Project portfolio: how to check the status and progress of a project

Because of the great competitiveness there is in the market, companies need proper strategic planning at all their levels to survive. In the last few years, the concept known as project portfolio became more and more important; at present, it's a vital tool that companies need to implement.

A project portfolio contains a group of related projects to facilitate their effective management so the company achieves its strategic goals. This concept is sometimes confused with that of a project program, which is a group of projects that are managed together to get advantages that wouldn't be gotten if they were managed individually. 

Many factors need to be considered for a project portfolio to achieve the goals set by a company. One of them is to carry out the project management correctly and, from there, do a follow-up of the progress of the project. 

<<< Architecture, design, and engineering: organizing my project portfolio >>>

First of all, to see the status and progress of a project, you need to carry out a general follow-up and a specific one to know the progress of the project and foresee possible delays in its delivery; here, you can also make valuable decisions to avoid collateral damages and deliver the project in the established deadline. 

A project portfolio gathers the following main elements: 

• It analyzes the variables between the established deadline of the project and the real-time shown in its progress. 
• It allows you to know the global needs of the company as regards the implementation of new project management tools to facilitate repetitive tasks. 
• It allows you to plan solutions. 

We know that the main three pillars of project management are scope, time, and cost. Well, based on these pillars, we can do a follow-up of a project portfolio through indicators that inform us about the status and progress of a project and let us know if we must interfere to accelerate a process that is delaying the progress of the project. 

<<< Project management: main problems, challenges, and solutions >>>

Indicators of the status and progress of a project 

•  Breakdown scope: progress of each process that will make you achieve the goal of the project. 

The scope of the project refers to the goal you want to achieve at a particular time. However, you can't wait until the project ends to analyze its effects to do a follow-up of your project portfolio; you have to accompany the progress of each process and task so that they are carried out efficiently and effectively. 

For instance, a very important task stops being carried out because one of the people in charge of it got sick and had to pass that task on to an inexperienced co-worker that will do that task more slowly because nobody can teach him/her. 

•  Time: established deadline, effective deadline, and projected deadline. 

Projects can't be pending for too long since if you don't set deadlines, you can't establish a schedule with estimated dates for the execution of each task. This is the only way in which you can define the time you need for each task within the total time estimated for the project.

However, as we already know, not all projects achieve their goals on their expected deadline, even when you've combined all efforts since there could be different problems along the way. For instance, when you don't meet the deadline for a particular task, that deadline is changed for a new one. 

This way, assuming that the established deadline won't be met or realizing it's not possible to meet it, you should establish a new deadline for delivering the project according to the lost time. This new deadline will have to be checked in time with the updated progress of the project. 

•  Costs: established budget, effective budget, and projected budget. 

Something similar to following up the established deadline happens with establishing the budget for the project. Here, having a project portfolio allows you to keep a record of the budget you're using in individual tasks or processes; thanks to it, you can calculate and anticipate the projected budget that will end up becoming (or not) the real or effective budget that will be used in the project. 

In general, at the beginning of a project, an initial budget is calculated knowing that that number could be modified according to possible deviations along with the project. That's why you need to take action while you see the progress of the project to try not to divert too much from the established budget, taking into account the expenses added to the initial budget to be made effective in real-time. 

These were some ideas to create your project portfolio to check the status and progress of a project and to do an effective follow-up to achieve its goals by adjusting to the time and budget you spent to plan it.