"You get a mad underspend in Q1; then you spend Q2 and Q3 trying to catch up on the questions about your Q1 underspend. This is variation waste, and causes massive issues in terms of the ability of the system to absorb the work" - Mark Richards

In this episode, we turn our attention to the application of lean to Portfolio Operations and Governance. Eric focuses on improving flow, while Mark wants to reduce waste. We start by looking at aggregating and analyzing patterns from portfolio members. Discussing moving from PMO to VMO is a prelude to exploring the lean evolution of portfolio events and governance.

We cover:

• (00:00) Intro
• (2:16) How does the systems view of the portfolio help you find points of leverage?
• (10:31) What happens when you aggregate and analyze problem data from portfolio members?
• (15:10) Why are standards so important to portfolio insights?
• (19:38) What typical patterns does a portfolio-level view of Inspect & Adapt events reveal?
• (23:51) How can you learn from analyzing escalation patterns?
• (32:10) What’s the difference between a PMO and a VMO?
• (38:01) What happens when you apply the classic lean waste definitions to portfolio operations and governance?
• (46:42) How does monitoring and governance change in a lean world?
• (51:41) How do you improve the data that supports effective operational governance?
• (1:02:04) Is empathy still important for strategic portfolios?

Cast:

Eric Willeke

Mark Richards

Book References:

Lean Product and Process Development – Allen Ward

From PMO to VMO – Augustine