Building and Using A Practical Portfolio Benefits-Realization Plan with MS Project (Part - 2)

In the earlier part, we understood the fundamentals and importance of a Portfolio Benefits-Realization Plan. We also took a number of steps to build this plan. In this part, we will conclude and give a finishing touch to the plan, followed-up with a video and concluding remarks.

This series: Part – 1

Step – 6: Segregation of Components and Strategic Objectives

As the portfolio components are all blue color-coded, the distinction among components in the graphical side of the plan is not very clearclear. Hence, our next step is to segregate the components with the help of additional custom fields. For our plan, we will have three Boolean custom fields:

• IsProgram: A Boolean flag indicating the component is a program.
• IsOps: A Boolean flag indicating the component is an operation.
• IsStrObj: A Boolean flag indicating the organizational strategic objective. 

Again, to create these custom fields, go to Gantt Chart Tools > Format tab > Columns group > Custom Fields command and add three Boolean flags as shown below. 

Next, we need have to change the conditions associated with these three flags. Whenever a new portfolio component or a new strategic objective is added, the respective bar in the Gantt Chart view will display the requisite color.  For this, go to Gantt Chart tools > Bar Styles group > Format drop down menu and choose the Bar Styles command. We will add the following tasks with respective conditions:

• Program Task: N It’ll be a normal, active task with the ‘isProgram’ flag applied.
• Ops Task: NIt’ll be a normal, active task with the ‘isOps’ flag applied.
• Strategic Obj task: NIt’ll be a normal, active task with the ‘isStrObj’ flag applied.

To add these new tasks, simply use the functionalities available in the Bar Styles dialog box such as Insert Row, Cut Row, and Paste Row.  

As shown above, we have four task types, including the default task type for the component projects represented with a blue bar.

Next, we willhave to apply them in the Gantt Chart view in the following manner:

• Set ‘isProgram’ field “Yes” for the component programs.
• Set ‘isOps’ field “Yes” for the component operations.
• Set isStrObj’ field “Yes” for the strategic objectives.

When you have all the respective fields set for the component projects, programs, operations as well as the strategic objectives, we will have the following view.  

As shown, the component programs (e.g., Program 1), component projects (e.g., Project 3), and component operations (e.g., Operational Work 1) are shown in green, blue, orange colors, respectively. On the other hand, the strategy and objective (e.g., Organizational Strategy and Objective I) is shown with red color coding.

As you present this bBenefits-realization plan or share with your stakeholders, you may want to just show the minimal fields. Additionally, based on your need, you can also add the component names in the graphical side of the Gantt Chart view. This is depicted in the below figure. 

As shown above, we now have complete Portfolio Benefits Realization as documented in PMI’s Standard for Portfolio Management. If you have business proposals (or cases) as another portfolio component class, you can exactly follow the same previous steps with a new custom Boolean flag, conditions,  and a separate color.

Video – Demonstration of Portfolio Benefits-Realization Plan 
*** NEW ***

I’ve put together a video depicting a portfolio benefits-realization plan. In addition, I've some more explanation with respect to this plan. My video [duration: 4m:26s] shows all the components in the plan, which we recently learned in the article. They are demonstrated with different color coding for the individual components.

Conclusion

Finally, you might be wondering,  can someone add the benefits accrued from the components into the portfolio benefits-realization plan? 

Yes, you can! But do ensure the linking and dependencies are properly managed. 

However, the PMI-SPfM puts the portfolio components, benefits, and strategic objectives, along with the benefits realization based on schedule and number of other parameters in a separate portfolio report called portfolio performance variance report. As you manage your portfolios, along with key deliverables such as portfolio roadmap, portfolio reports play a significant role. Hence, while doing portfolio management and sharing the status with your stakeholders, you can use both the portfolio benefits-realization plan and the portfolio performance variance report.

Many perceive and/or believe that MS Project software tool can’t be used to create a Portfolio Benefits-Realization Plan! As we just learned, you can certainlydefinitely build one and dynamically change the plan as per your needs. 

This series is concluded. I welcome your thoughts, reviews, and feedback in the comment section below.

This series: Part – 1

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This article was first published by MPUG.com on 5th December, 2023. The current one has been updated with content and video.

References

[1] NEW Book - I Want To Be A PfMP, The Plain and Simple Way, by Satya Narayan Dash

[2] Article – Benefits Realization Management for Projects, by Satya Narayan Dash

[3] The Standard for Portfolio Management, by Project Management Institute (PMI)

Building and Using A Practical Portfolio Benefits-Realization Plan with MS Project (Part - 1)

Bugs smell, features tell, benefits sell.

-    From the book, I Want To Be A PfMP, the Plain and Simple Way

Portfolios fundamentally exist in an organization to achieve organizational strategies and objectives. One or more strategic objectives of an organization flow into the portfolio strategic plan. After the identification, categorization, evaluation, prioritization, and authorization of portfolio components, their execution begins and benefits are delivered. This, which in turn, helps in achieving the organization’s strategic objectives.

But then following questions come -up:

• How do you ensure strategies are fulfilled in order to meet the strategic goals?
• How do you find out that the portfolio components authorized earlier are actually delivering the benefits?
• How to plan for, measure, and monitor the organization’s (business) value achievement?

The answers to above questions lie with portfolio benefits management. The Standard for Portfolio Management (SPfM®), clubs benefit management under Portfolio Performance Management. Benefits and their subsequent realization are extremely important in portfolio management. And as the opening quote tells, it's only benefit that sells! 

In this article, we will understand portfolio benefits, the benefits dependency map, and above all, how to build a benefits-realization plan with the MS Project software tool. The portfolio benefits-realization plan will be based on the template provided by SPfM from Project Management Institute (PMI®).

This series: Part – 2

Portfolio Benefits

Portfolio benefits are first identified during the definition stage of the portfolio and documented in the portfolio strategic plan (PfSP). These benefits will flow into the Portfolio Performance Management Plan (PfPMP) and are documented in the Benefits Realization section of the PfPMP. 

Benefits can be qualitative or quantitative, tangible or intangible, financial or non-financial, short- or long-term. Irrespective of the type of portfolio benefits, they need to be clearly defined and documented in the PfPMP.

The portfolio benefits actually come from the portfolio components. These benefits are aggregated at the portfolio level. The benefits in turn help achieve the strategic objectives of the organization. To understand it graphically, you need to be aware of another fundamental concept, the benefits dependency map (BDM).

Benefits Dependency Map

A simplified benefits dependency map is shown below.  

As shown in the above BDM, moving from left to right of the map, we have organizational vision (and mission) translated to strategic objectives. These objectives, in turn, translate to benefits, and then to outcome to outputs (or results). In other words, moving from left to right we are asking – “How the strategic objectives are finally executed to give results/outcomes/output”? On the other hand, moving from right to left we are asking – “Why this portfolio component (e.g., project), which is giving this result (or service or product) is undertaken in the first place?” 

As you can see, we are moving from strategic objectives at the level of portfolio to benefits at the level of portfolio components. With these fundamentals, let’s see how to build the benefits-realization plan. 

A Practical Benefits-realization plan

We will take a step-by-step approach to build the Portfolio Benefits-realization plan with MS Project software. Along the way, we will do a few customizations and apply them to the software tool. 

Step – 1: Add A ‘Portfolio’ Custom Field 

To add a custom fieldle, go to Gantt Chart Tools > Format tab > Columns group > Custom Fields command and add a Text custom field “Portfolio”. Under this custom field we will have various portfolios undertaken by the portfolio manager. 

Next, add three portfolios under this custom field – Portfolio I, Portfolio II and Portfolio III. For each portfolio we will have a number of components and we will add them shortly.  

Step – 2: Rename ‘Task Name’ Column to ‘Portfolio Component’ *** UPIDATED ***

Before adding the components, rename the Task Name the column to Portfolio Components. This can be done by right clicking on the Task Name column and choosing Field Settings option.

When you have both the Portfolio custom field showing having the above three portfolios and the renamed column of Portfolio Component, you will have the following figure. 

For the time being, do not worry about the start and finish dates for the portfolios. Abecause after we add the portfolio components and strategic objectives, we will get those dates. 

Step – 3: Add the Portfolio Components and Strategic Objectives

In our next step, we will add the portfolio components and the strategic business objectives, which will be met when the benefits delivered by portfolio components are realized. 

To add the portfolio components, fyou just have to fill -up the line entries under the Portfolio Components column with respective component projects, programs, operations, and strategic objectives. This is very much like adding the task names in a normal MS Project plan. After you add the entries, you will have the following plan.    

This is the first -cut of our Portfolio Benefits-Rrealization Pplan, which we are going to refine as we proceed. As shown above, for Portfolio I:

• There are three component projects - Project 1, Project 2, and Project 3 - and also Component Program 1.
• Organizational Strategy and Objective I will succeed the completion of the project and program components. 

Similarly, we have components, including operations, for other portfolios such as Portfolio II and Portfolio III in the evolving plan. 

Step – 4 (mini one): Ensure Proper Timescale

Did you notice on the right side of the above figure that the timescale has changed?! This is important because, without proper timescale adjustment, you won’t be able to visualize the long running portfolio components such as a program or a long-term project. 

In our case, I’ve used the below timescale customization.  

As shown above, we have:

• Two tiers – Middle Tier and Bottom Tier.
• For the middle tier, Units used is Years, whereas for the Bottom Tier, Units used is Quarter.
• The Preview is shown belowbelow, and the exact same view is available in the previous figure.

Step – 5: Build the Dependencies

Now that we have the right time-scaling, we must ensure the dependencies between the portfolio components and the strategic objectives which will be met when they are complete. 

After you add the dependencies, the view will come as shown below. For an in-depthTo understanding of know in-details about dependencies, lead, and lag, , you can use this course.

 

Interpreting the above figure and dependencies, one can say:

• Component Program 1 has finish-to-finish (FF) dependency with Component Project 1 and Component Project 2. 
• Organizational Strategy and Objective I has FF dependency with Component Project 3 and Component Program 1. 
• Organizational Strategy and Objective I also has FF dependency with Component Project 3 and Component Program 1.

In other words, you can say that Organizational Strategy and Objective I will be achieved when component Project 1, Project 2, Project 3, and Program 1 are completed and associated benefits are realized. This is important to understand.

Similarly, as you can see in the above plan, other organizational strategic objectives are associated with other portfolio component projects, programs,  and operations.

In the next part, we will follow few more steps such as seggregating the components based on their classes or categories. We will conclude with a video demonstration.

This series: Part – 2

References

[1] NEW Book - I Want To Be A PfMP, The Plain and Simple Way, by Satya Narayan Dash

[2] Article - Strategic Alignment of Project (Portfolio Components), by Satya Narayan Dash

[3] Article – Benefits Realization Management for Projects, by Satya Narayan Dash

Book Review: I Want To Be A PfMP – A Definitive Guide for PfMP Certification

By John P S Oliver, PfMP, PgMP, PMP, PMI-RMP, PMI-ACP, PMI-PBA, PMI-SP

Why this Book?

The PfMP Exam Prep Book, I want To Be A PfMP, is a result of the author’s knowledge and experience in the project, program and portfolio management domain. This book covers the entire portfolio management topics in a simple and practical manner so that any portfolio management practitioner or anyone aspiring to practice portfolio management would find it easy to absorb the concepts and practice it in real world scenarios.

This book along with the practice standard for portfolio management is a one stop solution to ace your PfMP exam. The author has covered concepts from all reference books for the PfMP exam to give us a single source material for the PfMP exam. 

This book comes with sample chapter end questions along with a full set of exam level questions and various financial calculations and formulas required for the exam.

PfMP Book – I Want To be A PfMP

The key aspect of this book is that it maps each of the knowledge areas /processes to the PfMP exam content outline tasks which helps the readers to understand context and ultimately help them answering the questions in the exam. 

The other distinct feature of the book is the vision and revision tips for each significant topic. This helps the reader to remember and review the important points. 

Another highlight of this book is the way in which the process interactions have been explained graphically, for every knowledge area. This method simplifies the complex interactions and makes it very useful to grasp the knowledge of how the various processes interact with one another which is not available in most of the other books.

A distinct feature of this book is the availability of videos for Risk Response Strategies, Monte Carlo Analysis, EVM and Portfolio Management Process interactions. These videos help the learner in understanding the concepts effectively.

The various snapshots using MS Project and Primavera provide the learners with real life utilities in applying the concepts.

The other prime feature of this book is calling out the ITTO’s for each process and explaining their relevance. For example, the same tool or technique is used in different ways in different processes. Since most of the questions from the PfMP exam are based on ITTO’s, this understanding is essential to get the right answer in your PfMP exam.

The chapter end questions provide you with an opportunity to revise your knowledge of the chapters while the full-length question set helps you prepare for the certification exam. 

Overall this book is indispensable for aspiring PfMPs to get certified in the first attempt.

Chapters in the Book – I Want To be A PfMP

Chapter 1 – Welcome: This chapter provides you a sneak peek of the contents of the book while setting the context for each chapter. This is a good place to start as it helps you to understand how to use this book along with the Standard for Portfolio Management v3 and Exam Content Outline. This chapter also provides you information on the PfMP exam which is invaluable for your preparation.

Chapter 2 – Introduction: As the title suggests, this chapter introduces us to Portfolio, Portfolio, Program, Project and Operations Management. The main highlight of this chapter is that it simplifies some crucial concepts of Portfolios, Programs, and Projects in layman’s terms for our understanding. This understanding is crucial to acing your PfMP exam.

Chapter 3 - Portfolio Management and Organization: This chapter talks about the various life cycles, stakeholders, roles and responsibilities of portfolio management and the common inputs and outputs of portfolio management processes. The various life cycles and their differences are explained in a simple manner which is easy to understand.

Chapter 4 - Portfolio Management Process Groups: This chapter covers the portfolio management process groups, knowledge areas and the processes. The author has done a wonderful job of explaining the sequence and interaction of the 16 processes across the process groups and knowledge areas which is the highlight of this chapter. This sequencing acts as a process map / work flow of the processes for portfolio management. 

There are also videos explaining the interaction of the processes. This helps the reader in understanding how the processes work within the portfolio management process groups and knowledge areas which is important from the PfMP exam point of view.

Chapter 5 - Portfolio Strategic Management: This is the first knowledge area in the portfolio management and the author explains the 4 processes of this knowledge area in a graphical manner which is easy to understand. This chapter also calls out the ITTO’s of the processes and provides the contents of each key deliverables like the portfolio strategic plan, portfolio charter and portfolio roadmap. These are very important points in the context of the exam.

Chapter 6 - Portfolio Governance Management: The highlight of this chapter is the flow chart of Portfolio Component states and the explanation of various tools and techniques which are important for the exam. The various portfolio component states help us understand the processes and the resultant output clearly.

Chapter 7 - Portfolio Performance Management: This chapter provides critical information on performance management of the portfolio including the KPIs and the various tools and techniques used to measure the KPIs. You can expect a good amount of questions based on EVM metrics in the exam.

Chapter 8 - Portfolio Communication Management: Here the author has talked about the importance of communication in portfolio management. This chapter provides information on various communication terms like communication models and communication methods. One other important aspect covered in this chapter is the stakeholder identification, analysis and classification for communication.

Chapter 9 - Portfolio Risk Management: This chapter delves into the portfolio risk management knowledge area and its processes. It talks about the sources and types of risks, categories of risks and the various tools and techniques used in the processes. 

Chapter 10 - Portfolio Management Financials, Charts and Calculations: This chapter covers the various financial calculations, charts and formulas used in the portfolio management domains.

The last 2 chapters provide information on the PfMP credential including the qualifications required and the process for applying and getting certified.

Brief Profile:

Name: John P S Oliver, PfMP, PgMP, PMP, PMI-RMP, PMI-ACP, PMI-PBA, PMI-SP

Current Role: Lead Business Accountability Specialist

Brief experience: 25+ years of experience in Operations, Project, Program and Risk management across Healthcare, Retail, Telecom and BFSI verticals.

New Book Available for PfMP Exam:

• New Book for PfMP Exam Prep: "I Want To Be A PfMP"

You may also like:

• Book Review - A Comprehensive Guide to Achieve PfMP Certification: ‘I Want To Be A PfMP’ Book by Satya Narayan Dash
• Book Excerpts from I Want To Be A PfMP - Understanding Strategic Management
• Book Excerpts from I Want To Be A PfMP - Life Cycles and Component States in Portfolio Management

Portfolio Management: Building An Agile Portfolio Roadmap with MS Project

In my previous articles related to Portfolio Roadmap (Part 1, Part 2), I wrote the following:

“A portfolio roadmap is crucial because it shows the strategic intent of the organization in a visual (graphical) way. Irrespective of the approach used in portfolio management such as predictive (waterfall), adaptive (agile), hybrid or any other, the roadmap acts as an information radiator.”

As you may have noticed, Portfolio Roadmap is also used in adaptive approaches. In this article, we will learn how to have Agile components, using the Scrum framework, in a portfolio roadmap.  

At this stage, I’d strongly recommend that you read the previous two linked articles on the Portfolio Roadmap. Going forward, I’m going to modify that roadmap to include Sprints. Hence, it’s important that you read both.

Our Scenario

For one of the component projects, Project F, the approach used is Agile, specifically Scrum. For Project F, we have three releases and each release will have a number of Sprints. This is depicted below.  

As shown in the above figure, there are many components in our portfolio. The Component Project F consists of three iterations or Sprints. The Sprint length is 4 weeks. The Portfolio Management Office (PfMO) directive is to show all the releases and the Sprints in the portfolio roadmap. 

The Agile Portfolio Roadmap will be similar to the Traditional Roadmap, but differ in visualization. In our case, as noted earlier, we want to have the component project, releases and Sprints.  That said, we will take the following steps. 

Add Agile Custom Flag

To distinguish between the agile and non-agile, we will add another custom Boolean flag - isAgile. This will be in addition to the existing custom flags for component projects, programs and operations.  

Format for Agile Project (Project F)

Next, using the above Boolean flag (isAgile), we will format the Agile related components in the Agile Portfolio Roadmap. The formatting can be done by going to Format tab > Bar Styles group > Format command.  

As shown above, I’ve added an Agile Task above:

• The appearance is with different color-coding.
• The conditions applied for the task have the isAgile (flag) enabled.

Now, we are going to add this custom isAgile field and enable it for Project F to be executed in Agile mode.  

As you can see, after I enabled the isAgile custom flag for Project F, the color coding changed. The project has been renamed to Project F (Agile Mode) to make it distinguishable.  

Add Releases to the Component Project (Agile Mode)

In this step, we are going to add the releases to the component project, which is executed in Agile mode. After you add them, we will get the following view. 

As shown above:

• Project F has three releases – Release 1, Release 2 and Release 3
• Each release has a 2-month duration. 
• Each release is highlighted in a separate color.
• Dependencies among the releases are shown.

You might be wondering about the reason for the change of color of Project F to blue. This is because Project F has now become a Summary Task. Hence, the respective color coding has been applied. 

If you want to keep the same color coding, then you have put the formatting condition below the Summary Task and made some changes to the algorithm.

Add Scrum Custom Flag

To show Sprints under the releases, you can add another custom Boolean flag isScrum, This flag can be added similarly to what we have done for isAgile custom flag.  

Format for Sprints (Project F)

Like we formatted for the releases (Agile mode), similarly, we have to format for the Sprints. You to change the conditions while formatting and applying the Boolean flag isScrum, which we just created.

Next, create the respective Sprints under the releases, and you can see them in the Agile Portfolio Roadmap. This is shown below. 

As shown above:

• Release 1 has three Sprints – Sprint 1, Sprint 2 and Sprint 3. Release 2 also has three Sprints – Sprint 4, Sprint 5 and Sprint 6.
• All the Sprints have different formatting and color-coding.
• Release 3 has no Sprint, and it retains the previous formatting and color coding.
• With Sprints, Release 1 and Release 2 became Summary Tasks, and hence, they retain the respective formatting and color coding.

Video Demonstration – Portfolio Roadmap 

To have a better understanding, the below video demonstrates further what we have learned so far [Duration: 05m:16s]. 

Conclusion

Sprints are mini-projects with 1 to 4 weeks of duration. As the Sprint length is short, then it’s not necessary to display it in the roadmap. But then, it depends on the organization’s mandate.

Nevertheless, Agile approaches are part of Portfolio Management and if you are preparing for the Portfolio Management Professional (PfMP®) certification exam, then you need to know them, but not extensively.

The Standard for Portfolio Management explicitly notes other approaches as part of Portfolio Management:

“The portfolio management plan (PfMP) may describe or refer to different methodologies or approaches which the organization applies to manage different classes or types of portfolio components, specified in the portfolio roadmap.”

To elaborate further, the PfMP should have sections or reference sections, where different methodologies to be applied are noted. These can be predictive, adaptive (iterative and incremental) or agile, or a hybrid model.

I hope this article gives your needed hands-on information to build an Agile Portfolio Roadmap.

References

[1] NEW Book – I Want To Be A PfMP, the plain and simple way, by Satya Narayan Dash

[2] Article: Portfolio Management: Building and Managing A Practical Portfolio Roadmap – Part 1, by Satya Narayan Dash

[3] Article: Portfolio Management: Building and Managing A Practical Portfolio Roadmap – Part 2, by Satya Narayan Dash

[4] The Standard for Portfolio Management, by Project Management Institute (PMI)

Portfolio Management: Building and Managing A Practical Portfolio Roadmap with MS Project (Part – 2)

In the earlier part, we discussed the first set of steps needed to build a Portfolio Roadmap with a hands-on software tool, i.e., MS Project. There the following steps were informed:

• Step – 1: Add the Portfolio Components 
• Step – 2: Differentiate the Components 
• Step – 3: Format the Bar Styles for Components

The components, as informed in the previous part, can be projects, programs, operations, business proposals, among others. In this part, we will take the final steps:

• Step – 4: Apply the Bar Styles for Components
• Step – 5: Track Progress with Portfolio Roadmap

You will also learn to show the dependencies between the components and the importance of a portfolio roadmap. This part will end with a hands-on video demonstration.

I'd strongly suggest that you read this linked article, before proceeding further. For this part, we will start with Step - 4.

This series: Part – 1

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Step – 4: Apply the Bar Styles for Components

Now that we have customized the bar styles, we have to apply them into our Gantt Chart view to have the visualization. To do so, I’ll remove the earlier columns of Duration, Start and Finish, but add two new columns of isProgram and isOps. Remember we just added these two custom fields (columns).

Next, for each program component, the isProgram flag will be enabled and for each operation component, the isOps flag will be enabled. This will result in the following figure.  

As shown:

• For Program B, the isProgram flag is enabled, but isOps flag is disabled. It’s shown in green colored bars.
• For Business Area 1 Operations, the isOps flag is enabled, but isProgram flag is disabled. It’s shown in orange colored bars.

To have the name of the portfolio components on the right side of the bar, do ensure that the “Name” field is populated in the bar styles as shown below. 

Isn’t it a much better representation than the earlier one? 

The flag settings with bar style formatting is also very useful when the new portfolio components are added. You have to just enable or disable the flags and the color will automatically change. 

Step – 5: Track Progress with Portfolio Roadmap

Now, a portfolio, if completely new, can be authorized or some of its components can be authorized by the portfolio governing body. Assuming we have a new portfolio and it’s authorized the portfolio is in progress.

As the portfolio components are executed by the resources (financial, equipment, and human), we will have progress reported on the components. Let’s say few of the components are complete and we have to display the progress. For this purpose, we simply have to use the ‘% Complete’ column and show 100% completion. 

When visualized with completed portfolio components, we will have the following view.

As shown:

• We have three projects, Project A, Project B and Project C, which are complete.
• We have one program, Program A, which is complete.
• The completion is shown with a small horizontal line going inside the bar.

For a clear visualization of completion (a line going inside), I’ve increased the size of the bar by going to Format tab > Format group > Layout command and then changing the bar height to 18, instead of default 12.  

Dependencies in the Portfolio Roadmap

As we learned in the beginning, the portfolio roadmap also shows the dependencies among the components and/or across business areas. Dependencies can be easily shown by using the predecessor field of MS Project software.

For example, in the below figure, we have dependencies shown among multiple component projects and programs of the portfolio.  

Portfolio Component Grouping

The Standard for Portfolio Management, also informs that the completed portfolio components can be grouped and displayed on top of the roadmap. This also can be done with MS Project software. 

For this purpose, I’ll use the built-in Complete and Incomplete Tasks group, which can be seen by going to View tab > Data group and selecting this group from the Group drop down menu. In this grouping, we will change the ordering to Descending.

As shown above, only change the order to ‘descending’ and keep the rest of the formatting as it is. Now, when you apply the grouping, we will have the following view. 

Clearly, the components which are 100% complete are shown on top, whereas the ones not complete, or yet to be started are shown towards the bottom of the above view.

Importance of Roadmap *** NEW ***

The importance of portfolio can be understood by the below top points:

1. Shows both internal dependencies among portfolio components and can also show external dependencies. In fact, in your portfolio review meeting (governance meetings), this will be one of the first artifacts to be shown. 
2. Shows the milestones and hence important for portfolio value delivery. Milestones are significant events in the portfolio’s timeline. Any delay in a portfolio component’s closure and subsequent benefits realization can have ripple effects on portfolio management.  
3. Helps in defining the portfolio components, i.e., used specifically in identification, categorization, scoring and ranking of portfolio components. 
4. Clearly identifies the classes or types of portfolio components. This way, if some of the components are executed in Agile (Adaptive) mode, they can be represented. Hence, it truly helps in communication and risk management approaches as defined in the Portfolio Management Plan. 
5. An excellent communication tool with others, including portfolio managers, component managers and top executives, including the C-suites in an organization. 

Video Demonstration – Portfolio Roadmap *** NEW ***

To concretize your understanding, I’ve created the following video [duration: 05m:44s] to demonstrate the portfolio roadmap that we just created. This content of this video is referenced from my new PfMP book. Plug-in your earphones for a better audio-visual experience. 

Conclusion

Now that we have clearly understood portfolio and portfolio roadmap, their components and elements, I’ll come back to our opening quote. But I’d slightly rephrase it and say:

Project creates and delivers. Program coordinates and guides. Portfolio decides and drives. 

A portfolio not only decides the components to be taken, but also drives them in order to achieve the organizational strategies and objectives. The portfolio roadmap, on the other hand, is a key deliverable and indispensable tool used in portfolio management. The roadmap shows the strategic mapping, “to-be” vision of the portfolio, priorities, dependencies as well as the high-level plan.

The portfolio roadmap, along with the portfolio strategic plan and portfolio charter, drive the development of the portfolio management plan – the consolidated plan that drives the execution of the portfolio and its components.

I hope this article helps you in preparing for the Portfolio Management Professional (PfMP®) certification exam and also enables to apply your learning on portfolio roadmap in the real-world portfolio management. 

This series: Part – 1

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This article was first published by MPUG.com on 12th September, 2023. The current one is an updated version.

References

[1] NEW Book – I Want To Be A PfMP, the plain and simple way, by Satya Narayan Dash

[2] Top 10 Things to Know about Portfolio Roadmap: Part – 1, by Satya Narayan Dash

[3] Top 10 Things to Know about Portfolio Roadmap: Part – 2, by Satya Narayan Dash

[4] The Standard for Portfolio Management, by Project Management Institute (PMI)

Portfolio Management: Building and Managing A Practical Portfolio Roadmap with MS Project (Part – 1)

  

Project creates, programs guides, portfolio decides. 

    - Quote from book, I Want To Be A PfMP – the plain and simple way

Project is all about deliverables and it creates a unique product, service or result. Program is all about getting benefits by coordinating the components within its scope. Portfolio, on the other hand, is about meeting the strategic business objectives of an organization with a collection of right portfolio components. Hence, it decides. 

It’s portfolio that decides which component project to take and which one to drop, which component program to take and which one to drop. At the portfolio level, you not only authorize the components, but also can deactivate or even terminate a component. Most important of all, it’s portfolio which directly links the organizational strategy to a prioritized set of programs, projects and operations. Portfolio is completely strategic in nature, whereas programs and projects are typically tactical. Because with portfolios, an organization achieves its strategic goals and objectives, which are outlined in the organization’s strategic plan. 

By this time, you would have begun to realize the importance of portfolios and portfolio management. It’s key to have consistent success for an organization, deliver predictably and remain ahead of the curve. 

Now, to successfully enable the portfolio manager and hence, C-suite executives, a widely used artifact or key deliverable is the Portfolio Roadmap. In this article, we will know more on Portfolio Roadmap, and how to build such a roadmap with MS Project software.

This series: Part – 1

Portfolio Roadmap

Let’s start with the definition of portfolio roadmap. As per Project Management Institute (PMI®):

Portfolio roadmap is a document that provides the high-level strategic direction and portfolio information in a chronological fashion for portfolio management and ensures dependencies within the portfolio are established and evaluated.

Illustrating further on the above definition, you can say the following about the portfolio roadmap:

• Graphically shows all the portfolio components (elements) to achieve organizational strategy and objectives.
• A high-level plan for your portfolio and based on it, low-level details will be prepared. The low-level details include the low-level schedule and timeline of portfolio components such as projects, programs, operations or other work. 
• Provides the foundation or initial basis on which internal and external dependencies are established and evaluated.

A portfolio roadmap is crucial because it shows the strategic intent of the organization in a visual (graphical) way. Irrespective of the approach used in portfolio management such as predictive (waterfall), adaptive (agile), hybrid or any other, the roadmap acts as an information radiator.

From Portfolio Strategic Plan to Portfolio Roadmap *** UPDATED ***

The significance of a portfolio roadmap is further emphasized in the flow of processes in portfolio management. A portfolio primarily exists to achieve the strategic business objectives of an organization. The vision, goals, strategies and objectives of a portfolio are listed in the Portfolio Strategic Plan (PfSP), which is created in Develop Portfolio Strategic Plan process. The PfSP drives the development of Portfolio Charter (PfC), created in the Develop Portfolio Charter process. 

The PfC links the portfolio to organizational strategy and formally authorizes the portfolio and portfolio structure. Next, PfC drives the development of the Portfolio Roadmap (PfRM), which is created with Define Portfolio Roadmap process. With the PfRM, the portfolio structure is visualized in a chronological manner. This is shown in the below figure. 

As shown above:

• Organizational strategy and objectives drive the creation of PfSP.
• PfSP, in turn, drives the development of PfC.
• Next, PfC drives the definition and development of PfRM. 
• All three above, i.e., the PfSP, PfC and PfRM drive the development of the Portfolio Management Plan (PfMP), which is another key deliverable in portfolio management. 

A Practical Portfolio Roadmap

With this background and fundamentals, let’s learn how to build a practical portfolio roadmap in a step-by-step manner. I’ll be using the sample given in PMI’s Standard for Portfolio Management, third edition and build on it with the MS Project software tool. 

To build the portfolio roadmap, we will have the following steps.

Step – 1: Add the Portfolio Components 

As noted earlier, a portfolio can have a number of components or initiatives. For our case, we have the following components:

• Projects: Project A, B, C, D, E, F and G
• Programs: Program A, B, C, D, E and F
• Operations: Business Area 1, 2 and 3 Operations

Each of these components are to be added as tasks into the MS Project plan (.mpp) file. As you add, you should also provide the high-level timeline for each component as shown below. 

As shown above:

• We have multiple projects, programs and operations added into the initial Portfolio Roadmap.
• For each portfolio component, we have duration, start and finish dates. These are high-level details. The portfolio roadmap is prepared iteratively and repeatedly adapted. 
• On the right side of the Gantt Chart, we have portfolio components represented as horizontal bars.

Also, do ensure that the timescale is properly customized. To do so, go to the timescale part of the Gantt Chart’s graphical side (on top), right click and choose “Timescale…”. 

As shown above:

• We have just one tier (middle). 
• Units used are “Months”.
• Label used is “Jan ‘09”.

Adjusting the timescale will result in a better visualization for your roadmap.

Step – 2: Differentiate the Components 

In this step, we will differentiate the components to have more clarity in our graphical representation. For this purpose, I’ll add two custom fields by going to the Format tab > Columns group > Custom Fields command. Both the custom fields are of Boolean type. 

As shown above, we now have two Boolean custom fields: isProgram and isOps. These will be used in the next step.

Step – 3: Format the Bar Styles for Components

In this step, we will add two more bar styles by going to Format tab > Bar Styles group > Format drop down menu > Bar Styles command. 

For our program components, we will have green color-coded bars with the isProgram flag applied, whereas for the operation components, we will have orange color-coded bars with the isOps flag applied. 

In addition, for all the portfolio component bars, we will have the end shape changed to inverted triangles, along with the type and color. This is shown and highlighted below.  

As shown above:

• For the project components, we have the default blue colored bars. The end shape has been changed. For the program components, we have the green colored bars. And for the operation, we have orange colored bars.
• The respective conditions applied for the components are:
• Normal, Active, Not Manually Scheduled (project components)
• Normal, Active, Flag1, Not Manually Scheduled (program components)
• Normal, Active, Flag2, Not Manually Scheduled (operation components)
• For all bar styles, the end shapes have been changed. This clearly shows the finish time of the respective components. 

In the next part of this series, we will do more customization of the Portfolio Roadmap, which will make clear distinctions among component programs, component projects and component operation.

We will also have a video demonstration of this Practical Portfolio Roadmap.

This series: Part – 2

References

[1] NEW Book – I Want To Be A PfMP, the plain and simple way, by Satya Narayan Dash

[2] Top 10 Things to Know about Portfolio Roadmap: Part – 1, by Satya Narayan Dash

[3] Top 10 Things to Know about Portfolio Roadmap: Part – 2, by Satya Narayan Dash

[4] The Standard for Portfolio Management, by Project Management Institute (PMI)