Making Choices: Aligning Strategic Business Execution with Strategy Through Project Portfolio Management

As a recent portfolio manager leading the enterprise portfolio management office (PMO) of a growing consulting firm, Isabella Garcia found herself confronting a series of real-world firestorms that includes: poor adoption of new knowledge management (KM) systems, punishing schedule changes on mission-critical projects, managing difficult resources and capacity challenges, attracting strong talents to her team, prioritizing projects within the portfolio, determining requirements in an enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation, managing up, down, and across the organization, and leading a merger and acquisition (M&A) endeavor. As a contemporary woman, Isabella is also confronting the challenges of balancing life, work, and more work.

This a fictionalized business book based on actual and highly relevant situation that many project professionals, especially portfolio management professionals will face. The book is vital and relevant for those who aspire to complete the Project Management Institute’s Portfolio Management Professional (PMI PfMP) credential as one of the requirements is an experienced-based examination. Isabella’s many firestorms provide insights on the actual role of a portfolio manager and greatly enhance both the understanding and application of project portfolio management.