This course is a result of 25 years of consulting project and portfolio management experience, including performing financial assessments for numerous projects at various organizations. The course will start with a brief overview of project portfolio management. We will talk about the three pillars of project portfolio management including (1) the Project mix selected should maximize the value for the company, (2) the Development of a balanced portfolio and (3) The final portfolio of projects are strategically aligned and truly reflects the business’s strategy. We will also learn about the flow of a typical project through the project portfolio management process and what kind of questions should be asked at each gate.

Then we will review several financial assessment techniques including Payback (time value of money is ignored), Discounted Payback (time value of money is considered), Net Present Value (for comparison of similar-sized projects), Profitability Index (works much better when comparing projects of different sizes), Internal Rate of Return, Bang for Buck (should be used when numerous projects are underway and you want to reward the projects that are close to completion) and Expected Commercial Value. We will conclude the course with an in-depth discussion of the pros and cons of financial models.