Coordination between project management levels: portfolio, program and project

Abstract

Every organization needs to set up projects in order to solve its

specific needs and to develop new ideas. When many projects

are to be managed, it is necessary to have proper project

management processes, which aims are to integrate projects

horizontally through their processes and life cycles. In order to

set an organizational strategy, it is essential to integrate the

projects and programs vertically by means of a portfolio. This

portfolio sets links between the organization aims, the

processes that lead to fulfil those aims, and the final product.

To do so, it is very important to know beforehand the link

points between the specific programs, projects and portfolio.

Nowadays, there are some tools and regulations that help to

manage these variables, as are the ones issued by the Project

Management Institute, which has not dealt with the variables

as a whole, but as independent items. This project analyses the

existing interrelation between portfolio, program and project.

To do so, it shows the program and project life cycle, their

groups of processes, and the integration of all these variables

into a portfolio by means of the PDCA cycle. This interrelation

tries to set the monitoring and control key points and the

decision making, in order to achieve an efficient coordination

(resources optimization) among the three levels and, so, reach

the strategic aims of the organization.