Mastering the art of reprioritization: Top PPM Power Session takeaways

PPM Power Sessions bring together operational experts from different industries, backgrounds, and geographies to share personal experiences and best practices around solving today’s toughest PPM challenges.

In our first-ever PPM Power Session, we tackled the one constant in PPM leaders’ day-to-day: change. And while 94% of session attendees agreed that the need to change direction and reprioritize work has increased over the last 12-24 months, that doesn’t make it any easier. Fortunately, our panel of experts had plenty of insightful anecdotes and advice to share. 

From resource reallocation to work management platforms to key performance indicators (KPIs), we explored several topics, tools, and tactics. During the discussion, three key takeaways emerged to help PPM leaders achieve organizational flexibility and resilience. Let’s dive in and see what our speakers had to say!

Takeaway #1: Define success metrics

One of the biggest questions most PPM leaders have is how to keep reprioritized projects on track to achieve their intended outcomes. According to our experts, success starts with clearly determining whether it’s right to prioritize one initiative over another.

“I use several key factors,” shared Jorge Pilicita, Account Director of Facilities Management at Dexterra Group. These include strategic alignment with larger company goals, potential return on investment (ROI), available resources, and risk level. “By systematically assessing these factors, our organization can make informed decisions about the initiatives to prioritize,” he said.

Then it’s time to establish expected outcomes and success metrics. “For us, it’s KPIs,” continued Jorge. These can range from project completion rates, team productivity levels, time to market, and customer satisfaction score. “Then I can compare the expected outcomes with actual results to identify any discrepancies with what our game plan was to begin with.” He also suggested combining this data with more qualitative insights like stakeholder feedback to get the full picture.

"I use several key factors. These include strategic alignment with larger company goals, potential return on investment (ROI), available resources, and risk level." - Jorge Pilicita, Account Director, Facilities Management, Dexterra Group

Smartsheet Senior Solutions Engineer Kristin Komassa recalled one unconventional but extremely insightful metric that one of her customers uses to gauge the success of reprioritized initiatives: What didn’t they do? She explained, “How many projects did they not do? How many projects did they stop doing because they found they were not going to be successful, and they were able to shift those budgets, resources, and timelines into things that really mattered?”

Takeaway #2: Centralize project data

Aside from failing to achieve intended outcomes, the most harmful consequence of poor project prioritization is overextending your resources. As Kristin so perfectly put it, “When everything is a high priority, nothing is a high priority. And that’s when teams start to get burned out, and that’s when things go over budget, because people don’t really know which projects they should be working on.”

"When everything is a high priority, nothing is a high priority." - Kristin Komassa, Senior Solutions Engineer, Smartsheet

The best way to combat this? Establish a centralized repository where all project-related details and communication live and can be viewed holistically. For Kristin, this single source of truth is Smartsheet — and not just because she’s an employee! She used the platform to plan, communicate, execute, and measure work for nine years before joining the team. 

Jorge agreed, “Utilizing agile project management tools like Smartsheet has been a game changer.” This allows him and his team to take a proactive and continuous approach to identifying potential bottlenecks, financial constraints, or overallocated teammates, and then adjust their plans in real time. “By fostering that culture of agility and resilience, we have pretty effectively managed the downstream effects of reprioritization,” he said.

"By fostering that culture of agility and resilience, we have pretty effectively managed the downstream effects of reprioritization." - Jorge Pilicita, Account Director, Facilities Management, Dexterra Group

Takeaway #3: Communicate consistently

Although Power Session attendees voted “securing buy-in/alignment” as the most challenging part of reprioritization at their organizations, our experts all agreed that ineffective and inconsistent communication is the leading cause of this issue. And solving it starts with documenting the rationale behind change to help everyone understand why it’s happening and what it means for them. 

This will help ensure that communication around a particular change stays consistent across teams and channels. “In order to keep everybody on the same page, and keep the process moving as intended, you need to keep the message that comes out of your mouth or through email the same every time,” said Loews Hotels Process Improvement Manager, Darla Brown. 

"In order to keep everybody on the same page, and keep the process moving as intended, you need to keep the message that comes out of your mouth or through email the same every time." - Darla Brown, Process Improvement Manager, Loews Hotels

She also stressed the importance of paying attention to how information flows through the organization and the order in which a change will impact various teams. “We always start at the top,” she explained. “We over communicate.” But of course, communication isn’t just one way: “We talk to them over and over and over again until the change is in effect. And then we sit back a minute and say, ‘Any feedback?’”

Jorge added, “Recognize and celebrate milestones and achievements along the way to maintain morale and motivation. By combining clear communication with robust support mechanisms, you can ensure that your organization remains cohesive and focused as it navigates the complexities of reprioritization.“

Want more reprioritization best practices?

This is just the tip of the iceberg of what our experts had to share during our first PPM Power Session. Tune into the full episode on-demand to hear them talk about resisting the urge to chase “shiny objects,” how to tell the CEO that they might not be the best person to communicate a major change, and more.

Be sure to keep an eye out for future Smartsheet PPM Power Session episodes!