Operating model change, funding included
From project governance to an operating model that connects strategy, funding and execution
International financial services group
From strategy to portfolio decisions
A portfolio that can stop a €1M+ initiative
Lean Portfolio Management existed on paper. We turned it into a working decision system across several portfolios, from governance to funding and tools, until the portfolio could make real trade-offs.
- Client
- Large services group
1. Strategic context
Several portfolios, reporting to different parts of the organisation, had to apply one strategy. Lean Portfolio Management had been chosen to make that happen.
2. What was blocking execution
The framework existed on paper: described, but with no operating model to make it run, no team to drive it, and nothing yet connecting strategic priorities to funding decisions.
3. Work on the model and governance
We defined the operating model for Lean Portfolio Management: value-based steering, strategic themes, the Epic lifecycle, a Portfolio Kanban, WSJF, key roles and decision processes, common to every portfolio.
4. Putting it to work
We made the governance run: Portfolio Sync, Strategic Portfolio Review, participatory budgeting. Funding was tied to priorities, and portfolio decisions were taken in forums, on criteria known in advance. We supported the people who took the system over, and set up a Lean Portfolio Management community of practice.
5. Tools and data
A complete governance reference in Confluence, deployed with automated tooling and organised by role, describing every forum. Portfolio views are fed from Jira; none depends on continuous manual entry.
6. Decisions and results made possible
The portfolio can now stop initiatives above €1M when they no longer support priorities. Initiatives with no strategic link are identified and dealt with. Delivery teams can see which priority their work contributes to.
7. What we learned
Lean Portfolio Management becomes real when a forum can stop a funded initiative, on criteria known before it started. The framework, the roles and the tools are there to make that decision possible.
See also: Lean Portfolio Management · Strategy-to-Execution
Case studies
Transformations in practice
Designed, then made operational in the tools
Lean Portfolio Management designed in workshops, then made operational in Clarity and Jira
Financial institution
A situation that looks like yours
Describe it in a few lines. We will tell you what we would do first, and what we would not do.