• Agile Transformation

Choosing valuable prioritization together: 10 key choices

In this article, as in prioritizing content work, I have named for you the 10 most important choices (call it exits) you make to plan the right route to valuable Portfolio Management. Above all, don’t forget turn number 10.

Turn-off 1: Make everything transparent

Would you like to see everything completely transparent within the organization? Probably everyone will wholeheartedly say “YES” to that. Yet very few organizations succeed in doing so. Why don’t you succeed in making everything transparent? It often has to do with power, positions, politics and hierarchy. If you are open to making your work and ultimately the joint work (including impediments) transparent, that is a good basis for value creation. Behavior that goes with that desired transparency is:

• Use of tools and boards to see joint work, progress and value creation;
• Start with yourself: make sure you yourself have nothing to hide and allow yourself to be vulnerable;
• Seek interaction and have the conversation with each other at tightly scheduled times.

Exit 2: Travel from A to B, via B

Want to start prioritizing scaled together and thus create value together? Then try to embrace the new mindset through the new way (B). It feels natural to attack a new way of thinking through the learned approach (A). But let those be the very patterns you want to unlearn. So try to approach the change as much as possible from the new desired behavior. This applies to thinking, behavior and approach.

Exit 3: Switch from thinking to doing

You’re used to thinking out in advance how best to approach everything. Not a bad thing, but before you know it, you spend six months thinking. To ignite your desired change, it’s important to take the first step and “do. By doing, you learn and get a little better every day. Through the structural small steps, you feel the change keep growing. So try to think in terms of possibilities and start small. You will see that when you ‘do’ together with a large group, you release a lot and give the change a big boost.

Exit 4: Opt for shared choices

Facilitate appropriate conversations between stakeholders and business owners regarding prioritization. Let the group experience that it helps to make choices together about what is important to the organization. Once the strategy is prioritized, the next step is to align the work from teams and the strategic work. Enable the Product Owners to also bring the business owners along based on his/her priority and effort and make the final choices at the tactical and operational level.

Turn 5: Leave teams alone

Sounds bold, but the content knowledge really resides with the teams. They know better than anyone else what is right for the organization and what to do to create the most value. Encourage the teams through different guilds to take responsibility together and make it a success together. This way you create an oil slick effect; and the larger the group, the faster sacred cows are broken down. Also ensure calmness in the teams and its format; motivate and encourage management and teams to focus on calmness and regularity. Tip: avoid too many team changes.

Exit 6: Don’t cut too much

While setting up Portfolio Management, it is important to consider carefully each time whether the governance, processes, events and roles actually solve a problem. The danger lurks in creating a water head when setting up Portfolio Management. This means that the more you cut, the more you overlap. This in turn creates more dependencies, more coordination moments and higher lead times.

Turn 7: Get good sponsors

Want a credible story at the start of your change and keep the momentum going afterwards? Then make sure you have a sponsor at the (management or board) level. That sponsor can provide and contribute to the clear vision with guiding principles. Also make sure this sponsor has sufficient mandate to break through sacred cows.

Turn 8: Make small steps

Think big, but make small steps. Do not underestimate in the change that a very small step for you, often already means a big development and improvement in the change. So keep checking regularly whether your steps in the change are not too big.

Exit 9: Sustain change

Setting up Portfolio Management involves many people, interests and roles. This can cause you to want to take control at different levels, to keep progressing. Fine, if you want to demonstrate something for the first time. But stay sharp that your action doesn’t stick to you. So always take someone with whom you can shape the change and to whom you can also hand it over.

Turn 10: Celebrate successes together

A very important and secretly one of the best choices. Yet I notice that many organizations and teams often neglect it. So let me emphasize it once more: with every improvement and value delivered, stop and reflect and celebrate the successes together!

What will be your first turn?

As you can read, Portfolio Management within your organization, from strategy to execution, is not set up in a day. It touches so many different layers and levels of the organization. So don’t expect to fully master the Portfolio process within a quarter either. And that’s totally ok! So be aware that you are going to experience this. Let it wash over you and make a quick decision about what you want to start with.

Are you finding that very beginning difficult or stuck in setting up your Portfolio Management? Send an email or contact me directly and together we’ll get that flywheel going.