Unlike project and program managers, portfolio managers do not actually manage work or teams, although they may have a portfolio management team.
They manage the intake and performance of the portfolio, as well as the allocation of resources to the projects and programs within the portfolio.
The project and program managers ensure that the work is done right, while the portfolio managers ensure that the teams are doing the right work.
Portfolio managers monitor the portfolio components and the portfolio as a whole for strategic value and communicate that performance to stakeholders with recommendations or options for action.
They also ensure that program and project managers receive the communication they need from portfolio stakeholders.
They are the bridge between the two.
Stakeholders may include, but are not limited to the CEO and other executives, functional management, operations management, legal, finance, HR, PMO, and the program/project teams.
A portfolio manager could be a person, a team, or a governing body, such as a project management office, or PMO.
Their specific responsibilities include–
1) Establishing and maintaining a communication structure, policies, and procedures for the portfolio.
2) Developing and maintaining portfolio management processes, such as risk management, change management, strategic management, and communication management.
3) Ensuring the alignment with strategic objectives.
4) Establishing and managing the supporting IT infrastructure of the portfolio.
5) Continuous review and optimization of the portfolio as organizational goals and needs change.
6) Monitoring the value of the portfolio through established metrics, such as the balanced scorecard.
7) Communicating progress and recommendations to senior management to support their decision making.
The portfolio manager needs to be aware of how the portfolio is related to the organizational strategy and assess and measure the benefits that the portfolio is adding to the organization’s objectives.
Also the portfolio manager should be able to manage risks, monitor and prioritize portfolio components, resolve issues that need senior-level attention, develop and improve processes, and apply organizational knowledge and management skills.
In addition, the portfolio manager should be able to efficiently manage the organization’s resources
and provide timely information to stakeholders.
So while a project manager manages the triple constraint of time, cost, and scope and a program manager manages the interdependencies between its programs and projects in order to realize benefits, a portfolio manager aligns the portfolio with organizational strategies by selecting the right programs and/or projects, prioritizing the work, and providing the needed resources to its components.
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