Peter F Gallagher
Apr 27
Portfolio management is a coordinated collection of strategic processes and decisions that together enable the most effective balance of organisational programmes and projects. Organisations that do this effectively achieve the right balance between normal day-to-day operations and organisational change. In getting this capacity balance right, the organisation will usually deliver both the annual operating plan and the strategic portfolio.
“Unless the change programme is continually aligned to the organisation’s capacity, it will be unable to deliver speedy benefits or value to the organisation”
Portfolio management includes the selection, prioritisation, and control of change programmes and projects that are aligned with the organisation’s strategy and objectives. The person responsible for portfolio management should ensure the organisation’s leadership team decides which programmes and projects to execute and resource. Execution is the key to a strategy’s success, and having enough capacity is crucial to successful delivery. The objective is to align the right programmes and projects with an organisation’s business strategy to achieve a competitive advantage. The selection of the programmes and projects to be executed should follow predefined organisational assessment criteria. They should not be hunch-and-launch* projects or the pet project of the CEO. Typical assessment criteria include:
Revenue Potential: What are the potential future profits and benefits?
Investment Requirements: How much capital is required?
Strategic Fit: Does this opportunity fit with the organisation’s current strategy?
Implementation Effort: How much effort will this opportunity require, and do we have the capacity to execute it?
“Organisation change capacity and employee workload are ignored in change implementation until they become the reason for failure”
*Hunch and Launch Syndrome: A name given to the process of coming up with a change idea (hunch) and then introducing (launch) it into the organisation without strategic consideration or a plan on how the benefits will be realised. These ideas rarely deliver strategic change or sustainable benefits and are sometimes referred to as ‘pet projects’.
Further Reading: Change Management Handbook - Leadership of Change Volume 3.
Peter consults, speaks, and writes on the Leadership of Change®.
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Peter F Gallagher is a Change Management Global Thought Leader, Guru, Expert, International Speaker, Author and Leadership Alignment Coach.
Listed #1 by leadersHum Top 40 Change Management Gurus You Should Follow in 2022 (Mar 2022).
Ranked #1 Change Management Global Thought Leader: Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Change Management (2023-2022-2021-2020) by Thinkers360.
Listed #15 in the “Top 30” for Global Gurus Leadership (2024) by Global Gurus.
Ranked #1 Business Strategy Global Thought Leader: Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Business Strategy (2022) by Thinkers360.
Ranked #6 Leadership Global Thought Leader: Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Leadership (April 2024) by Thinkers360.
Business Book Ranking
Change Management Behaviour - Leadership of Change® Volume 6, listed among the 50 Books from Thinkers360 Thought Leaders to read in 2022.
Change Management Adoption - Leadership of Change® Volume 5, listed among year-to-date’s (Jul 2021) most popular books on business and technology from Thinkers360 member thought leaders.
Change Management Handbook - Leadership of Change® Volume 3, listed among the 50 Business and Technology Books from Thinkers360 Thought Leaders to read in 2021.
Change Management Pocket Guide - Leadership of Change® Volume 2, ranked within the top 50 Business and Technology Books (Jan 2020) from Thinkers360 Thought Leaders.