Unlike traditional portfolio management, the change portfolio is not a portfolio of projects or programmes. Each change initiative does not have a ringfenced budget, although there should be an understanding based on the roadmap of what funding and headcount each change initiative will require. Additionally, each change initiative does not (necessarily) have a dedicated delivery team or organisation – this may be the case, but it may be just as likely that a change initiative is delivered by delivery teams, or a single delivery team delivers multiple change initiatives (as well as innovation and run activities).
Portfolio’s should only directly manage change initiatives that are big enough or significant enough to be of interest to it, or that span the entire portfolio. All other change should be delegated down the appropriate sub-portfolio or delivery team, ensuring this is managed as locally as possible by the people closest to the information.
Under a Lean Portfolio Management approach, delivery is planned and executed quarterly, with delivery organisations making local decisions (in collaboration with the portfolio) on the most valuable work that they can deliver in the next quarter. That means the portfolio doesn’t (and shouldn’t) impose deadlines, plans or priorities on delivery organisations – instead they should clearly articulate the relative priorities of different change initiatives, and then work collaboratively with each delivery organisation to work out the best response to those.
The prioritisation of change initiatives should favour return on investment – prioritising initiatives based on the value they deliver over the cost to do so. This should be done as part of Quarterly Portfolio Reviews and should always use the remaining value and cost for each change initiative. If this means that a previously high priority change initiative is no longer a priority (for example if it delivered most of its value for a fraction of its cost, or if there is new higher priority work), then work on it should be stopped in favour of higher priority work.
Note that the initiation of a change initiative under Lean Portfolio Management is based on the approval of a Commitment Case. This doesn’t guarantee that work will start on it straight away (there may be other higher priority work), but it should mean that the budget and headcount for the work are available for it to be completed. Work before the creation and approval of the Commitment Case is considered innovation work.