What is xPM?

Traditional project portfolio management is struggling to keep pace. PPM has been a dynamic field for years. We have made great strides in optimizing processes and streamlining projects, but the complexity and ever-faster pace of change call for new approaches.

For a while, we talked about strategic portfolio management (SPM), where portfolios are linked to strategy.

But that is no longer enough.

Today's dynamic landscape requires more than just aligning projects. It requires aligning all work across the entire organization so that everyone moves strategically in the same direction. It is not enough to look only at our projects and portfolios. We need to consider the whole organization.

It is about doing things right – and doing the right things.

The Limits of Traditional PPM

For a long time, the focus of PPM was on optimizing projects and portfolios. The processes and tools are optimized for traditional PPM and refined to perfection. But organizations do not run on projects alone.

In reality, a company consists of multiple ways of working, agile workflows, product development, operations, day-to-day business functions, and more – all interconnected, but often organized in silos.

This siloed approach creates several key challenges:

• Limited transparency – it is difficult to close the gap between portfolios and broader business operations.
• Strategic misalignment – Execution is often not connected to strategy, leading to inefficiencies as companies falter or fail to fully leverage cross-departmental synergies.
• Lack of flexibility – Traditional PPM tools do not support the full spectrum of work in modern organizations; instead, they force people to work according to disparate processes rather than getting the right work done.

For a while, we talked about strategic portfolio management (SPM) as a way to fix this problem. By aligning portfolios with strategy, we came one step closer to selecting our projects with a goal in mind: advancing the strategy and achieving a good return on investment. xPM goes one step further, as it connects all work to strategy and ensures that every effort moves the company forward.

Beyond PPM: Organizational Portfolio Management with xPM

At Projectum, everything revolves around xPM. For us, the diversity of work means greater potential for innovation – if you can bridge the gaps and connect the potential. It takes a more flexible approach that can encompass all of these elements.

xPM is a paradigm shift. It is not just another methodology, but a new way of looking at work. Instead of managing projects in isolation, xPM ensures that every unit of work – whether a project, an operational process, or a hybrid approach – is directly linked to strategic goals.

This brings entirely new requirements for how we design and define our products. It does not start from the PPM perspective, but with your organization's operating model, going back to basics and looking within the organization. It is not about finding the perfect tool, but about designing processes tailored to your needs.

And that starts with your strategy. Take a look at your organizational strategy and then compare it with your operating model. They are the drivers of how you understand your organization and the answer to how you create great processes. xPM is the link.

Dependencies, resources, skills, and existing projects are all elements that influence which processes make the most sense – and how best to track them.

It takes courage to leave the familiar behind and venture into the world of custom-designed processes built from the ground up, but the result is processes that actually execute the strategy and an optimized organization with exactly the right number of processes. Not too many, not too few, but just right.

xPM Is the Big Picture

In short, xPM is about connecting strategy with execution. True xPM connects all work to strategy and links it to strategic drivers. It is a change in how we think about work in an organization.

• Full transparency across all types of work
• Ensuring strategic alignment across projects, operations, and business functions
• Improving agility by adapting processes to real-world needs
• Optimizing execution with a tailored approach instead of rigid frameworks

This requires a shift in thinking. Instead of optimizing outdated PPM models, it is about designing processes from the ground up that fit your strategy, your workforce, and your operational needs.

You can find more information about Projectum xPM here. This article is based on the blog post by Peter Kestenholz What is xPM?