portfolio manager or PMO head
should hold on to them, even
at the expense of streamlining
processes, Ms. Casey says.
“I tend to delegate more of
the day-to-day mentoring of
project managers and project
management methodology
development,” she says. “I tend
to hold on to specific details of
portfolio management, managing the governance process and
overall resource management.”
PATTERNS IN CHAOS
Regardless of how responsibilities are assigned and tasks are prioritized, presenting a simplified—but comprehensive—picture of the portfolio helps executives provide meaningful feedback
on its overarching direction, Mr. Cortizo says.
“Portfolio management helped us to engage key stakeholders more easily.
They were able to see a clear expression of global strategies through different
projects,” he says. “They then can have better judgment and provide us better
feedback. Transparency and communication have been greatly improved.”
More importantly, he says, since Groupe SEB started using portfolio man-
agement to counter complexity, all of its projects have reached their business
goals. And that, ultimately, is the key: not only delivering projects in the face of
complexity, but delivering projects that align with organizational strategy.
“For all business related to projects, the company keeps growing steadily,”
says Mr. Cortizo. “And even though the business has become more and more
complex, portfolio management helps us to keep control of our business.” PM
n Organizational
process assets,
such as historical
databases and
lessons learned,
which might reduce
project unknowns
n Formal training
on how to manage
project or program
complexity
“We went from looking at
an overwhelming list of
150 projects to prioritize
to smaller portfolios of
around 20 projects.”
—Heather Casey, PMP, PgMP, PfMP
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