Portfolios That Perform

Over the past 12 years, we have helped multiple clients develop project portfolios within their Technology, Supply Chain and Operations teams, providing them with an actionable roadmap of initiatives that have helped them achieve their strategic objectives.

These are some of the key lessons learned that may help you build a portfolio that performs:

• This may sound obvious, but do not underestimate the importance of clear alignment to strategic objectives. Without this, your list of projects may turn out to be a mix of projects that will not move the needle for the organization. While the senior executive team will establish the strategic priorities, ask yourself how that translates to your team and develop themes and objectives that can ladder up to the company objectives. Be warned, there is a tendency to have too many measures to "cover all your bases", so spend time to create between five and eight priorities with clear measures. 
• Clearly define accountabilities around the portfolio and ensure there are proper communication channels established. Portfolio review meetings along with escalation processes are critical to ensure projects build on each other and collectively add value, not introduce overhead.
• Do not avoid developing a rough-cut resource plan that will help you assess the cost of executing every project on the portfolio. While there may be a strong urge to agree to every project, we recommend taking the time to assess available resources, building a portfolio budget and revisiting the projects list more than once before finalizing it.
• Make sure every project has a clear set of outcomes and measure the progress towards those results early and often. Establish simple and clear reporting at different levels of the portfolio so there are no surprises. (More on metrics in another post)
• Finally, maintain the momentum at the executive levels by highlighting the progress and wins, constantly reaffirming priorities.

Portfolio planning and management is not a one-time activity, but should be a set of activities that become a part of the fabric of every organization. Portfolios should be a constant reminder of the destination and constantly evaluate the best way to reach it.