Lean Portfolio Management in Not-for-profit 

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed a lot of things. Things that once felt certain, no longer are. As we learn to work with this uncertainty, the only real certainty is that we can expect ongoing change. An organisations ability to work with this uncertainty as they recover and grow may be the difference between folding, surviving or thriving.

One of the changes we expect to see is less funding for projects than has previously been available. Organisations that have been able to fund a broad range of projects in the past will need to be more selective and laser focussed on those that deliver strategic benefit and shareholder value. Additionally, organisations need the ability to react and adapt to ongoing changes in order to compete.

Exco Partners are experts in Portfolio Management. We define and implement flexible portfolio planning and capital management models that align to an organisation’s way of working. We leverage the best of Lean Portfolio Management, traditional portfolio planning and sound financial and resource planning principles. Our approach enables an effective balance of stability and adaptability.

Our team have a depth of experience across strategic planning, portfolio management, finance operating models and organisational model design with a robust methodology for managing organisational change covering aspects of building awareness and advocacy to uplifting capability and embedding new ways of working.

We are also skilled in the leadership, management and delivery of the portfolio management technology implementation.

As an example of our work, we assisted a pre-eminent Suicide Prevention- Not for Profit organisation to reimagine their approach to Portfolio Management. In order to support a revised operating model, a future proposed way of working and a need to be more adaptable, we guided the organisation through a significant re-design and definition of their Portfolio Management Framework. This aligned with during the first wave of COVID-19 and the need for the organisation to promptly address changes in funding sources and mix.

The implemented model leverages principles of Lean Portfolio Management and immediately helped the organisation to adapt to changes in the environment, funding arrangements and services. It continues to support the organisation to incrementally review and refine their near-term portfolio of work at regular intervals whilst not losing sight of their overall strategic commitment.

The model, processes and planning behaviours is also proving successful in supporting the organisations transition towards project delivery with increased agility.