The role of the Portfolio Leadership team is to ensure the value being delivered to customers/users is maximized at the lowest possible cost. It should be a cross-functional team that has the representation and experience to make timely and effective portfolio decisions that find the right balance across different portfolio tensions, effectively discharging the governance and decision-making responsibilities delegated to the portfolio, as well as supporting its governance and delivery cadence.
For example, decisions will need to find a balance between reducing run costs, delivering new capabilities, innovating for the future, aligning to technical standards and principles, aligning to commercial strategy, and are deliverable within the cost and effort available.
As a leadership team, they also have the responsibility to set strategic intentions and to support and create the right environment (often by removing the barriers) for the delivery teams to be as efficient and effective as possible.
This team should be expected to include the following representation:
- The Portfolio lead, with overarching accountability for the performance of the portfolio
- User and Customer representatives
- Delivery and IT Operations leads
- Product, Practice and Technical leads
- Commercial and Finance leads
- Assurance and Compliance leads
Key roles should be expected to be filled by internal people to retain ownership and responsibility for strategic decisions, however, some roles (for example, Delivery, IT Operations and Technical leads) could be filled by external staff.
The Portfolio Leadership Team are collectively responsible for the effective operation of the regular cadence of portfolio management and governance events.