Project management, project portfolio management, and line management are three distinct functions; they have different purposes and time frames and require specific knowledge, authority, skills, and tools. Irrespective of the particular organizational form adopted—functional-, product-, project-, or matrix-oriented—all three functions are needed to accomplish an organization's goals. What changes from one organizational form to another is where the specific function is located and who has control over it. For example, in a matrix organization, the project management and line management functions will be performed by persons with different reporting lines, while in a functional organization they will be performed by the same or different people, but within a single scope of control.
Each function has different goals. For the project portfolio management function, this is to complete all projects to best achieve the business goals of the organization. For the project management function, the goal is to coordinate the work of a multidisciplinary team to produce a defined set of deliverables on-time and within budget. For the line management function, the goal is the timely provision of competent resources necessary to carry on the planned projects. Figure 1.4 shows the main relationships between them and with the rest of the organization.
Figure 1.4: Relationships among project management, project portfolio management, and line management. (After: [4].)
The specific responsibilities laid out in this book for each of the functions are summarized in Table 1.1.
Project Management | Project Portfolio Management | Line Management | |
---|---|---|---|
| |||
Time frame | Defined start and end | Ongoing | Ongoing |
Focus | Manages team priorities to deliver within time, quality, and cost constraints | Manages workload to keep development pipeline operating efficiently | Develops organizational capability (resources, competencies, and processes) |
Key decision areas | Prepares project schedule | Prepares long-term plans to enable appropriate decisions concerning the allocation of scarce resources | Prepares line budgets. |