When you sit down to review your current year budget allocations, are you able to trace how the value of your investments map to your organization’s top-line goals? Can you show how organizational expenses are resulting in improved technical prowess, processes, and buy-in?
Close to two decades ago I lost myself in my first organizational website redesign process—we were moving from static HTML to our first Content Management System… I was excited by the ability to manipulate technology for increased content production and distribution and to watch performance analytics come in. I was hooked and set out for more, much more.
Fast forward a few fashion style revolutions and many varied project implementations and here I am at PTKO where we have pioneered a focus on “engagement architecture.” One aspect of our company approach is helping organizations see their systems and channels as a portfolio, rather than individual units that require maintenance and support.
While it is still common practice to fund projects as single budget line items, running heavy investment efforts like a website redesign, brand refresh, or CRM migration as a one-off expense, is a surefire way to create a disconnect between the expense and the value to the organization. Too often, budgets used to fund expenses are divvied between and debated by departments leaving executives to decipher what the best(or in most cases the most pressing) next allocation should be.
Through the course of my career, I’ve sought to be a “silo-buster” and to ensure that systems are “integrated.” However, that can only come as the result of an effective implementation process. In the work we’ve done at PTKO, it’s become crystal clear to me how having a framework for decision-making is critical to creating buy-in and alignment between executives and operational staff. By defining an approach to portfolio management, we help our clients map organizational strategic objectives to investments in their various products (not projects) and show how the investments advance us towards the mission. This also helps organizations understand costs outside of a one time fee and anticipate the ongoing maintenance of the products in a portfolio. This methodology extends beyond just budget investment. It provides clarity on where processes may be missing that could facilitate better organizational effectiveness between departments and makes clear where there are gaps in staffing that might be essential to ensure a new investment is worthwhile.
If your projects are still being run and viewed internally as independent one-off expenses and you want to move beyond the unforgiving cycle—budget, implement, start over again—let’s talk!
