Business Agility: Is It Easy to Pivot?

Earlier in 2016, Changepoint conducted a survey asking if members of project management offices (PMOs) found it easy or difficult to pivot in the context of change. We had 1,257 project management professionals respond. These are the results.

SURVEY RESULTS

Changepoint.com 2

Executive summary

PrefaceIn Q2 of 2016, Changepoint surveyed more than 1,200 members of project management offices (PMO) worldwide to understand the agility of their business and to evaluate the challenges and barriers they face when building a nimbler organization. The results reflect a truly global business environment. More than half of respondents reside in North America, a quarter reside in EMEA and the remainder are from South America and APAC. Below are the results and analysis of the findings. Every response is based on full completion of the survey. For this analysis, results are rounded to the nearest percent.

FindingsToday’s businesses face two options: evolve or dissolve. Harsh indeed, but all businesses looking to stand the test of time must adapt, whether it’s by updating technology, redesigning products, or introducing new product offerings. Building a nimble, dynamic business is an ongoing struggle made more challenging as organizations navigate legacy system updates and digital transformation.

In today’s volatile business climate, change is the only constant.

For the project-driven organization, business success hinges on having technology, infrastructure, and processes in place to adapt and pivot in a dynamic business environment. Disconnected systems, manual processes, and ineffective communication damage the credibility of a PMO and create barriers to business transformation. Without the right tools and processes in place, adapting to change is difficult—if not impossible.

This report examines the challenges PMOs face today in an effort to shed light on the barriers to building a nimbler organization. The major findings follow:

� Agility is a key business differentiator. There’s widespread agreement that business agility is critical for business evolution. With new innovations and businesses emerging daily, businesses must anticipate market shifts and weather disruption while positioning themselves to quickly take advantage of gaps left by those unable to withstand the turbulence. Project managers know that rapid decision making paired with the ability to navigate change and execute quickly are essential to a company’s health, competitive standing, and financial growth—much of which depends on how well the PMO is performing. However, knowing what is needed to maneuver change and executing against it are two different things. The latter of which is proving to be a lot more difficult for businesses than the former: only 10% of our survey respondents said they feel their PMO has business agility. Without a way to manage the project pipeline and execute nimbly, the performance of the PMO and the organization as a whole is at stake.

Changepoint.com 3

� Organizations are not keeping pace with organizational evolution. While an overwhelming majority of executives and managers alike view business agility as a competitive necessity, actual readiness is mixed. Despite the rise of agile project management, IT organizations aren’t keeping pace with business evolution and there is a growing disconnect between project managers and executives. The success of a PMO hinges on transparency and the trust that IT priorities are aligned with key business initiatives. Our survey found PMOs are often not aligned with larger company objectives. In fact, while nearly 90% of project managers are confident in their visibility and feel that lines of communication exist, nearly half of managers say they lack real-time visibility into projects. To earn credibility in the boardroom, IT must deliver thoughtful, informed recommendations aligned with strategic business objectives and goals in ways that resonate with business leaders. With 75% of businesses relying on spreadsheets and manual processes to manage initiatives, compiling these insights without the proper tools will continue to be a daunting challenge.

� Ineffective communication, disconnected systems, and manual processes are roadblocks to agility. In fact, communication and visibility have the most impact on the PMO’s ability to pivot or respond to change. More than one-quarter of respondents (27%) feel they’re at a competitive disadvantage because their organization is not nimble enough to anticipate fundamental marketplace shifts. And while agile project management is often associated with a nimbler business, teams that have adopted agile project management struggle with communication the most. Sixty percent of respondents using agile cited communication as their biggest challenge.

� Technology can be key to enabling a nimble organization. Despite acknowledging technology’s ability to bring efficiency to managing projects, businesses cling to manual processes for communication and planning. Many are still overly reliant on disconnected systems and manual processes like spreadsheets to manage initiatives. Nearly a third of respondents (31%) say they lack tools for effective communication. CEOs and CFOs seek easier real-time access to information. And while resource management is a top priority for PMOs, barely more than half of respondents have real-time visibility into their resources. Instead of acting as a barrier to business transformation, technology should free teams and managers from time-intensive, manual processes. The right technology improves how PMOs manage change and their overarching business agility. As a change agent and knowledge-sharing hub, the right tools enable companies to improve intake and use of critical data for better communication and more-informed decision making.

Changepoint.com 4

The results

The audience

RegionMore than two-thirds of respondents (67%) identified themselves as a project manager in some capacity: project manager (45%), senior project manager (20%), agile project manager (2%).

Answer Choices ResponsesProject manager 45.03%

Other (please specify) 21.16%

Senior project manager 20.29%

PMO manager 5.81%

PMO director 3.98%

Agile project manager 1.99%

PMO administrator 1.75%

Project manager

Other

PMO administrator

PMO director

PMO manager

Agile project manager

Senior project manager

Title

Changepoint.com 5

Company size (number of employees)65% of respondents work for enterprise-sized organizations, with 35% working for companies with less than 500 employees.*

*According to SMB Research1, small- to medium-sized businesses are classified as those with fewer than 250 employees. Because we spliced the company sizes outside of the <250 count, we’ll measure enterprise-sized companies as those with >501 employees.

Answer Choices Responses10,001+ 31.42%

1,001-10,000 24.26%

105-500 16.07%

1-50 12.81%

501-1,000 8.83%

51-100 ` 6.60%

10,001+

1-50

51-100

101-500

501-10001,001-10,000

Company size (number of employees)

Changepoint.com 6

IndustryThe majority (27%) of respondents work in the technology industry, with 18% in IT services and 9% in technology consulting.

Answer Choices ResponsesIT services 17.50%Other (please specify) 10.98%Consulting - technology 8.51%Financial services 8.51%Government 7.64%Manufacturing 6.60%Healthcare 6.21%Telecommunications 5.57%Construction and real estate 4.53%Education 4.30%Aerospace and defense 3.42%Hardware / software vendor 2.70%Insurance 2.47%Transformation services and utilities 2.39%Business services 2.23%Retail and wholesale 2.23%Pharmaceuticals 1.83%Agriculture and natural resources 0.95%Media 0.95%Legal 0.32%Personal services and entertainment 0.16%

IT services

Other

Financial services

Consulting technology

Government

Healthcare

Manufacturing

Industry

Changepoint.com 7

RegionThe majority of respondents (57%) reside in North America and 23% of survey participants are from EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa).

Answer Choices ResponsesNorth America 57.12%

Europe, the Middle East, Africa (EMEA) 22.99%

Asia-Pacific, Australia, New Zealand 14.96%

South America 4.93%

Region

Asia-Pacific, Australia,New Zealand (APAC)

Europe, the Middle East, Africa (EMEA)

South America

North America

Changepoint.com 8

Organizations are still using myriad technologies to manage projects We asked respondents to check all of the systems and technologies that apply to how they manage projects. Overwhelmingly, 75% of respondents are still relying on spreadsheets as a part of the project management process and 76% rely on either on-premise software solutions or proprietary systems.

TakeawayThere’s no reason why so many organizations should still rely on archaic spreadsheets and disconnected systems to manage project tasks and information. Today’s market-leading solutions provide an integrated, comprehensive view of project status within a single application—offering an information hub that dynamically updates if and when there’s a change.

Answer Choices ResponsesSpreadsheets 74.86%

On-premise software tool(s) 53.86%

Cloud-based solution(s) 27.21%

Hosted software tool(s) 25.38%

Proprietary system(s) 22.12%

Other (please specify) 5.73%

Multi-tenant SaaS solution(s) 3.90%

Which of the below choices best describe the project management system(s) that you use? (select all the apply)

Spreadsheets

On-premise software

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Hosted software

Cloud-based solution(s)

Multi-tenantSaaS

ProprietarySystem(s)

Other

Which of the below choices best describe the project management system(s) that you use? (Select all that apply)

Changepoint.com 9

The most important project portfolio management capabilitiesRespondents said the three most important project portfolio management (PPM) capabilities are project management (35%), portfolio management (20%), and resource management (19%).

TakeawayNot surprisingly, the biggest use cases for PPM tools surround project, portfolio, and resource management. Capacity planning, enterprise architecture, real-time analytics & reporting, and integration management are less of a priority since they are more about planning and less about execution. Today’s PPM tools have the ability to support work and execution management seamlessly from the project, portfolio, and resource level. The right PPM tools enable PMOs to eliminate the use of spreadsheets and disconnected systems, and offer an integrated solution for all the above features, resulting in better data and up-to-date information that keeps everyone on the same page and informed of project status.

Capabilities 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Project management 35.40% 22.43% 13.92% 11.85% 6.76% 5.41% 4.22%

Portfolio management 19.81% 10.34% 12.01% 11.93% 14.88% 16.47% 14.56%

Resource management 19.09% 24.34% 19.65% 15.04% 9.63% 7.64% 4.61%

Capacity planning 7.00% 17.82% 18.06% 19.49% 17.18% 13.13% 7.32%

Enterprise architecture 6.52% 7.72% 9.23% 10.50% 13.84% 22.12% 30.07%

Real-time analytics & reporting 6.53% 7.64% 9.47% 12.17% 15.83% 17.26% 31.11%

Integration management 5.65% 9.71% 17.66% 19.01% 21.88% 17.98% 8.11%

Changepoint.com 10

How PMO members are spending their dayAssuming an eight-hour workday, we asked respondents to demarcate the number of hours they spend on the following: managing and using a PPM system, managing people, and establishing and managing processes within their PMO.

Thirty-four percent spend three or more hours a day managing and using their PPM system; 65% spend three or more hours managing people; 55% spend three or more hours establishing and managing processes.

Takeaway With the majority of respondents being project managers, it seems natural that managing people is part of the job. However, it’s also clear that there’s an opportunity to increase efficiency around process and PPM system management. With the right PPM tool, managing information within the application and establishing processes become simpler and easier with standardized templates and automated workflow.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Managing and using PPM system

35.26% 31.17% 16.11% 9.86% 3.69% 2.00% 1.04% 0.88%

Establishing and managing processes

17.84% 26.96% 22.24% 16.88% 6.80% 5.04% 2.00% 2.24%

Managing people 13.57% 20.96% 22.89% 21.29% 9.00% 6.91% 2.33% 3.05%

Managing PPM system34% spend 3+

hours/day

Managing people65% spend 3+

hours/day

Establishing and managing processes

55% spend 3+ hours/day

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Changepoint.com 11

What real-time visibility looks like for PMOs Forty-one percent of respondents claim they don’t have real-time visibility into project status, or are unsure if they do. Nearly half (49%) of respondents have no real-time visibility into their resources.

Answer Choices Responses

Yes 59.35%

No, not confident 40.65%

Answer Choices Responses

No, not confident 52.10%

Yes 47.89%

TakeawayThe speed of today’s business requires complete visibility and transparency into both resources and project status. Project planning and forecasting rely on getting a clear view of where project resources and progress stand. An integrated PPM solution provides increased clarity through real-time data and information. That clarity supports the planning phases and efficiency of project execution. Ultimately, it helps PMOs get the right resources working on the right project at the right time.

Do you have real-time visibility into the state of your projects?

Do you have real-time visibility into your resources?

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

No, notconfident

Yes

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

No, notconfident

Yes

Changepoint.com 12

Understanding corporate objectives and values of your PMOOnly 47% of respondents say they are fully aware of corporate values and strategic objectives.

TakeawayCorporate objectives and values have to be communicated clearly. When a PMO understands where the company is headed and its corporate objectives, it can better support how projects are chosen and executed. Managing the project pipeline and how initiatives align to the strategic goals of the PMO and the company keeps the business aligned and everyone moving in the same direction. Paired with the right PPM tool, work management, project execution, and strategic goals can work in tandem with one another to keep the business on the right trajectory.

Answer Choices Responses

No, not sure 53.07%

Yes 46.94%

Do you know what the corporate objectives and values of your PMO are?

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

No, notsure

Yes

Changepoint.com 13

The hardest part of managing a project team: visibility and communication Respondents find the most difficult aspect of managing a project team to be managing team schedules and workloads (43%). Fifty percent of respondents say communication is the most difficult aspect of managing a project team, and 31% said they do not currently have the necessary tools for managing better communication across a project.

Communication between different departments

Managing team schedules and

workloads

Other

Communication between different people in the same department

What is the most difficult aspect to managing your project team?

Answer Choices Responses

Managing team schedules and workloads 46.94%

Communication between different departments 45.51%

Communication between different people in the same department 7.56%

Other (please specify) 6.44%

What is the most difficult aspect to managing your project team?

Changepoint.com 14

TakeawayIt’s not surprising that for project managers, managing team schedules and workloads is one of the most challenging aspects of the job. There are a lot of moving pieces and parts—and then there’s all of the people involved in driving project completion. Interestingly, the response itself parallels and supports the previous responses around real-time visibility into project status and resource management. Getting a clear view of initiatives and the people involved is fundamental to successfully managing team schedules and workloads.

Similarly, the breakdown in communication—both within the same department and across the company—slows project execution and creates room for error. If PMOs are managing communication separately from the PPM platform, whether it’s built-in or an integrated feature, communication suffers, efforts are bottlenecked, and workflows are disconnected.

With a fully integrated PPM platform, it becomes simpler to manage tasks, workloads, people, and communication. When critical features such as these are accessible within the same tool, teams can work more efficiently and course correct as needed.

Answer Choices Responses

Agree 68.89%

Disagree 31.11%

I currently have access to and utilize the tools and technology that enable me to effectively manage

communication across people and projects

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

DisagreeAgree

Changepoint.com 15

The business agility behind your PMO Only 10% of respondents claim they have the business agility to pivot when there’s a change and 50% said they did not have the ability to pivot or course correct when there’s a change.

TakeawayThis survey was created to discover what aspects of a PMO can be improved to ultimately increase the overarching business agility of today’s project management functions. The responses gathered demonstrate that there’s a deficit in the visibility and communication that technology offers. Both of these characteristics are paramount to project success, as well as being able to identify when an initiative needs to change or pivot.

For example, with 75% of respondents still relying on spreadsheets, it’s clear that manual processes are hindering a project’s ability to pivot when there’s a change. Similarly, 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.

No

I don’t know

Yes, occasionally

Yes, always

Would you say that your PMO has business agility?Is it easy to pivot if there’s a change?

Answer Choices Responses

Yes, occasionally 39.86%

No 36.20%

I don’t know 13.52%Yes, always 10.42%

Would you say that your PMO has business agility? Is it easy to pivot if there’s a change?

16

About ChangepointChangepoint delivers market-leading solutions in Business Execution Management™ (BEM) to companies around the world. Our solution suite is comprised of Project Portfolio Management (PPM), Enterprise Portfolio Management (EPM), Professional Services Automation (PSA), and more. Today, thousands of organizations—large and small—rely on Changepoint to do the right projects right. With Changepoint, smarter decisions are easier to make and flexibly adapting to changes is easier to do. The result? A shorter time-to-value, and clearer road to innovation and customer satisfaction. Visit: www.changepoint.com.

16161111 Third Avenue | Suite 700 | Seattle WA 98101

0616 © 2016 Changepoint

Changepoint.com

ConclusionBusinesses today are fighting for footing on shaky ground. Business transformation—whether a construction project, new processes to improve customer experience, or an enterprise IT rollout—is a step-by-step process.

Smooth execution demands communication, resource planning, risk analysis, project tracking, and analytics. And the payoff for smooth execution is business agility, faster time to market, and competitive advantages.

Regardless of size, industry or work-management system, today’s PMOs need effective technologies to execute with precision. Competitive advantage will go to those who adapt their processes and align their organization to embrace and respond to change.Citations: 1.http://smbresearch.net/sizing-up-smb/

If you liked this, don’t miss out on these...

Changepoint 2015 Project Management Survey Find out what’s missing in terms of executive visibility.

The Essential Buyer’s Guide: Project Portfolio Management What to know before you buy a new PPM solution.

IIPA: The Blueprint to What’s Next Learn how IIPA helps enterprise architects build better business blueprints.

PMO Success Guide: Are You Ready for a Change? Ready to get your PMO up to speed with market demands? Here’s how.