Strategic Program & Portfolio Management
Advance to senior management levels with expertise in aligning multiple projects with organizational strategy and optimizing resource allocation across portfolios.
Program Overview
This advanced 16-week program prepares experienced project managers for senior leadership positions in program and portfolio management. You'll develop capabilities to align multiple projects with organizational strategy, optimize resource allocation across portfolios, and drive benefits realization at the enterprise level.
The curriculum covers portfolio selection methodologies, prioritization frameworks, and capacity planning across project portfolios. You'll learn financial analysis techniques for project selection including ROI calculations, net present value analysis, and comprehensive business case development. The program addresses governance structures for multi-project environments and techniques for managing project interdependencies.
Beyond technical portfolio management skills, you'll develop executive stakeholder engagement capabilities and learn to navigate organizational politics at senior levels. The program explores change management approaches, organizational project maturity models, and strategic alignment frameworks. Complex case studies from various industries provide practice with realistic scenarios you'll encounter in program manager and PMO director roles.
Advanced Capabilities
Senior Leadership Development
This program addresses the transition from managing individual projects to overseeing programs and portfolios. Participants typically develop strategic thinking capabilities that help them contribute to organizational planning at senior levels.
Strategic Perspective
Learn to evaluate projects through strategic lenses rather than just operational considerations. Develop ability to assess how projects contribute to organizational objectives and make recommendations about portfolio composition.
Executive Communication
Practice communicating with C-level stakeholders and board members. Learn to present portfolio performance, resource needs, and strategic recommendations in formats appropriate for executive decision-making.
Organizational Navigation
Understand political dynamics in large organizations and develop approaches for building coalitions, managing competing interests, and securing support for portfolio initiatives across organizational boundaries.
PMO Leadership
Learn to establish and operate Project Management Offices that support organizational project capabilities. Address PMO charter development, service offerings, and approaches for demonstrating value to stakeholders.
Portfolio Management Frameworks
The program covers established frameworks and methodologies for portfolio management. You'll learn to apply these approaches while adapting them to specific organizational contexts.
Portfolio Selection
Learn methodologies for evaluating potential projects and selecting those that best support strategic objectives. Practice scoring models, financial analysis, and risk-adjusted prioritization approaches.
- Weighted scoring matrices
- Strategic alignment assessment
- Comparative analysis methods
Resource Optimization
Develop techniques for allocating limited resources across competing project demands. Learn capacity planning, resource leveling, and approaches for managing resource conflicts across portfolios.
- Capacity modeling techniques
- Resource allocation matrices
- Constraint management
Benefits Realization
Learn to define, track, and report on benefits expected from project investments. Develop frameworks for measuring value delivery and adjusting portfolios based on benefits achievement.
- Benefits identification methods
- Value tracking mechanisms
- Post-implementation review
Financial Analysis Competencies
Understanding financial dimensions of project selection and portfolio management is essential for senior PM roles. The program develops your ability to analyze and communicate financial aspects of project investments.
Investment Analysis
Learn to evaluate project investments using standard financial metrics. Practice calculating return on investment, net present value, internal rate of return, and payback periods for different project types.
Business Case Development
Develop comprehensive business cases that justify project investments to executive stakeholders. Learn to structure arguments, present financial projections, and address risk considerations appropriately.
Budget Management
Learn portfolio-level budget planning and allocation approaches. Develop skills in forecasting, variance analysis, and financial reporting for multiple simultaneous projects.
Risk-Adjusted Analysis
Incorporate risk assessment into financial evaluations of project portfolios. Learn to quantify risks, adjust financial projections, and communicate uncertainty to decision-makers.
Program Participants
This advanced program serves experienced project managers ready to take on senior leadership responsibilities in program and portfolio management.
Senior Project Managers
PMs with several years of experience who want to advance to program manager roles overseeing multiple related projects and managing interdependencies across them.
PMO Professionals
Current PMO staff members seeking to move into PMO director positions with responsibility for establishing governance, standards, and organizational project management capabilities.
Program Managers
Professionals already managing programs who want to develop portfolio management capabilities and learn to operate at more strategic levels within organizations.
Department Directors
Departmental leaders responsible for multiple initiatives who need structured approaches to prioritizing work, allocating resources, and ensuring strategic alignment.
Strategy Professionals
Strategy and planning professionals who need to understand portfolio management to better align project selection with organizational strategic objectives and resource capabilities.
Consultants
Management consultants advising organizations on project portfolio optimization, PMO establishment, or organizational project management maturity improvement initiatives.
Learning Evaluation Approaches
The program uses various assessment methods designed to evaluate your development of strategic thinking and portfolio management capabilities.
Complex Case Studies
Analyze realistic portfolio scenarios from various industries including technology, manufacturing, and financial services. These multi-faceted cases require you to balance competing priorities and make recommendations considering strategic, financial, and operational factors.
Executive Presentations
Develop and deliver presentations on portfolio recommendations to simulated executive audiences. Practice communicating complex portfolio decisions concisely and handling challenging questions from senior stakeholders.
Financial Analysis Projects
Complete detailed financial analyses of project portfolios including ROI calculations, business case development, and risk-adjusted projections. These exercises build your capability to evaluate investments from financial perspectives.
PMO Design Assignment
Design a PMO structure for a simulated organization including governance frameworks, service offerings, and implementation roadmaps. This capstone exercise integrates learning across program modules.
Peer Reviews
Review and provide feedback on other participants' portfolio analyses and recommendations. This process develops critical evaluation skills and exposes you to diverse approaches for addressing portfolio challenges.
Additional Course Options
Project Management Fundamentals & Methodologies
Build foundational PM skills with comprehensive coverage of waterfall, agile, and hybrid approaches. 12-week program including tools training.
Agile & Scrum Mastery Program
Specialize in agile methodologies and Scrum framework implementation. 10-week focused program emphasizing iterative delivery and team facilitation.
Advance Your Leadership Career
Considering the transition to program or portfolio management? We're available to discuss whether this advanced program aligns with your career objectives.
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