Guessing is not a strategy: How to build decision velocity with AI and real-time data
June 10, 2026 | Live Webinar
Productive Portfolio
Dr. Andrew Makar is an IT program manager and is the author of the Microsoft Project Made Easy series. For more project management advice, visit the website TacticalProjectManagement.com.
I have a dream. Instead of sitting through weekly operations reviews and discussing the status of each and every project in the portfolio, I only want to focus on the projects that need assistance.
Coincidentally, I often have this dream during these operations reviews. I find myself overscheduled with status meetings from related projects, external reviews and other informational meetings. I'm not the only one who feels like all they do is attend meetings for a living. In my dream, project teams apply objective metrics and shorten status meetings by focusing on the troubled projects that need help. Teams are using earned value metrics to identify these projects and I actually get to eat somewhere other than another meeting.
During your weekly operational reviews, do find yourself in a similar scenario? One reason project status meetings last so long is superfluous discussions about projects that are already on track. If project teams don't have objective metrics to determine a project's health, teams will discuss every single project and debate the subjective status. Unstructured meetings can spin out of control as project team's debate if a project is really red, yellow or green.
Applying objective metrics to your operations reviews will enable the project teams to focus on the troubled projects instead of the entire portfolio. The focus of successful operation …
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