Achieving Operational Excellence in Project and Portfolio Management with Smartsheet

Opportunity

In response to rapidly changing market conditions, an exercise equipment fitness company established an Enterprise Project Management Office (EPMO) to lead mission-critical initiatives. The office was designed to be a powerhouse for execution and required project management standards to be deployed throughout the organization. In its early days, the Director recognized the need for a project and portfolio management solution to help bolster communication and collaboration across its dispersed teams.

Solution

Stepping in to build and deploy a custom Smartsheet solution Pepper Foster helped the company establish effective project management processes, increase enterprise portfolio visibility, and enable the successful delivery of strategic initiatives. Leveraging the five phases of design thinking, the solution implemented a full-scale process from project intake to project closure while providing portfolio visibility to executive stakeholders. 

Pathway to Excellence: 

• Empathize – Pepper Foster worked closely with the EPMO Director and their team to fully understand the challenges and long-term goals of the newly established office. This enabled Pepper Foster to translate observations and discoveries into user-driven criteria leading to real long-term value.
• Define – After conversations with the Director and team, Pepper Foster analyzed and synthesized observations to define the core problem. This laid the foundation for the development of a user-centric Project and Portfolio Management solution.
• Ideate – Once the client’s needs were understood, Pepper Foster conceived and structured the Smartsheet solution, incorporating platform best practices and the latest functionality to address client needs. The output of the process was a clear understanding of the solution architecture and the user points of interaction.
• Prototype – Utilizing the rapid deployment and automation capabilities of the Smartsheet platform, Pepper Foster developed a solution that was easy to use and scalable for the future. Feedback was collected and improvements were incorporated (e.g., building out formulas and automation to reduce manual tasks and enabling the team to work more effectively with templates and use cases.)‍
• Test – At this stage, the solution was tested rigorously, and iterated to make usability improvements along the way. The Director and team were also trained to use, refine, and improve the platform, supporting the overall change management process.

Outcome

The project and portfolio management solution was successfully deployed in the EPMO. It has been fully adopted by the organization increasing transparency and alignment to enterprise priorities and it serves as a one-stop-shop for mission-critical initiatives. 

In response to the successful deployment, additional business areas began to adopt Smartsheet as an enterprise tool, leveraging pieces of the original solution architecture for their collaboration and work management solutions. At the end of the engagement, ownership, and management of all solutions have been transitioned into the business and are fully sustained by the organization.

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