In today's business world, project-orientated companies need to pursue their business goals simultaneously without compromising day-to-day operations. This is often done through parallel projects in order to diversify the business, gain a competitive advantage and adapt quickly to market changes. Multi-project management is the method of choice here. However, many companies have the wrong expectations of this method and do not always achieve the desired success.
Find out in this article how you can master the challenges of multi-project management and optimise your Complete projects successfully.
Table of contents - What you can expect:
Challenges in multi-project management
Multi-project management with ZEP
The 7 success factors
Advantages of multi-project management
Multi-project management is used in Gabler Business Dictionary described as:
With multi-project management, you aim to effectively complete several projects running in parallel, taking into account available resources such as employees, financial resources and equipment. This requires a clear concept and appropriate coordination. The approach is similar to classic project management: clearly formulated objectives, available budget and responsible project managers. Project Manager. However, these criteria are particularly important when several projects are being realised at the same time. The biggest challenge is the parallel implementation or prioritisation of projects without losing the overview.
Key questions are therefore: How do you share, control and manage your capacities effectively? How is your team integrated and involved in relevant functions?
Strategic multi-project management is an approach in which companies select, coordinate and strategically align projects over the long term in order to achieve their overarching goals and consolidate the company's strategic direction.
| Goals | Methods |
| Selection of projects with the highest benefit | Evaluation of projects according to attractiveness and risk |
| Prioritisation of current projects | Project selection based on strategic importance and urgency |
| Ensuring a balanced project portfolio in terms of risk | Pair comparison of projects based on defined criteria |
| Showing the effects of plan changes | Influence matrix of the projects among each other |
| Compliance with project governance | Correlation analysis |
Operational multi-project management is aimed at the effective management of individual projects. This involves optimising the distribution of resources, ensuring smooth communication between the teams and continuously monitoring the progress of the project.
| Goals | Possible methods |
| Efficient use of resources | Evaluation of projects according to strategic goals and resources
Optimum allocation of resources |
| Timely completion of projects | Planning of schedules & budgets, taking dependencies into account |
| Compliance with quality standards | Status reporting and progress tracking |
| Risk management | Planning of schedules & budgets, taking dependencies into account
Escalation management for conflicts |
| Cooperation between project team & stakeholders | Status reporting and progress tracking
Escalation management for conflicts |
As an experienced project manager, you know the challenge of having to manage many projects with the same resources. The fact is that no project can be planned 100 per cent. This uncertainty gives rise to the following challenges:
Multi-project management is organisational multitasking, the negative effects of which have long been known, such as increased cognitive energy expenditure, loss of time and reduced productivity. These changes impair short-term memory and can Productivity losses of up to 40 per cent cause. Research shows that similar negative effects can also occur at an organisational level, such as increased error rates, longer waiting times and constant stress, which can lead to Burnout for project managers. Efficient multi-project management should therefore aim to minimise context changes in order to reduce these negative effects.
When managing multiple projects, many people tend to prioritise time-critical tasks, even though not all equally important or effective are. Some tasks are important but not urgent, while others are urgent but less relevant. Often overwhelmed by the volume of tasks, project managers frequently prioritise the urgent but less important tasks, a phenomenon known as Mere Urgency Effect. A key objective in multi-project management should therefore be to carefully weigh up importance, urgency and impact.
Deadlines are often essential to coordinate work phases in multi-project management and to control the availability of highly specialised team members, as is the case in large construction projects or in software development. Although they are necessary, deadlines can also reduce productivity. A study by the University of Oxford shows that distant deadlines give the impression that a task is more difficult and time-consuming than it actually is. This phenomenon is described by Parkinson's law, according to which "Work expands to the extent that time is available"which often means that teams only start shortly before the deadline.
According to a survey by the Project Management Institute (PMI), only 50 per cent of projects in Europe were completed on time in 2021, 57 per cent remained within budget and 40 per cent failed completely, resulting in budget losses. One of the main reasons for this is scope creep, which Creeping expansion of the project scope during the process without considering the impact on time, budget and quality. Additional requirements or changes, often due to new expectations or strategic adjustments, make the problem of multi-project management even more complex. Nevertheless, projects are often planned in inflexible, long-term timeframes that do not take such adjustments into account.
An example illustrates the situation: a company needs a specialist in artificial intelligence for several projects, but there is only one qualified person. In organisations with unclear prioritisation and a high volume of work, this person is often spread across too many projects. This multitasking not only has negative effects, but also means that Hardly any progress made become. This procedure, known in the US as the Peanut Butter Approach, describes the Too thin distribution of resources. A clear prioritisation of responsibilities is therefore crucial in multi-project management.
With ZEP, you retain control in multi-project management and can manage several projects simultaneously. Our software for Project time tracking enables efficient administration, strategic Resource planning and clear prioritisation to avoid overload. Transparency is ensured by the Ticket system which can be used to divide projects into prioritisable individual tasks.
As an experienced project manager, you are probably familiar with all the challenges mentioned. And you have probably tried to solve the resulting problems. Today, we have easy access to multi-project management tools that offer a variety of ways to overcome these problems. Get to know the seven most successful methods for multi-project management that you can use to optimise your Successful project planningand finalise them:.
Maintain control over numerous projects running in parallel. With a centralised database, you can generate a variety of informative reports for well-founded decisions. Ideally, you should use software such as ZEP, which offers a centralised project list and an overview of resources as well as the option of exporting status reports and budget planning. A standardised solution for your Project management you have the option of tracking all information from the aggregated overview down to the smallest detail. With ZEP, you can start with a lower level of functionality and add further modules as required.
To ensure efficient management of your multi-project management environment, your projects must comply with certain structural and task standards. In addition, it is necessary to define processes according to which your projects should be planned and managed. In ZEP, you can use the Additional module planned hours utilise.
As decisions can have cross-project effects, your projects should be managed at the same pace and with the most up-to-date data possible. As a project manager, you need to know exactly what needs to be done, when and how. One Software for project time recording like ZEP guarantees professional control in your multi-project management with suitable processes and high data quality.
To avoid overloading your employees, concentrate on the important and urgent projects and limit yourself to these. Use ZEP to set priorities that are in line with your corporate strategy.
Your aim should be to ensure that the appropriate administrative and management effort is made in line with the scope of the project. So make sure that the most resources are actually used for the most important projects (keyword: Peanut Butter Approach).
Strategic resource planning is about ensuring in advance that you have employees with the necessary skills. In addition, you need to ensure that strategically important projects can be realised at the right time with qualified employees. Otherwise, your projects may not be completed on time due to insufficient resources. This drives up your project costs unnecessarily and ultimately results in dissatisfied customers. With the ZEP module Resource planning you can always keep an eye on the workload of your employees and immediately recognise which tasks are due next.
Tactical resource planning focuses on ensuring that the right people are available at the right time for specific projects. This is critical to completing projects on time and ensuring customer satisfaction. A lack of resources can lead to delays and increase project costs. Modern tools such as the ZEP Resource Planning module make it possible to monitor employee utilisation and identify bottlenecks at an early stage in order to take countermeasures in good time and ensure the success of the project.
In multi-project management, new requirements can constantly arise, for example with regard to important milestones in a project. These specifications are distributed from the management level to the relevant projects and your task as project manager is to ensure that they are implemented. Ensure transparency here so that all project participants are and remain at the same level of knowledge at all times. With the ZEP Ticket system you have the option of dividing your projects into prioritisable individual tasks for your employees. In this way, you avoid overwork and at the same time create transparency in terms of responsibilities.
In the multi-project management environment, numerous stakeholders are involved in various projects. There is a great need for substantive feedback here. Your stakeholders may feel the need to contribute their own perspective at various points in order to have a sense of control. As a project manager, you and your team may want to ensure that no one is ignored and to safeguard against criticism. Meetings are often convened for this purpose or email distribution lists with long conversations and numerous recipients are maintained. This leads to one thing in particular: project delays. To counteract this, our 10-point plan will teach you how to set up a Constructive feedback culture in your company.
Multi-project management offers companies the opportunity to manage and monitor several projects simultaneously. This allows resources to be utilised more efficiently, risks to be better managed and productivity to be increased. These are the most important advantages of multi-project management:
| 🌿 Efficient use of resources | By managing several projects simultaneously, resources can be optimally distributed and bottlenecks avoided. |
| ⚠️ Improved risk monitoring | Risks are recognised at an early stage and can be managed more effectively through central coordination. |
| 🔄 Greater flexibility | Managing multiple projects enables a faster response to changes and adjustments to new circumstances. |
| 🗣️ Better communication | Centralised control ensures a better flow of information and clear communication between the project teams. |
| 💰 Cost savings | By bundling projects, costs can be reduced as shared resources and synergies can be utilised. |
| 🔍 More transparency | Multi-project management provides a better overview of the progress and performance of all projects, enabling informed decision-making. |
| 🚀 Increased productivity | Coordinated collaboration and the sharing of best practices help to increase overall productivity. |
Multi-project management means utilising potential to successfully complete projects. As software for project time recording, ZEP supports you in securing your long-term competitiveness. Not using ZEP yet? You can use our tool Test 30 days free of charge & without obligation.
If you are already one of the more than 1,800 ZEP users and are interested in one of our add-on modules that you have not yet used, you can register your interest. contact our support team or you can use the option of activating the desired module in the self-service tool once for a 30-day free trial.
Multi-project management becomes necessary if your company is carrying out several projects at the same time and needs to manage resources efficiently. Systematic multi-project management is essential, especially when three or more projects are running in parallel and competing for similar resources or have complex dependencies.
A PPM system (portfolio and project management system) is a software solution that supports companies in planning, monitoring and controlling several projects simultaneously. It offers functions for the efficient management of resources, monitoring of project progress, risk assessment and strategic alignment of projects. A PPM system improves communication and collaboration between project teams and facilitates decision-making through a centralised database and comprehensive reporting.
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