MoP Practice 5: Plan. How to create a portfolio plan?

The purpose of the ‘plan’ practice is to collate information from the portfolio definition cycle and create a portfolio strategy and portfolio delivery plan which will be approved by the portfolio direction group/investment committee. Both documents can be combined in a single document (Portfolio strategy and delivery plan). The objectives are to:

• Provide a longer term overview
• Provide clarity to stakeholders
• Motivate people to commit to the delivery of the shared goals
• Convert the balanced portfolio into a plan
• Provide a baseline (the portfolio delivery plan) against which progress can be monitored, reviewed and managed (via a portfolio dashboard).

The portfolio office will normally update the plan on at least an annual basis in close cooperation with the business strategy, finance and performance management functions in your organization to assure that the plan is still aligned with the corporate (mid term) strategic, financial and business plans.

This article is divided into the following paragraph:

• Portfolio delivery plan
• Examples
• Keys to successful planning

To download: MoP (practice 5 Plan, 141128) v0.1

This article will be used in a new book MoP practices in practice, for portfolio managers who want to embed the MoP theory in their organization. In the coming months several blog posts and articles will be published waiting for your feedback. To see all, select the tag MoP_practices_in_practice.