What is a "Portfolio"? 📊

This article explains "Portfolios" and their role in the Collections ➡ Portfolios ➡ Projects hierarchy in Productable

What is a Portfolio? ⚙️

A Portfolio serves as a structured container for innovations and projects. It provides decision-makers with a standardized, repeatable framework for making data-driven investment decisions, ensuring consistency and efficiency in evaluating opportunities that have the potential to generate high ROI for the organization.

Who Manages a Portfolio? 👩‍💻

Each Portfolio is managed by a Portfolio Owner, who oversees the projects within the Portfolio. The Portfolio Owner ensures that innovations are properly structured, evaluated, and advanced through the stages of idea maturation. Organizing your team within Portfolios should be based on decision-making authority, ensuring clear responsibility for progressing projects.

How is a Portfolio Organized? 🗂️

Portfolios help structure innovation efforts by grouping related projects together. Portfolios are typically owned by different groups or organizations. Portfolios exist under a parent Collection. They provide:

• Standardized frameworks for tracking progress and making investment decisions.

• Visibility into project pipelines, showing where each initiative stands in its lifecycle.

• Data-driven insights to help prioritize projects that align with organizational goals.

What is on the Portfolio Dashboard? 💻

The Portfolio Dashboard provides an at-a-glance view of the Portfolio’s performance and management details. Key sections include:

• Portfolio Health Metrics: Displays active projects, average time in each stage, barrier duration, completion time, and off-ramp percentage.

• Stage Progression Overview: Shows where projects stand in the innovation lifecycle, highlighting overdue actions, attention-needed items, and active status indicators.

• Outcome Section: Allows Portfolio Owners to define and share strategic goals for the Portfolio.

• Funding Section: Provides visibility into financial availability and allocation for projects within the Portfolio.

• Decisions Section: Tracks key decisions related to project progression and investment approval.

• Team Members: Lists the individuals responsible for managing and contributing to the Portfolio.

• Description: Offers a summary of the Portfolio’s purpose and focus area.

How can my team collaborate in a Portfolio? 🤝

The Activity tab in a Portfolio provides a centralized view of updates, discussions, and decisions related to the projects within the Portfolio. It serves as a communication hub where innovators, Portfolio Owners, and stakeholders can track progress, address challenges, and share insights.

What can be tracked in the Activity tab?

1. Project Status Updates

Innovators can provide real-time updates on their projects, informing Portfolio Owners about progress and next steps.

Example: A team member posts that a project has achieved full compliance and is ready for the next stage.

2. Celebratory Wins

Successes and milestones can be shared to highlight progress and boost team morale.

Example: A post announces that security challenges have been resolved, marking a major achievement.

3. Barrier Reporting

Teams can document challenges such as technical issues, regulatory hurdles, or operational bottlenecks.

Example: A post outlines compliance barriers that are slowing down the approval process.

4. Decision Tracking

• Pending and completed decisions, such as project stage transitions, are displayed for visibility. Example: A pending decision to advance a project from one stage to another is noted in the feed.

5. Cross-Functional Learning & Collaboration

• Team members can discuss challenges, tag colleagues for input, and offer insights to support ongoing projects. Example: A Portfolio Owner asks a team member for their opinion on a compliance-related update.

By using the Activity tab, teams ensure transparency, maintain alignment, and foster collaboration across projects within the Portfolio.

What permissions do Portfolio Owners have? 🔐

Portfolio Owners have authority over projects within their Portfolio. Their key permissions include:

• Adding and managing projects to align with strategic priorities.

• Defining custom fields to capture relevant data from projects for decision-making.

• Approving stage transitions to ensure projects move forward at the right time, or are off-ramped when necessary.

• Managing funding availability to communicate resources transparently.

For more details on roles and permissions, refer to our guide: Roles & Permissions.