Parmatur Pulse – Portfolio pulse meetings

The purpose of the portfolio pulse meetings and the work by the portfolio team is to constantly act on obstacles that prevent the business from earning more money and to focus the resources long term.

The portfolio team uses backlog planning to focus their work. A period is generally one month long.

How to perform portfolio pulse meetings

General: Activities identified during portfolio pulse meetings can be added to the activity window for immediate actions, or added to the period log and handled as soon as possible, or added to the backlog for later prioritization together with other long term tasks. Problems and decisions are documented in the decision log.

1. Work environment. Any new incidents or accidents? Identify actions and decisions.
2. Completed activities. Activities in the activity window that are finished are moved from “In progress” to “Done”.
3. Completed projects. Feedback on how the sale of new products develop, as well as claims for these. Are there any problems? Identify actions and decisions.
4. Projects in progress. Which projects are to be finish next? What is left and when it is appropriate to close? Are there any delays or deviations in ongoing projects? Identify actions and decisions.
5. New projects. Do the new project candidates have a potential that is high enough and what can be done to increase the outcome? Which project will start next and when? When can planning for that project start? Identify actions and decisions.
6. Activities to do. Can tasks in period log be moved into the activity window? What activities in the activity window should be moved from the “To do” to “In progress”? Who does what?

Visualization

Draw areas on the portfolio pulse board for activity windows and “Inbox”.

Use post-it notes to write the activities in the activity window, and new issues in the “Inbox”. Put up strategic objectives, project portfolio prioritization, completed projects, backlog, period log and decision log.