Assessing

Assessing

Purpose:

Investments are tracked and monitored both individually and within the portfolio. Status reviews evaluating actual versus forecasts made in costs, schedule, value, benefits, scope, and so on, are conducted at least on a quarterly basis (more often depending on the costs, complexity, risks, and value of the investment). As mentioned, data and information can change, which could alter the path of investments. Balanced scorecards, key performance indicators, critical success factors, service level agreements, and other metrics provide valuable warning signs relevant to the
health and well-being of investments. Large deficiencies and imbalance, such as poor project management or risks surpassing threshold levels, can trigger changes to the portfolio. As investments are evaluated, the business case for each investment should be frequently evaluated and updated. This serves as important feedback for other portfolio management processes.

Objective:

Measures the portfolio against targets and monitors internal and external conditions for possible trigger events.

Description:

Assessing is generally where the real fun begins. All of the previous efforts come together to generate the ah-ha factor. The actual performance of the portfolio is compared with the expected performance. Guess what? They almost never match, which is where the ah-ha factor comes in. It is common to identify 25% waste in project portfolios during the assessment and to discover that assets are being utilized at only half of their practical capacity.

If tools, investment attributes, and views were appropriately selected and applied, assessing can be relatively easy. It will get tripped up if key data elements were not collected, inappropriate tools were selected, or views were not chosen well.  The major players in assessing are the portfolio team and manager, the metrics expert(s), and the key stakeholders for specific views. Each view is assessed with the view owner.  Views are assessed to see how well actual
data align with expected results. Careful attention must be paid to showing the
right information to the right stakeholder groups without superfluous information

Inputs:

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Outputs:

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Controls:

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Task Instructions:

Monitor for Triggers

    1. Using the <?>, [the VP or Director of the PMO] with support from <?> is responsible for observing external and internal events that impact the portfolio

Measure Portfolio

    1. Using the <?>, [the VP or Director of the PMO] with support from <?> is responsible for quantifying the risks and returns for the views and changes that drive portfolio assessment cycle.

Compare Measures Against Targets

    1. Using the <?>, [the VP or Director of the PMO] with support from <?> is responsible for evaluating and contrast portfolio actual and expected results and actual and target investment mix using populated portfolio totals.