Methodologies · The change column
PfM
P4MGO!® PfM
Portfolio Management
It translates strategy into a portfolio of change initiatives: it decides what changes, in what order and with what resources. It is also the discipline that establishes what will not be done.
A portfolio rarely fails because it selects the wrong initiatives, but because it approves more valuable initiatives than the organization can sustain at the same time. That is why PfM is the discipline that determines capacity: how many initiatives can be undertaken at once. A portfolio that only adds initiatives and never gives any up ceases to be a portfolio and becomes a mere inventory.
Where change is decided
The portfolio is a continuous cycle, not a project with an end date.
Portfolio management heads the change column. It prioritizes each proposal against the others, makes the investment decision and turns it into a program, a project or a digital product, depending on the objective pursued. This is where the balance between operating and transforming takes concrete form.
In most small and midsize businesses, the same people handle both run and change in their own area. That is why the portfolio competes with the operation for the same people and must govern that allocation explicitly.
The question at every decision point
- Is the initiative still justified?
- Costs already incurred do not drive the decision.
- Every initiative given up is formalized as a visible decision, with an owner and a date.
The two tracks
Portfolio Management and Portfolio Governance.
Those who govern are accountable for doing the right things; those who manage are accountable for doing things right.
Managers track
Portfolio Management · Portfolio Manager
For professionals responsible for managing. They decide autonomously on everything within their authority and tolerances, prepare, with their recommendation, the decisions that are not theirs to make, and are accountable for their management to the Owner.
Owners track
Portfolio Governance · Portfolio Owner
For professionals responsible for leading. They are accountable for the outcome to whoever delegated to them, decide under delegation from Governance within their remit, approve what the Manager escalates to them and are accountable for ensuring the initiative remains justified.
The book and the certification
P4MGO!® PfM Portfolio Management Body of Knowledge
P4MGO!® PfM Portfolio Manager and P4MGO!® PfM Portfolio Owner: certifications of persons issued by Certification.Institute, holder of the Business&Co.® certification scheme, aligned with the ISO/IEC 17024 personnel certification scheme.
Intermediate level. Prerequisite: P4MGO!® Foundations for Managers or for Owners, or P4MGO!® Essentials.
P4MGO!® PfM training and implementation.
The Management and Governance courses are delivered by ATOs (Accredited Training Organizations), training organizations accredited in P4MGO!®. Implementation within the organization is the role of ACOs (Accredited Consulting Organizations), consulting firms accredited in P4MGO!®, with professionals certified in the discipline.