PM Network - December 2015

;at said, with more focus everywhere on cost, organizations and managing directors have started to think more about how they can optimize resources. Every penny you spend needs to be something you can get ROI from. With this, you’re starting to see more people look for missing functions in the organization. Eventually, these organizations will realize they need a portfolio management o;ce to govern their projects.

Ms. Lawler: Because they’re run with a very low mar-
gin, nonpro;ts are extremely cautious about where
they put their money. ;ere are a lot of organizations
that are still a bit afraid that portfolio management is
just overhead; they don’t completely appreciate that by
spending a little bit of money you save a lot of it. I am
seeing it more in other industries, though. Certainly
in the ;nance sector, for instance. I’m also seeing it
used now at utility companies and, increasingly, in a
number of government departments.

What’s your vision for the future? What’s next
for portfolio management?

Ms. Clarke-Holliman: First, I think bene;ts realization management will take on greater importance. Unfortunately, no one wants to be accountable for canceling projects. ;at’s a huge struggle due to the emotional ties team members have to complete all started work. Even on large programs, I have been at odds with leadership to cancel work when the ultimate pushback is to keep employee morale positive.

Second, I think innovation-focused portfolios will increase signi;cantly, as executive boards are realizing they must formally allocate resources in order to differentiate themselves. At Medtronic, gaining market share is a key focus. Medtronic is a huge company, but very small competitors tend to lead in this space. We can no longer be happy with a “me too” mentality when it comes to providing unique products and services.

Ms. Lawler: I think we’ll see more and more executives starting to see where portfolio management sits and realize the linkage with key strategic functions in the organization. For instance, we’re talking about bringing together environmental sustainability, risk compliance, strategic planning and myself because these roles should be supporting and leveraging each other. At the moment there’s still a lot of silos across functional areas, but across the industry I’m hearing the terms strategic initiative management and strategic execution a lot. ;at’s probably a conversation that will keep growing.

Mr. Mishra: In my view, organizations exist to create value for their stakeholders, and portfolio management practices support that value creation process. Because more and more organizations are tasting the success of portfolio management practices, I think the days are not far o; when we’ll start seeing more chief portfolio o;cers. PM

“Because more
and more
organizations
are tasting
the success
of portfolio
management
practices, I think
the days are not
far off when we’ll
start seeing more
chief portfolio
officers.”