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10 Project Portfolio Management (PPM) Trends for 2025

Q: What are the benefits of using a hybrid approach to project portfolio management?

A hybrid approach offers the following advantages: Increased flexibility : Combines the structured planning of traditional methods with the adaptability of agile methodologies to accommodate changing priorities. Improved resource allocation : Provides a holistic view of resources across projects, enabling better allocation and utilization. Enhanced innovation : Agile elements within the hybrid approach can foster a culture of innovation and experimentation within project portfolios.

Q: How can I get started with implementing these PPM trends?

Here are some initial steps to embrace these PPM trends: Evaluate your current PPM practices : Identify areas for improvement and opportunities to integrate new trends. Define your strategic goals : Align your PPM approach with your organization’s overall objectives. I nvest in the right tools and technologies : Consider PPM software solutions that support desired functionalities like AI and data analytics. Train your teams : Equip your teams with the skills and knowledge needed to adopt new PPM practices effectively.

What are the latest PPM trends? In 2025, PMOs, IT departments and NDP teams will face new and challenging governance and management challenges. And, in order to face them successfully, it’s necessary to be at the forefront in terms of processes and Project Portfolio Management.

Adopting hybrid management approaches, streamlining Demand Management Processes or integrating Capacity Planning into your Resource Management processes are some of the trends you will need to implement in 2025. What about the others? Find out for yourself in this post.

1. Hybrid management approach

This is a fact that cannot be ignored. In almost all organizations, two or more management models coexist. Agile, Waterfall or Scaled Agile methodologies are just a few of them. And, depending on the type of projects or programs you manage, there will be times when an Agile management model will work best and others when the more traditional management model will be the best option.

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Agile is clearly gaining millions of advocates and is expanding beyond IT and Development teams. But it’s also clear that Agile doesn’t have to work in every context. Not all departments can be 100% agile, and there are certain industries whose processes require more traditional management methodologies.In addition, there are more and more types of portfolios (products, investments, services, applications, IT assets, applications, etc.), which require different management methodologies depending on each case.

Therefore, hybrid project management are the future of PPM. More and more companies are understanding that their market competitiveness depends on knowing how to adapt to the ever-changing environment we are living in. And that means embracing management models that take the best of the most traditional management approaches and the new agile methodologies.

Within a customer-oriented project, the product delivery part can be managed in Agile.

2. Integrate PPM with corporate strategy

Completing projects and programs on time and on budget are no longer the only success factors in project management. Aligning portfolio management with strategic objectives is a major challenge for companies today. Project Portfolio management must therefore be focused on the continuous value delivery for both, organization and customers /users.

This integration is not limited to scoring projects and programs according to their strategic importance but must go one step further. All processes related to Resource Management, Demand Management or Financial Management of the Project Portfolio must be aligned with Strategic Planning. In addition, it is key for successful strategy execution to effectively communicate the strategy and involve the teams in the prioritization process of projects and initiatives.

There is a growing number of PPM tools on the market with Strategic Portfolio Management capabilities. These are solutions capable of transforming the strategic objectives into project plans, products and services focused on value delivery for the business in an Agile and flexible manner.

Triskell brings together the best of PPM tools with features for Strategic Portfolio Management.

3. Adaptive Portfolio Management

We are living in very turbulent times. Political conflicts or the financial instability are affecting the strategic planning of all corporations. Many are forced to change strategic planning on the fly. And it is here, when it comes to adapting strategy execution to these changes, where many organizations fail.

Both strategy planning and execution must be adaptive. This will enable companies to optimize their project and product portfolios and ensure that the ROI expected for each of them is not compromised by possible strategic realignments.

Today’s PMOs must be adaptive. They must align Project Portfolio Management with the organization’s objectives and respond efficiently to strategic changes. Good practices such as planning capacity 3 to 6 months ahead or reviewing the priority of incoming demands will bring you many benefits, for example:

More effective Risk Management.
Faster delivery times.
Reduced costs.
Higher customer and user satisfaction.
Lower project and product portfolio volatility.

4. Enterprise agility is a must

Who says Agile is dead? That idea couldn´t be further from the truth. Enterprise agility is becoming a crucial foundation for organizations that want to stay competitive. By extending Agile beyond IT, PMO or Dev teams, business can foster a more flexible, adaptive culture throughout the entire organization.

Frameworks like SAFe can help your organization to scale Agile practices and bring together teams like HR, Marketing, Operations and beyond, all working toward common goals.

Scaling Agile ensures better cross-functional collaboration, faster decision-making and a quicker response to changing market conditions. That results in a nimbler organization that can adjust priorities, optimize resources and keep innovating. With enterprise agility, companies can work more cohesively toward strategic objectives, break down silos, and speed up time to market.

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5. AI is here to stay

It’s no longer a secret. AI is transforming the way organizations manage their project portfolios. Thanks to AI, PMOs and project managers can process real-time and historical data in just seconds, spot trends, predict risks and gain insights that could not be captured without the help of these new technologies.

Some of the use cases for AI in project and portfolio management today include:

Predictive analytics: with AI, you can analyze historical and real-time data to forecast project risks, timelines, and outcomes, enabling proactive decision-making.
Resource optimization: AI helps allocate resources efficiently by identifying the best mix of skills, time and staff needed for each project.
Risk management: AI allows identify potential risks early, assessing their impact and provide tips and best practices regarding risk mitigation strategies to minimize project disruptions.
Decision support: AI offers actionable insights and recommendations to support data-driven decision-making in project prioritization and execution.

And many more will follow in the future. There are more and more AI tools on the market, and more and more project and portfolio management solutions are integrating AI functionality into their platforms. So, it is safe to say that AI will be your assistant in project and portfolio management decisions from now on. Are you already taking advantage of AI?

6. Embracing P2P: shifting from Projects to Products

As Agile and adaptive elements are incorporated into portfolio management, your delivery model will evolve as well. While more traditional portfolio management approaches focus on project delivery, more and more organizations have adopted more product-centric delivery models to improve agility and focus on value.

And the question here is: how do the two models differ?:

Project delivery: teams are organized around projects, and only own specific initiatives or tasks. Once these come to an end and new projects are demanded, then new teams are reorganized in order to meet these new challenges.
Product delivery teams are organized around products. A single multidisciplinary team is created that ultimately owns all aspects related to that product (design, development, budget, market research, technical support, etc). They are able on their own to solve problems and improve the product as users’ needs evolve.

This new product-centric approach helps companies stay competitive in their industries by enabling them to create new products faster and spot opportunities to improve the existing ones. And where aspects such as Continuous Improvement, active listening to customers and methodologies such as Lean Portfolio Management or Phase-Gate are key to success.

7. Streamlining of demand management processes

Streamlining Demand Management is one of the biggest challenges for IT departments in medium and large companies. Many organizations still do not have centralized demand repositories, which is essential to gain visibility over the entire volume of incoming demand.

But centralizing incoming demand is only the first step in aligning Demand Management with Strategic Planning or Resource Management. Organizations must expedite the Demand Management process to accelerate value delivery and improve decision-making about which demand requests should or should not be prioritized.

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To this end, some of the following strategies should be followed:

Automate manual tasks such as data collection and analysis of incoming demand.
Standardize processes, thus gaining efficiency and reducing the time and resources required to perform all activities related to Demand Management (Demand Planning, Demand Prioritization, Demand Modeling, etc.).
Data Analytics & Business Intelligence: data analysis tools should be used to identify patterns and trends in incoming demand to improve decision-making.
Integrate Continuous Improvement into Demand Management processes, so that they do not lose effectiveness and efficiency over time.

WHITE PAPER

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8. Include capacity planning in resource management processes

Another benefit of streamlining Demand Management directly involves this other Project Portfolio Management Trend. By streamlining and centralizing this process, you will have full visibility of all incoming demand, making capacity planning easier.

As you may already know, capacity planning is about forecasting the resources and skills required to meet all the demand for a given period of time. Having a solid capacity planning process in place will therefore help you to have the right resources to meet your organization’s needs.

Leverage what-if scenarios analysis to get the most out of Capacity Planning. And, once this process is optimized, your teams will be able to focus on the projects and initiatives that really add value. You will detect resource gaps in the organization early, and you will reduce resource constraints.

Plan capacity 3 to 6 months ahead based on volume and demand trends in your organization

9. Put sustainability at the heart of your PPM processes

Sustainability has become a critical factor in PPM, as businesses face more and more pressure to meet both environmental and social responsibilities. As most companies are shifting the focus to long-term value, those projects with a positive impact on the planet and society have to be prioritized. This includes:

Assessing environmental impacts.
Reducing carbon footprints.
Promoting ethical practices throughout the supply chain.
Etc.

By focusing on sustainability you are only boosting the reputation of your organization, but also minimizing risks related to regulations and environmental concerns. Furthermore, it also drives innovation by highlighting opportunities for projects that focus on green technologies or social good.

Also, as the demand for Corporate Social Responsibility rises, you should also integrate sustainability metrics into your project portfolios, as they will allow businesses to stay competitive while contributing to global efforts like the United Nations Social Development Goals.

10. Integration of PPM tools with enterprise systems

It is useless to try to implement all these trends in Project Portfolio Management if you then have all the information fragmented in different applications. Many organizations still use multiple systems to record and manage their project portfolios. If having control of all this information is already complex in itself, imagine having to do it from solutions that are not integrated with each other. Absolute mess, isn’t it?

The more applications and functionalities you can integrate into the PPM tool you use for Project and Product Portfolio Management, the better. Tracking and recording information will not only be easier, but you will gain in productivity by not wasting so much time entering data manually. It will also improve your decision-making process and the visibility on all projects and initiatives you are working on.

Conclusion: Move your PMO forward with these PPM Trends

As your company’s objectives change, new work methodologies and new trends in the field of portfolio management will emerge over time that you will need to take into account in order for your organization to remain competitive in your market.

Completing projects and programs on time and on budget is no longer the only critical success factor in Project Portfolio Management. The key now is to connect execution with strategy, and to have the processes, tools and knowledge bases in place to ensure value delivery and continuous improvement.

In short, the important thing is not that you know all the trends, or that you apply them all at the same time. You should evaluate, based on the nature of your organization, which of them will bring you positive results in your daily performance. And, of course, to have tools that are flexible and adaptable enough to allow you to implement these new trends.

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FAQs about trends in project
portfolio management

How can I leverage AI and automation in project portfolio management?

AI and automation can be applied in PPM in various ways, such as:

Automating repetitive tasks like resource scheduling and risk assessment.
Using AI algorithms to predict project risks and identify potential roadblocks.
Gaining insights from historical project data to improve future project planning and portfolio selection.

What are the benefits of using a hybrid approach to project portfolio management?

A hybrid approach offers the following advantages:

Increased flexibility: Combines the structured planning of traditional methods with the adaptability of agile methodologies to accommodate changing priorities.
Improved resource allocation: Provides a holistic view of resources across projects, enabling better allocation and utilization.
Enhanced innovation: Agile elements within the hybrid approach can foster a culture of innovation and experimentation within project portfolios.

How can I implement data-driven decision making in PPM?

Here are some steps to integrate data into your PPM practices:

Identify key performance indicators (KPIs) that track project and portfolio health.
Utilize project portfolio management tools that provide data analytics and reporting capabilities.
Regularly analyze data to identify trends, assess risks, and make informed decisions about project selection, resource allocation, and portfolio adjustments.

How can I get started with implementing these PPM trends?

Here are some initial steps to embrace these PPM trends:

Evaluate your current PPM practices: Identify areas for improvement and opportunities to integrate new trends.
Define your strategic goals: Align your PPM approach with your organization’s overall objectives.
Invest in the right tools and technologies: Consider PPM software solutions that support desired functionalities like AI and data analytics.
Train your teams: Equip your teams with the skills and knowledge needed to adopt new PPM practices effectively.