Digital transformation becomes a top priority

Chief digital officers are currently in a very good position to drive digitalization agendas forward in their companies. According to a recent BITKOM study, the average of the companies surveyed still rates their progress in digitalization on a scale of 1-10 at 5.7. However, 85% have a positive attitude towards digital transformation - a fundamental change in mood compared to previous years, which is also reflected in the companies' willingness to invest. After all, four out of ten of those surveyed have already accelerated the digitalization of their processes and business models. This upswing must now be used to maintain and expand competitive advantages.

From project management to project portfolio management (PPM): Steer the digital transformation!

The digital transformation of a company is characterised by several interdepartmental projects that influence each other. Suitable management tools for those responsible make it easier to handle the complexity and strategically implement digitalisation throughout the company.

We show the five fields of action for professional project management of digital transformation:

1. Strategic foresight and operational excellence: dovetail your digitalization strategy with project implementation.
2. Optimal use of resources: use existing budgets and human capital in the best possible way
3. Good stakeholder management: use facts, figures, and data for the fine art of communication
4. Best practices for future project success: develop a high-performing project organization
5. Risk management before it is too late: conduct regular risk analyses

Field of action 1: Strategic foresight and operational excellence

A company's digital strategy needs a strong vision and smart implementation measures. With project portfolio management, you can visualize, measure, monitor and flexibly adjust corporate goals. You can:

• Compare projects according to uniformly defined standards
• Control the project progress through quick decisions
• Prevent parallel activities
• Identify quick wins and
• free your organization from silo thinking once and for all.

TIPP:

PPM brings together strategic action with smart project management tools. The result: all initiatives remain strategically relevant. At the same time, through the transparency of operational activities across several projects, you gain new important impulses for further strategy development.

Field of action 2: Optimal use of resources

Chief Digital Officers operate in a dynamic environment where project priorities change rapidly. Therefore, it is not enough to understand individual projects in detail. Rather, all measures must be aligned, assessed and further developed with a focus on the main objective. Project management 4.0 goes far beyond project cost control thanks to PPM solutions. Digital pioneers have long managed their projects like financial professionals, namely in portfolios that balance risks and maximize "profits".

TIPP:

Project management for digital transformation is about the right activities for the best possible use of resources. This requires comprehensive knowledge of the required project resources and the possibility of quick, meaningful analyses. PPM solutions such as ServiceNow ITBM, Clarity and Rally provide you with the data and tools out-of-the-box. 

Field of action 3: Good stakeholder management

Project management for digital transformation is a particularly challenging communication task. Chief digital officers must represent a holistic view of the company's own transformation process. At the same time, it is necessary to find a consensus with division heads even if their own projects in the portfolio perform disadvantageously.

TIPP:

PPM solutions will not help to change organizational structures. If budget responsibility lies with the departments, it will be difficult to drive the digital strategy forward at all times according to objectively possible criteria. However, PPM does help to establish a better understanding for management decisions that can also be positively supported across departments.  

Field of action 4: Best practices for future project successes

There is no question that digital transformation means pioneering work for companies in many areas! But it is never too early to learn from successes or mistakes and to incorporate this knowledge into the further course of the project as well as other projects. PPM solutions stand for a new generation of optimally oriented project work. Standard processes around project planning and controlling are constantly being expanded with new project management functionalities that are relevant to practice. A look at the add-ons of market-leading standard solutions makes it clear in which areas further innovative solutions are already being worked on. Here are three examples:

• Alternative visualizations to Gantt charts
• the methodical further development by following DevOps approaches and
• a user-friendly time recording system that also provides relevant information on project resources.

TIPP:

Regularly reflect on your project learnings and try to incorporate them into your digital work processes. This might require customizing your project management solution. But also try to benefit from the project work of others. After all, software is nothing more than experience cast in features. 

Field of action 5: Risk management before it's too late

In many industries, professional risk management is not yet as established as it is in finance. In project management for digital transformation, however, this discipline plays a decisive role in the success of implementation. Knowing the factors influencing the feasibility of projects and tracking accordingly can prevent negative chain reactions at an early stage. The level of detail of risk management can differ depending on the maturity of the organization and the scope of the digital transformation. For many chief digital officers, it is already a great relief to be able to compare internal and external risk dimensions of individual projects. Because this differentiates their project portfolio even better and promotes the right decisions.

TIPP:

However, risk management also offers great advantages in operational project activities. In a successful transformation, many digital cogs must mesh. Being able to identify the most important trouble spots is not only a question of damage limitation, but also of the psychological comfort of having things in hand.       

Project portfolio management: the ace of digital transformation

In recent years, we have had the pleasure of accompanying numerous companies such as UBS, Uniqa and Borealis in the further development of their project management solutions. In the process, our consultants have experienced how positively the introduction of project portfolio management methods impacts the entire digital transformation. Each organization started their implementation project according to their own core business with specific challenges and priorities. However, all clients equally recognized that greater project transparency significantly increases their implementation strength. If you want to benefit from the potential of professional PPM, we would be happy to offer you a free consultation.    

Arrange a free consultation now!