Agile Portfolio Management (AgilePfM) is a high-level change management framework that ensures that business change strategy remains under continuous review. AgilePfM reviews changes in a business environment and then coordinates similar changes within the business itself.
Aspect
Explanation
Concept Overview
– Agile Portfolio Management is an approach to managing an organization’s portfolio of projects and initiatives using agile principles and practices. It extends agile methodologies, originally designed for individual teams, to the strategic level, ensuring alignment between an organization’s strategic goals and the projects it undertakes. Agile Portfolio Management focuses on prioritizing work, managing resources, and delivering value in a way that is responsive to changing business needs. It helps organizations become more adaptable, customer-centric, and efficient in their project execution.
Key Principles
– Agile Portfolio Management is guided by several key principles: 1. Strategic Alignment: Ensure that all projects and initiatives are aligned with the organization’s strategic goals and objectives. 2. Customer Value: Prioritize projects and work based on the value they deliver to customers or stakeholders. 3. Continuous Prioritization: Continuously assess and reprioritize the portfolio based on changing circumstances. 4. Resource Optimization: Efficiently allocate and manage resources to maximize value delivery. 5. Visibility and Transparency: Provide visibility into the portfolio’s status, progress, and performance. 6. Iterative and Incremental Delivery: Encourage incremental delivery of value to stakeholders. 7. Adaptability: Be prepared to adapt to changing market conditions, technology, and business needs.
Components
– Agile Portfolio Management involves several key components: 1. Portfolio Vision: Define a clear and compelling vision for the portfolio that aligns with the organization’s strategy. 2. Epics and Initiatives: Identify and prioritize epics or strategic initiatives that contribute to the portfolio’s vision. 3. Backlog and Prioritization: Create a backlog of work items and prioritize them based on value and strategic alignment. 4. Capacity Planning: Manage and allocate resources effectively to balance demand with capacity. 5. Metrics and Feedback: Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor progress and gather feedback for continuous improvement. 6. Governance and Decision-Making: Define governance structures and decision-making processes that support agile principles.
Implementation
– Implementing Agile Portfolio Management involves: 1. Establishing a Portfolio Vision: Develop a clear vision that outlines the strategic goals and objectives the portfolio aims to achieve. 2. Identifying Epics and Initiatives: Identify large initiatives or epics that align with the portfolio’s vision and break them down into manageable projects. 3. Prioritization and Backlog Management: Prioritize initiatives based on their value, risk, and alignment with the portfolio vision. 4. Resource Allocation: Allocate resources, including teams and budgets, to initiatives based on capacity and strategic importance. 5. Continuous Monitoring: Continuously monitor the progress of initiatives, track KPIs, and gather feedback from stakeholders. 6. Adaptation and Reprioritization: Be prepared to adapt and reprioritize the portfolio in response to changing circumstances or new information.
Benefits and Impact
– Agile Portfolio Management offers several benefits and impacts: 1. Strategic Alignment: Ensures that projects and initiatives are aligned with the organization’s strategic goals. 2. Value Delivery: Prioritizes work based on the value it delivers to customers and stakeholders. 3. Efficient Resource Allocation: Optimizes resource allocation to maximize value delivery. 4. Adaptability: Enables organizations to adapt quickly to changing market conditions and business needs. 5. Transparency: Provides visibility into the status and progress of the portfolio. 6. Stakeholder Engagement: Engages stakeholders in the decision-making process and ensures their needs are considered. 7. Improved ROI: Increases the likelihood of achieving a return on investment for strategic initiatives.
Challenges and Risks
– Challenges in implementing Agile Portfolio Management may include resistance to change, the need for cultural shifts within the organization, and difficulties in aligning multiple stakeholders and priorities. Risks can involve misalignment between strategic goals and project execution, resource constraints, and a lack of understanding of agile principles at the portfolio level.
Agile Business Change philosophy states that “best value emerges when business changes are aligned to clear business goals, deliver frequently and are powered by the effective leadership of fully engaged, autonomously collaborative teams”.
To facilitate this alignment, AgilePfM reviews changes in a business environment and then coordinates similar changes within the business itself. It also ensures that change is articulated through the setting of strategic goals. These goals then provide a foundation for approving, prioritizing, and governing subsequent work.
However, organizations may nevertheless struggle with change at the portfolio level. More traditional practices such as annual budgeting and inflexible strategy definition can stifle the effectiveness of agile delivery. In the most severe instances, this rigidity can negate the benefits of agile principles entirely.
To address this conflict, AgilePfM encourages agility at the project and program level while allowing organizations to maximize value from portfolio investments.
The four-step portfolio process of AgilePfM
Confirm portfolio drivers. What is driving high-level outcomes? How do they relate to vision, goals, or objectives? It’s also important to consider the role of culture and leadership.
Confirm portfolio foundations. Here, the business must establish strategic alignment criteria using certain key performance indicators. These KPIs might include profit, volume, or customer satisfaction metrics.
Deliver change. This may include agile budgeting in combination with continuous idea management and portfolio prioritization. Whatever the change initiative, it must be coordinated and planned for appropriately. In other words, the change must deliver incremental value to the organization as quickly as possible.
Keep it current. AgilePfM encourages the periodic reassessment of strategy and portfolio alignment by measuring ROI for the KPIs established in the previous step. ROI should also be calculated after high-impact events have occurred.
When to Use Agile Portfolio Management:
Agile Portfolio Management is suitable in various business scenarios:
Complex Environments: In complex and dynamic business environments where strategic priorities can change rapidly.
Multiple Projects: When an organization is managing multiple projects, programs, and initiatives simultaneously.
Resource Allocation: For optimizing resource allocation and ensuring that the right projects are prioritized.
Strategic Transformation: During periods of strategic transformation or shifts in organizational goals.
Value Focus: When the organization wants to place a strong emphasis on delivering value to customers and stakeholders.
How to Implement Agile Portfolio Management Effectively:
To implement Agile Portfolio Management effectively, consider the following steps:
Define Strategic Goals: Clearly define the organization’s strategic goals and objectives.
Portfolio Prioritization: Prioritize projects and programs based on their alignment with strategic goals and expected value delivery.
Capacity Planning: Ensure that resources are allocated effectively to support the highest-priority initiatives.
Lean and Agile Practices: Apply lean and agile principles to portfolio management, including iterative planning and frequent reassessment.
Performance Metrics: Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the progress and success of portfolio initiatives.
Governance and Decision-Making: Define governance structures and decision-making processes to ensure alignment with strategic objectives.
Expected Benefits of Agile Portfolio Management:
When implementing Agile Portfolio Management effectively, expect the following benefits:
Strategic Alignment: Improved alignment of projects and programs with the organization’s strategic objectives.
Value Maximization: Enhanced value delivery by prioritizing high-impact initiatives.
Adaptability: Increased adaptability to changing market conditions and customer needs.
Resource Efficiency: Optimal allocation of resources and elimination of wasteful projects.
Visibility and Transparency: Clear visibility into the portfolio for better decision-making.
Potential Drawbacks of Agile Portfolio Management:
While Agile Portfolio Management offers numerous advantages, it also has potential drawbacks:
Complexity: Implementing agile principles at the portfolio level can be complex, especially in large organizations.
Change Resistance: Organizations accustomed to traditional portfolio management may face resistance to adopting agile practices.
Resource Constraints: Allocating resources effectively can be challenging, and organizations may face resource constraints.
Agile governance and portfolio-specific rules
In managing change at the portfolio level, organizations must adhere to a suite of general and more specific rules.
Agile governance rules
Value must drive priority (do the right things).
Quality should never be compromised (do the things right).
Decide with initiatives. Do not manage them.
Give clear and considered direction.
Stay informed.
Agile portfolio rules
If it is in the portfolio, then it must be in the strategy.
If there is no strategy, stop! Do not proceed with AgilePfM without one.
Constantly review the portfolio and adjust when required. Do not perform one-off exercises.
Concentrate on prioritizing, blending, and balancing with a near-term horizon of no more than a few months ahead.
Key takeaways
Agile Portfolio Management is a high-level change management framework that favors continuous change strategy review.
Agile Portfolio Management allows businesses to incorporate agile practices at the traditionally rigid portfolio level. Processes that may become less rigid include budgetary planning and strategy definition.
Agile Portfolio Management is governed by general agile governance rules and more specific rules that guide agile practices at the portfolio level. In the latter set of rules, business strategies must be holistic and continually reviewed no more than a few months ahead.
Key Highlights
Overview of Agile Portfolio Management: Agile Portfolio Management (AgilePfM) is a change management framework that emphasizes continuous review of business change strategy. It coordinates similar changes within a business environment and aligns them with strategic goals.
Agile Business Change Philosophy: AgilePfM follows the philosophy that aligning business changes with clear goals, frequent delivery, and leadership of collaborative teams leads to the best value.
Alignment and Coordination: AgilePfM reviews changes in the business environment and aligns them with strategic goals, ensuring that change initiatives are approved, prioritized, and governed effectively.
Challenges and Solutions: Traditional practices like annual budgeting and rigid strategy definitions can hinder agile delivery. AgilePfM addresses this by promoting agility at the project and program level while maximizing portfolio value.
Four-Step Portfolio Process: a. Confirm Portfolio Drivers: Identify high-level outcomes and their relation to vision, goals, and objectives, considering culture and leadership. b. Confirm Portfolio Foundations: Establish strategic alignment criteria using key performance indicators (KPIs) such as profit, volume, or customer satisfaction. c. Deliver Change: Utilize agile budgeting, continuous idea management, and portfolio prioritization to deliver incremental value quickly. d. Keep it Current: Continuously reassess strategy and portfolio alignment by measuring ROI based on established KPIs and considering high-impact events.
Agile Governance and Portfolio Rules: a. Agile Governance Rules: Emphasize value-driven prioritization, unwavering quality, decision-making with initiatives, clear direction, and staying informed. b. Agile Portfolio Rules: Link portfolio items to the overall strategy, avoid proceeding without a strategy, continually review the portfolio, and prioritize, blend, and balance with a short-term horizon.
It enables agility at the portfolio level, including flexible budgeting and strategy definition.
Governance involves general agile principles and specific portfolio rules, emphasizing holistic strategies and regular review.
Related Frameworks
Description
When to Apply
Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)
– SAFe is a framework for scaling Agile practices across large organizations, enabling alignment, collaboration, and delivery at scale. – It provides guidance on roles, responsibilities, and ceremonies to coordinate Agile teams and initiatives at the program and portfolio levels.
– When implementing Agile practices in large enterprises, managing multiple Agile teams and initiatives, and ensuring alignment with strategic business objectives and customer needs at scale.
Disciplined Agile (DA)
– Disciplined Agile is a toolkit that offers a pragmatic approach to Agile and Lean practices, providing options for tailoring Agile processes to specific contexts and challenges. – It emphasizes flexibility, choice, and alignment with business goals, enabling organizations to adopt Agile practices that fit their unique circumstances.
– When seeking a flexible and customizable Agile framework that accommodates various project types, team sizes, and organizational structures, allowing for iterative improvement and continuous optimization of Agile processes.
Portfolio Kanban
– Portfolio Kanban applies the principles of Kanban at the portfolio level to visualize, prioritize, and manage work items and initiatives across the organization. – It provides transparency into the flow of work, enabling better decision-making, resource allocation, and risk management at the portfolio level.
– When managing portfolios of projects or initiatives, visualizing and optimizing the flow of work, identifying bottlenecks or dependencies, and improving overall portfolio performance and delivery outcomes through incremental process improvements.
Lean Portfolio Management (LPM)
– Lean Portfolio Management applies Lean principles to portfolio management, focusing on maximizing value, minimizing waste, and accelerating delivery of strategic initiatives. – It emphasizes continuous improvement, flow, and empowerment of teams to drive innovation and responsiveness in portfolio decision-making and execution.
– When adopting Lean principles to manage portfolios of initiatives, aligning strategic goals with execution, optimizing value streams, and fostering a culture of experimentation, collaboration, and relentless improvement across the organization.
Agile Project Management
– Agile Project Management is an iterative approach to project management that emphasizes adaptive planning, continuous improvement, and early delivery of value to customers. – It relies on self-organizing, cross-functional teams and flexible planning to respond to changing requirements and deliver incremental outcomes throughout the project lifecycle.
– When managing projects in dynamic and uncertain environments, embracing change and customer feedback, and delivering value iteratively and incrementally to stakeholders, allowing for greater adaptability and responsiveness to evolving market conditions.
Agile Release Train (ART)
– An Agile Release Train (ART) is a team of Agile teams that delivers value in a program increment (PI), typically spanning 8-12 weeks. – It provides a cadence for planning, execution, and delivery, allowing for alignment, synchronization, and integration of work across multiple Agile teams and stakeholders.
– When coordinating the delivery of value across multiple Agile teams or departments, establishing a regular rhythm for planning, executing, and reviewing work, and ensuring alignment with strategic objectives and customer needs within a defined time frame.
Agile Governance
– Agile Governance refers to the policies, processes, and structures that govern Agile initiatives and practices within an organization. – It ensures that Agile teams operate within established guidelines while retaining the flexibility and autonomy to deliver value effectively.
– When establishing guidelines and frameworks for Agile practices, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements, and providing support and oversight to Agile teams to maintain alignment with organizational goals and standards.
Agile Product Management
– Agile Product Management applies Agile principles to product development and management, emphasizing customer collaboration, adaptive planning, and iterative delivery of value. – It involves prioritizing and managing product backlogs, defining minimum viable products (MVPs), and validating assumptions through continuous feedback and iteration.
– When developing and managing products or services in dynamic and competitive markets, collaborating with customers and stakeholders to gather insights, prioritizing features based on value and risk, and delivering incremental improvements to drive customer satisfaction and business outcomes.
Agile Business Analysis
– Agile Business Analysis applies Agile principles to requirements and solution delivery, focusing on collaboration, adaptability, and value-driven practices. – It involves eliciting, analyzing, and validating requirements iteratively, facilitating communication between stakeholders and Agile teams, and ensuring that delivered solutions meet business needs and objectives.
– When eliciting, analyzing, and managing requirements for Agile projects or initiatives, collaborating with cross-functional teams and stakeholders, and adapting to changing business needs and priorities to deliver value incrementally and iteratively throughout the project lifecycle.
Agile Transformation Framework
– An Agile Transformation Framework provides a structured approach to organizational change and adaptation to Agile principles and practices. – It typically includes assessment, planning, execution, and evaluation phases to guide organizations through the process of adopting and scaling Agile ways of working.
– When embarking on a journey to adopt Agile practices at the organizational level, assessing readiness for change, defining a vision and strategy for Agile transformation, and implementing initiatives to foster a culture of agility, collaboration, and continuous improvement across the organization.
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Gennaro is the creator of FourWeekMBA, which reached about four million business people, comprising C-level executives, investors, analysts, product managers, and aspiring digital entrepreneurs in 2022 alone | He is also Director of Sales for a high-tech scaleup in the AI Industry | In 2012, Gennaro earned an International MBA with emphasis on Corporate Finance and Business Strategy.
