efficiency irrespective of the complexity or scale of the portfolio.
Clarity’s customizable dashboards and real-time analytics make it easy to visualize progress, track key metrics, and spot bottlenecks before they become issues. Collaboration is seamless with conversations, user workspaces, and integrated roadmaps, keeping teams aligned regardless of where they work. Its mobile-friendly access and automated reporting ensure that no one misses a beat and ensures that the organization’s execution is linked to its strategy.
To improve alignment, Rally's out-of-the-box integrations with Clarity connect agile delivery with broader strategic goals so teams can keep their work aligned with business priorities.
ConnectAll is what ties everything together. With over 80 application adaptors included, ConnectAll can keep all your teams connected and eliminate manual processes while bringing visibility to every aspect of your business!
Overall, ValueOps brings together powerful, comprehensive features to offer a complete solution that tackles today's hybrid challenges head-on.
With over 800 successful ValueOps implementations, Winmill PPM has the experience and expertise to accelerate your digital transformation. We offer a comprehensive suite of services, including implementation, health checks, managed services, and training, to ensure you maximize your investment in Broadcom's solutions.
Want to learn more about how Winmill PPM can help you achieve PPM success in a hybrid world? Contact us today!