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Project Portfolio Management

Rule No. 1 in the New World of Work: Get Flat, or Go Home

Published By Team AdaptiveWork

Driven to keep up with the accelerating speed of business, enterprises are leaving behind a hierarchical “command and control” model, and embracing a flatter “sense and respond” approach so they can rapidly adapt to constant change, and readily adjust at a moment’s notice. At least, they’re trying to.

The Enemy Within

Surprisingly, some enterprises are discovering that their progress and evolution towards a flatter – and faster – way of working is blocked by an unexpected obstacle: their very own project management software.

This is because conventional software is fundamentally designed to resist and repel a democratic (i.e. flat) approach to internal and external workforce collaboration; especially when it comes to built-in dashboards and reports. In this way, while leaders and managers push for more openness and sharing, their software can be said to push back. It’s a strange, science fiction-like tug-of-war for corporate dominance (“Enterprise Wars: Project Management Software Strikes Back”?).

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The Way Forward: Collaborative Work Management

Fortunately, the Jedi-free way forward is simple and straightforward – precisely because it has nothing to do with arduously trying to re-invent conventional project management software, and everything to do with outright replacing it with a qualitatively superior successor: a collaborative work management solution.

Unlike conventional enterprise project management software that is primarily built to sustain an old world command and control approach, a collaborative work management solution fundamentally supports a flatter world of work by:

  • Enabling program managers to swiftly build high-performance teams – and just as quickly re-allocate resources as necessary based on changing needs and priorities.

  • Instantly delivering a 360-degree view of the health of all projects and programs across the enterprise, whether the portfolio contains dozens, hundreds, or thousands of active initiatives.

  • Empowering leaders with real-time dashboards and reports so they can rapidly understand patterns, identify trends, access multidimensional business insights, and implement organizational improvements.

  • Integrating and syncing with other systems and solutions in the environment, so that huge volumes of information and data are effectively translated into actionable intelligence.

  • Allowing for customized business rules to streamline and automate tasks, activities and workflows – including launching new, ready-to-run projects.

The Bottom Line

The move to a flatter way of working is a shift in the right direction; and frankly, it’s long overdue. Enterprises that leverage an innovative collaborative work management system position their organization and people to work at the accelerated speed of business – while they deftly adapt to constant change, and effectively respond at a moment’s notice.

On the other hand, enterprises that remain constrained and restricted by their conventional project portfolio management software will continue slowing down – until eventually they’ll have to exit the race entirely. Because rule #1 in the new world of work is, quite simply: get flat, or go home.

To learn more about Planview AdaptiveWork’s award-winning collaborative work management solution, sign-up for a free, on-demand product tour – click here.

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Written by Team AdaptiveWork