MoP® Foundation Management of Portfolios Courseware – English. Henny Portman
Assignment 1: Describe reasons for portfolio management
Discuss in pairs reasons for portfolio management (5 min)
Assignment 2: Organizational energy
In pairs or small groups:
• Give examples of different types of energy in your own organization and plot these in an Intensity/Quality matrix (flip-over 10 min)
• What can be done to move people into the high intensity, positive quality quadrant? (flip-over 5 min)
• Present to the group
Assignment 3: Categorization and prioritization
Individual or affinity groups (10 min)
▸ Identify strategic themes that can help to segment your portfolio
▸ Describe generic portfolio segmentation examples
▸ Gives examples of investment criteria to prioritize the segments
Assignment 4: Portfolio definition cycle
In (affinity) groups:
Put the answer on a flip-over and discuss (15 min)
▸ Create a poster with the 5 portfolio definition practices
Assignment 5: Business change lifecycle
In (affinity) groups:
Put the answer on a flip-over and present (15 + 10 min)
▸ Draw the business change lifecycle of your own organization
▸ Emphasize the decision points and describe who makes what decisions
Assignment 6: Portfolio delivery cycle
In (affinity) groups:
Put the answer on a flip-over and discuss (15 min)
▸ Create a poster with the 7 portfolio delivery practices
Assignment 7: Programme and project information template
Getting clarity about your projects and programmes.
• Design your own programme and project information template (on a flipchart)
• Use it for one of your projects
First in small groups then plenary (15 min)
Assignment 8: Governance bodies
In (affinity) groups (15 min):
• Draw the set-up of your PDG and PPG
• Draw your organization chart highlighting the members in your portfolio boards
• Explain the different roles and responsibilities in your portfolio boards
Answers and explanations assignments
The assignments do not have a clear-cut answer, partly because they are practical assignments. It is important to evaluate the assignments and to pay extra attention that certain aspects are used during the assignments.
The answers/explanation to the assignments give you subjects to discuss in the evaluation. The following aspects need to be present in giving a full explanation of the assignment.
Explanations 1: Describe reasons for portfolio management
• The number of projects increases only
• Continuously new surprises
• No overview of running projects
• Overview of projects is polluted
• Everyone has its own pet projects
• Who call at loudest, gets priority
• There is no insight in the required resources
• We know what we spent, we do not know what we get
Explanations 2: Organizational energy
• See figure 5.1 organizational energy matrix
• Examples in line with table 4.5 energized change culture
• Examples in line with the four C’s
Explanations 3: Categorization and prioritization
• Real strategic themes, e.g. digitalization or specific projects?
• Generic portfolio segments. E.g. Legal, maintenance, Commercial etc.
• Investment criteria:
o Are the investment criteria specific and measurable?
o Financial metrics: monetary measures, percentage measures, time measures?
o Multi-criteria: Return of attractiveness, risk or achievability?
Explanations 4: Portfolio definition cycle
• Are all practices visualized?
• In a group, evaluate the practices
Explanations 5: Business change lifecycle
• Are process steps clear?
• Do we start with intake of initiatives to build the portfolio or do we start with a single project?
• Clear who makes, and when, the decisions to go to the next step?
Explanations 6: Portfolio delivery cycle
• Are all practices visualized?