Portfolio and investment planningPortfolio andinvestmentplanning

Large organisations have far more good ideas than they can fund. Every programme has a sensible business case and someone who cares about it, while the budget, the people and the calendar stay fixed.

The question stops being “is this a good idea?” and becomes “is this the best use of what we have, given everything we’ve already committed to?”

Priorities get set at the top, but cost, capacity and risk sit with lots of different owners. Business cases are, understandably, written by the people who want them. Dependencies turn up late, and the financial plan and the strategy drift apart unless someone keeps them together.

I lead the teams that look after planning, portfolio management and the financial and resource planning that goes with them. My part is the quality of the information, and making the process people use to decide a sensible one.

I try to agree the criteria before the proposals arrive, rank against the strategy rather than against each other’s enthusiasm, and show what sits just below the line so everyone can see what each choice costs. I like money, people and timing being talked about in the same conversation.

Governance works best when it makes decisions quicker to repeat, not slower to reach.

Choosing where to invest is as much about communication as analysis. The decisions that stick are the ones people understand well enough to carry out, including the people whose project didn’t make the line.