albert sitaProject Manager | Weill Cornell Medicine East Rockaway, Ny, United States
We were having a discussion about how to configure an organization with multiple portfolios. Some one raised the use case of a project split between multiple portfolios. Has any one come across this scenario, and if so what is best practice? Saving Changes...
I come across that all the time. The risk is that the PM spends too much time providing status to too many forums, taking up time they could be spending managing their projects.
The project KPIs can support all portfolios, but one set of charts/metrics/reporting cadence should also support them all, not custom reporting to each portfolio. Designate the project as prime to one portfolio where detailed discussion occurs, like a heavyweight vs. lightweight matrix organization.
As the PM you always want the strong side of the matrix. Portfolio managers or functions not prime are welcome to attend the meetings where I'm already providing that information. We can have offline discussions or one-off special purpose meetings when necessary. Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
While I did that from years my recommendation is taking a look to Lean Portfolio Management. You will find good examples in SAFe website. While in my last work place we use SAFe I am not saying somebody has to use it, what i am saying is you will find good examples there. Saving Changes...
I've certainly seen projects nested within progressively higher levels of portfolio (e.g. Technology, Enterprise) but to have it sitting in more than one peer level portfolio might create challenges if funding is done at the portfolio level.
If you use a PPM tool, this might also be a challenge as many would only permit a project to live in a single portfolio.
With a more flexible solution, if a project can be associated with more than one portfolio then there should be no concern of double data entry.
It should be possible to create visibility on a project in more than one portfolio, especially if using a PPM tool. Some things to keep in mind to make it manageable include governance, reporting and stakeholder management.
If a project contributes to more than one portfolio, some PPM tools enable setting the contribution % to include the project per portfolio. This can sometimes be complex. To simplify the situation, we assign a project to a single portfolio at 100% contribution based on the governance or decision making body of the project. This can be based on things like where project budget, resources, or expected financial results align in the portfolio hierarchy.
In some cases, the project may reside in a primary portfolio and to improve stakeholder relations we choose to report on the project in secondary portfolio dashboards. This can be accomplished by using the data available in our PPM system and leveraging its reporting functionality to pull specific projects into stakeholder dashboards. To do this without creating extra work for the project manager, it is important to use the data that is already available in the PPM system to its maximum capability, and try to use consistent ways of reporting across the overall portfolio where possible.
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2 replies by albert sita
Oct 10, 2023 8:35 PM
albert sita
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thank you
Oct 10, 2023 8:35 PM
albert sita
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thank you
Saving Changes...
albert sitaProject Manager | Weill Cornell Medicine East Rockaway, Ny, United States
Oct 05, 2023 8:37 AM
Replying to Jennifer Dehn
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It should be possible to create visibility on a project in more than one portfolio, especially if using a PPM tool. Some things to keep in mind to make it manageable include governance, reporting and stakeholder management.
If a project contributes to more than one portfolio, some PPM tools enable setting the contribution % to include the project per portfolio. This can sometimes be complex. To simplify the situation, we assign a project to a single portfolio at 100% contribution based on the governance or decision making body of the project. This can be based on things like where project budget, resources, or expected financial results align in the portfolio hierarchy.
In some cases, the project may reside in a primary portfolio and to improve stakeholder relations we choose to report on the project in secondary portfolio dashboards. This can be accomplished by using the data available in our PPM system and leveraging its reporting functionality to pull specific projects into stakeholder dashboards. To do this without creating extra work for the project manager, it is important to use the data that is already available in the PPM system to its maximum capability, and try to use consistent ways of reporting across the overall portfolio where possible.
thank you Saving Changes...
albert sitaProject Manager | Weill Cornell Medicine East Rockaway, Ny, United States
Oct 05, 2023 8:37 AM
Replying to Jennifer Dehn
...
It should be possible to create visibility on a project in more than one portfolio, especially if using a PPM tool. Some things to keep in mind to make it manageable include governance, reporting and stakeholder management.
If a project contributes to more than one portfolio, some PPM tools enable setting the contribution % to include the project per portfolio. This can sometimes be complex. To simplify the situation, we assign a project to a single portfolio at 100% contribution based on the governance or decision making body of the project. This can be based on things like where project budget, resources, or expected financial results align in the portfolio hierarchy.
In some cases, the project may reside in a primary portfolio and to improve stakeholder relations we choose to report on the project in secondary portfolio dashboards. This can be accomplished by using the data available in our PPM system and leveraging its reporting functionality to pull specific projects into stakeholder dashboards. To do this without creating extra work for the project manager, it is important to use the data that is already available in the PPM system to its maximum capability, and try to use consistent ways of reporting across the overall portfolio where possible.
thank you Saving Changes...
albert sitaProject Manager | Weill Cornell Medicine East Rockaway, Ny, United States
Oct 04, 2023 7:25 AM
Replying to Kiron Bondale
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Albert -
I've certainly seen projects nested within progressively higher levels of portfolio (e.g. Technology, Enterprise) but to have it sitting in more than one peer level portfolio might create challenges if funding is done at the portfolio level.
If you use a PPM tool, this might also be a challenge as many would only permit a project to live in a single portfolio.
With a more flexible solution, if a project can be associated with more than one portfolio then there should be no concern of double data entry.
Kiron
thank you Saving Changes...
Thomas WalentaGlobal Project Economy ExpertHackenheim, Germany
From a governance perspective, I would see a project within a single portfolio, decision making, resource allocations, escalation are easier in a hierarchy.
From a transparency and analytic perspective, there could be different views on that portfolio, selecting different project categories.
For example, a project might contribute to sustainability goals and cost reduction targets at the same time, it should be possible to show it on those 2 views. Saving Changes...
I would not recommend tracking a single project in more than one portfolio. Doing so can create confusion and a lack of clarity in decision-making. Imagine a project that holds 10% weight in Portfolio A and 40% weight in Portfolio B. When making resource allocation or priority decisions, which portfolio's weightage should be considered? If a project impacts multiple portfolios, it might be better to have clear delineations or sub-projects specific to each portfolio to maintain clarity and direction. Saving Changes...
