Field notes on running project portfolios. Written for PMO leads, portfolio managers, and the program teams who turn a list of projects into delivered outcomes.
Microsoft Project Online retires on September 30, 2026, and the project data in Project Web App goes with it. This covers the dates, what PWA did that Planner does not replace, the four realistic alternatives and who each one fits, and a two-track plan that secures the data now and runs the platform decision on its own timeline.
Agile portfolio management tools promise a portfolio layer over the boards your teams already use, and the demo always works. This covers what separates a real agile portfolio tool from standard PPM software, the platforms usually shortlisted and who each one actually suits, the integration question that decides whether the rollout survives, and the six questions worth asking in a demo before anyone signs.
PMO consulting services cover seven different products sharing one label, priced from about 150 dollars an hour to six figures. This covers what each engagement type actually buys, the two doors to the same consultant and why one costs three times more, capability transfer rate and the Friday test, the statement of work clauses that decide whether capability stays behind, the cost lines missing from every proposal, and the five conditions where you should not hire at all.
Enterprise project portfolio management software is the system of record for every project, program, and portfolio an organization funds. This covers why published requirement lists cannot separate vendors, the two tier split that fixes it, requirement discrimination rate, what belongs in a PPM RFP, the cost lines that never appear in the quote, the seat math, a pilot the vendor cannot control, and when not to buy at all.
Project cancellation is the decision to stop an in-flight project because the remaining benefit no longer justifies the remaining cost. This covers kill criteria written at approval, the difference between a criterion and a decision, the twelve step cancellation checklist, the three permitted outcomes, who should be kept out of the room, the salvage inventory, the decision record, and portfolio stop rate as a measure of whether an organization can change its mind at all.
The run grow transform model splits portfolio investment into keeping the lights on, improving the current business, and building something new. This covers the classification template, the tie-breaker rules for ambiguous projects, how to measure your actual mix before setting a target, what the widely quoted benchmark percentages are really worth, and the three levers that move the number.
A project status meeting agenda decides whether the session produces decisions or just a round of updates. This covers a timeboxed weekly template with decisions first, three worked examples for delivery teams, sponsors and recovery projects, the pre-read rule, who to keep out of the room, and how to tell from blocker residence time whether the meeting is clearing work or only tracking it.
A project health check is an independent review of an in-flight project against evidence rather than opinion. This covers who is allowed to run one, the seven areas to score, the questions and the artifact each one needs, the trigger conditions that force an unscheduled check, and how findings become decisions instead of a filed document.
A project prioritization workshop is the working session where a group with real authority ranks candidate projects against agreed criteria and draws a funding line. This covers the pre-work data pack, a timeboxed agenda, who belongs in the room, how to break ties, the sponsor override protocol, and the decision record it has to produce.
A skills matrix maps every person on a team against every skill the work needs, scored on one shared scale, so you can see who can actually do what before you commit them to a project. This covers the template fields, a behaviorally anchored rating scale, a filled example, the single point of failure count, and how to turn the matrix into a resource plan.
A risk matrix scores each risk by how likely it is and how badly it would hurt, then multiplies the two into a rating that decides who owns it and how fast you respond. This covers the 5x5 grid, written probability and impact scales, response thresholds, and a filled project example.
Project budgeting turns a scope into an approved number you can be held to. This covers the three layers of a budget, the estimation methods and how accurate each one really is, contingency and management reserves, a worked example that adds up, and how to read a variance.