MoP™ - Management of Portfolios

Portfolios management is defined as a coordinated collection of strategic processes and decisions that together enable the most effective balance of organisational change and business as
usual.

Management of Portfolios (MoP™) approaches the management of change projects and programmes from a strategic viewpoint. It provides an overview of all change activities including what is in the portfolio, what it is costing, what risks are faced, what progress is being made, and what the impact is on business as usual and the organisation’s strategic objectives.

To be successful, organisations must evolve and this means improving how they run their business on a daily basis (business as usual) and adapting to emerging demands and expectations. Portfolio
management helps organisations make decisions about implementing the right changes to business as usual; those changes are delivered via projects and programmes. It also provides a 'helicopter view' of all change activities - both those in planning and those in delivery - including providing a clear line
of sight about what is in the portfolio, what it is costing, what risks are faced, what progress is being made, and with what impact on business as usual and the organisation's strategic objectives.

Rather than representing a new discipline, portfolio management seeks to build on, and better co-ordinate, existing processes such as strategic planning, investment appraisal and project and
programme management. Portfolio management is not concerned with the detailed management of these projects and programmes; rather, it approaches the management of change projects and programmes from a strategic viewpoint, focusing on the key issues outlined above.

Portfolio management can be used effectively within specific directorates of the organisation - for example, the 'IT portfolio'. However, the greatest success is realised when management boards use portfolio management to deliver the organisation's corporate change portfolio as a whole.

MoP benefits for organisations:

- Improved strategic contribution – more of the ‘right’ projects are undertaken.

- Removal of redundant, duplicate and low value adding projects and programmes.

- More effective implementation of projects and programmes via management of constraints, risks and dependencies.

- More efficient utilisation of scarce resources including skilled project/programme managers.

- Greater benefits realisation.

- Improved accountability and corporate governance