Bubble flow chart how to#

In addition the size of bubble, the color can also vary giving the user up to four dimensions of data in an easily understandable two-dimensional chart. Much similar to the regular xy-scatter-plot, but instead of dots data is plotted as bubbles/disks. The BC is a two-dimensional chart where bubbles/disks are plotted. The Bubble Chart (BC) is one of the tools that can be used to supports the decision making in PPM. This means that pearls are always preferred, but usually, there are not enough resources to invest in both 'Bread & Butter' and 'Oyster' projects and trade-offs have to be done.

The x-axis is NPV and the y-axis is the probability of success. Ī Bubble Chart with its classic 4 quadrants. It is of greatest importance that all projects, small as big, are aligned internally and do not counter work, but instead support the overall corporate strategy. One of the most important trades of PPM is the assistance to the decision makers in making the right strategic choices. This makes sure that the portfolio is in balance with the values and believes of the company as well as fits the current and future market. PPM is about prioritizing some projects over others to balance the portfolio in regards to for example risk and/or resource allocation. Choosing the right projects and building the best portfolio is however much more complicated than selecting the most profitable projects, based on a simple cost-benefit analysis, as the most profitable projects do not necessarily create the most profitable business.

Bubble flow chart how to#

(1999) argues that from a company perspective PPM is all about how to invest money in order to make more money, and such optimization is sometimes also referred to as Project Portfolio Optimization (PPO). This article will be scoped around Project Portfolio Management (PPM).Ĭooper et al. The benefits of Portfolio Management are also somewhat dependent on in which area of business it is applied.

There are many aspects to Portfolio management and many definitions can be found in the literature.

One way to make sure this happens is to make use of Portfolio Management. In order to manage all these parameter and always be one step ahead of competitors, few errors can be made. It is not enough to execute the projects right, but you also have to execute the right projects at the right time. It is evident that a company that does not master project management and does not have the capabilities to execute projects swift and efficiently, will not be able to maintain a profitable business for long. Constant increasing global competition, ever faster changing technologies together with shorter life cycles make rivalry even harder today than ever. In order to obtain a profitable business in the 21th century, an organisation must excel in almost every way possible, from long-term strategic management to everyday planning and scheduling. The article aims to provide a clear overview trough a description of the tool and its uses in practice and further raises the question if a tool as simplistic as the bubble chart can add real support to the decision making in Project Portfolio Management?Ī short comparison of the Bubble Chart to alternative tools as the scoring model and decision trees is done. If this picture is representative is however not evident. In the most popular version the horizontal axis represents the Net Present Value over a period of time and the vertical axis represents the probability of success.Ī Study has shown that more than 40 % of examined companies use this method, although only 5-8 % use it as the dominant tool. The chart is much similar to the regular xy- scatter-plot, however including the variables size and colour, the user can get up to four dimensions of data in an easily understandable two-dimensional chart. The Bubble Chart is used as a visual tool to support the decision making in Project Portfolio Management.