Nigel Bell gave an overview of portfolio management and the work of the APM Portfolio Management SIG at a recent APM East of England branch event. You will learn, Some portfolio management definitions Portfolio management principles Seven simple steps which guarantee portfolio management success in three weeks portfolio management challenges Let’s connect: APM - https://www.apm.org.uk Google+ - https://plus.google.com/114687352375530136328 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AssociationForProjectManagement Twitter - https://twitter.com/apmprojectmgmt Linkedin company page - https://www.linkedin.com/company/association-for-project-management

1. Portfolio Management
Nigel Bell
East of England Branch
21st
February 2012
Marshall Aerospace, Cambridge

2. Portfolio Management
Proposed Agenda
 Scene-setting and credentials
 Some portfolio management definitions
 Some portfolio management principles
 Some portfolio management challenges
 Where we are today (recent survey)
 Seven simple steps which guarantee portfolio
management success in three weeks*
 Remaining dialogue
* not really
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3. Portfolio Management
Scene-setting
 Portfolio management (PfM) has been around
for many years in various forms and for various
purposes
 Since the turn of the century its profile has risen
exponentially ...
 ... perhaps because we live in increasingly
turbulent times
 The APM established its Portfolio Management
(PfM) SIG mid-2010.
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4. Nigel Bell
Credentials
 Founding committee member, sower of seeds since
2000
 BSc computing > MBCS > CEng > MSc Managing
Change > FBCS > MAPM
 Systems devt projects  IT-enabled change projects 
change projects
 Do > lead > coach
 PWC consultancy > European IS Dir Low & Bonar >
Global IS Dir Drug Devt Astra(Zeneca) > CEO NHSIA >
Cabinet Office > independent/Gateway RTL (+Logica
interlude) > Managing Partner HP (Jan 2012)*
 PfM: R&D > IS > NHS IS > Business Development 4

5. Portfolio management
Some definitions
 P3O®
publication states ‘A portfolio is the investment
in the changes required to meet strategic objectives’
 OGC Management of Portfolios®
(MoP) states
‘Portfolios represent the totality of an organisation’s
investment (or segment thereof) in the changes
required to achieve its strategic objectives’
 APM defines Portfolio Management as: ‘The
selection and management of all of an organisation’s
projects, programmes and related business-as-usual
activities taking into account resource constraints’.
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6. Portfolio management
... and some more
 OGC adopts a more process perspective: ‘PPM is a co-
ordinated collection of strategic processes and decisions that
together enable a more effective balance of organisational
change and business as usual.
 National Audit Office emphasises the key aspects of
prioritisation and strategic alignment: ‘Prioritisation of all an
organisation’s projects and programmes in line with business
objectives and matched to its capacity to deliver them’.
 Cranfield MS and Open University define it as ‘Managing a
diverse range of projects and programmes to achieve the
maximum organisational value within resource and funding
constraints.’
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7. The Portfolio Management cycles
Define
Benefits Mgmt
Financial Mgmt
Risk Mgmt
Stakeholder
Engagement
Resource
Mgmt
Management
Control
Understand
Plan
Balance
Prioritise
Categorise
Organisational
Energy
Source: OGC Management of Portfolios, pub TSO 2011

8. Success – a Portfolio Management perspective
Portfolio Management ensures the ‘right’ projects & programmes are
selected and managed for success….’
Portfolio Management SIG 2011
‘All Projects
Succeed’
APM Vision 2011
Supports timely decision
making and re-
orientation of in-flight
projects & programmes
so that strategic
benefits are optimised
Ensures early
identification of
Projects &
Programmes that don’t
add value/benefit so
they are not started or
are stopped
Identification of Projects &
Programme that are
strategically aligned.
Those not strategically
aligned are not started or
cancelled as early as
possible
Ensures visibility of all projects
& programmes and their
interdependence and enables
tracking and focus to ensure
success. Provides better
engagement with staff
Supports effective and
optimised allocation of
resources to better enable the
highest priority ‘right’ projects
and programmes to succeed
Ensures management of
risk at the collective
level increasing success
of the ‘right’ projects &
programmes and a link
to business risk
management
Provides robust
governance of change
across the whole
landscape of change /
projects

9. Portfolio management
My 4 contexts and experiences
 Common factors in prioritisation
– Strategic fit
– Costs to go
– ROI/benefits
– Achievability/confidence
 Differences
– Pharma R&D: complexity, “failure” rate, maturity
– Pharma IS: dependencies, scale diversity
– NHS IS: politics and Politics!
– Bus Devt: two tier – client and opportunity
 Common outcomes
– Critical, tier 2, tier 3, parked 9

10. Portfolio management
Some principles
 Proactive and visible Senior Management
Commitment
 Consistent and effective Governance Alignment
 Alignment of the Portfolio with Strategic Objectives
 Coordination through a Portfolio Office
 Shared change culture and associated behaviours
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*ource: OGC Management of Portfolios, pub TSO 2011

11. Portfolio management
Some challenges (1)
 Getting Portfolio Management started
 Developing an initial portfolio
 Prioritising and balancing the portfolio
 Delivering overall portfolio benefits
 Dealing with tensions between Portfolio and
BAU/Operational objectives
 Securing and sustaining business unit
management commitment
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12. Portfolio management
Some challenges (2)
 Securing and developing people with the
right portfolio skills/capabilities
 Putting in place the right tools & techniques
to support Portfolio Management
 Achieving the goals set for a Portfolio
Management function
 Applying lessons learnt from regular reviews
of Portfolio Management performance
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13. Portfolio Management SIG – 2011/12
Membership Survey (Preliminary Results)
 The PfM survey was launched in December
2011, at which time there were 575 SIG
members.
 Initial 50 responses have undergone initial
analysis.
 Those that took part have provided a very good
series of responses, across all 15 questions.
 Summary results follow.
 We are keen to encourage ongoing contributions
to this rolling survey – your APM needs you!
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14. 1. Which best describes your role?
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15. 2. To which sector does your
organisation belong?
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16. 3. How would you describe the
approach to portfolio management in
your organisation?
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17. 4. In which part of the organisation is
the main Portfolio Management (PfM)
function domiciled?
17

18. 5. In what units do you structure your
portfolio of change / investment
initiatives? (multiple selections apply)
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19. 6. How many projects comprise your
change / investment portfolio?
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20. 7. How large (£) are your projects?
(multiple selections apply)
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21. 8. How many programmes comprise
your change / investment portfolio?
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22. 9. How large (£) are your programmes?
(multiple selections apply)
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23. 10. Do you also include services/BAU
within your change/investment
portfolio?
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24. 11. Please rate the importance your
organisation attaches to each of the
following PfM principles
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25. 12. Please rate how successfully you
believe these principles are being
applied in your organisation
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26. 13. Please rate how successfully the
following common PfM challenges have
been or are being addressed
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27. 14. Which (up to 3) topics in Q13 are
most worthy of further discussion/
debate through the APM?
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28. 15. Up to 3 topics in Q13 for which you
are prepared to draw up a short outline
of what has worked well or not so well in
your organisation?
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29. End of core presentation
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30. Portfolio Management SIG
Forthcoming Events
Practical Experiences of Portfolio Management
London, 20th
March, 5.30pm
Visit www.apm.org.uk/events for more details
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31. Portfolio Management SIG
Your next steps
 Please do complete the survey at
 www.surveymonkey.com/s/LB93F9C
 If you are interested in joining the SIG
www.apm.org.uk/group/portfolio-management-sig
 Join in the debate
– Blog etc
 To follow up on any other aspect of this
evening’s presentation
– email nigel.bell@hp.com 31

32. Thank you for your attention and
engagement
Travel safely
Nigel Bell
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