four rs — reward B u s i n e s s F i n a n c e

After a historic presidential election in the United States, officials and citizens are focused on the transition program and the initial priorities of the new administration. In the context of a worldwide economic crisis, the pressing questions on people’s minds are:

What new programs and projects will be initiated? What will be cut? How will the administration prioritize the campaign promises made to different stakeholders?

It will be imperative to cultivate and promote a portfolio mindset and apply the principles of portfolio management at every level to address these crucial questions. Whether in government, your organization or department, or at a personal level, a portfolio mindset can provide strategic focus. It can ensure that you are working on the right projects with the right priorities, and are not being bogged-down, or stuck, on low-value initiatives.

According to the Standard for Portfolio Management, a portfolio is a collection of projects or programs and other work that are grouped together to facilitate the effective management of that work to meet strategic business objectives. Portfolio management focuses on the processes to identify, select, prioritize, govern, measure, and report on the projects and programs to achieve a specific business objective.

In your estimation, a portfolio mindset requires that, at any point in time, managers:

• Inventory and become familiar with all of the projects and programs in the portfolio
• Focus on the big picture with clarity of purpose and based on strategic objectives
• Continuously assess and balance priorities based on the four Rs — reward (benefit), risk, resources, and relationship (the impact of doing a project on other projects that are existing or planned) (Duggal, 2008, p. 41).

Choose the position that you feel is most relevant to the preceding comments regarding having a portfolio mindset and substantiate your premise with referenced citation.

Reference:

Duggal, J. S. (2008). Cultivating a portfolio mindset. Projectize Group LLC. Community Post.