Understanding Importance of Portfolio Vision in Detail

It is important for an organization to stay competitive and walk towards an agile setup. This is a particularly important need for businesses that are trying to push constant value to their customers as well. 

Consequently, one of the critical components towards progress is having a reasonable portfolio vision to successfully satisfy the demands of the industry. Here, I will give you direct information in regards to vision and perceive how it helps in remaining competitive and agile throughout your tenure.

Apart from that, I will be going to explain more about the importance of a portfolio vision and how it helps drive a competitive environment in the overall field. 

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What Does Organization Mean by Portfolio Vision?

As per definition, a portfolio vision defines a clear and concise description of the future state of a portfolio’s value streams and solutions. Inside the portfolio, you can easily see the strategic direction undertaken and objectives that a portfolio aims to achieve in the longer position of their time. Thus, it is typically associated with an organization’s strategic value streams. 

When you share such a portfolio with your stakeholders, it helps them identify and align themselves with the goal of the company. The primary purpose that a portfolio vision aims to solve is to provide a shared understanding among all the stakeholders. When you clearly share such a vision, it serves as a guidepost for decision-making, prioritization, and resource allocation in the portfolio. 

Key Features to Note in an Effective Portfolio Vision

If you want your portfolio to be effective, it must have certain characteristics, which I am going to mention below: 

• While creating the portfolio vision, it is essential to note the challenges that the teams strive for. Apart from that, all the goals that are available must be statistically relevant, and resources and constraints must be mapped out effectively. 

• Aligning with strategic themes the next important part of the portfolio vision is to align it with the strategic objectives of the project. Thus, it helps contribute the portfolio to the broader goals of the organization. 

• The portfolio vision must also be understandable easily for the stakeholders and must avoid jargon. It must articulate the information for future operations in an appropriate way as well. 

• For making a portfolio, it must be motivational in nature, and it must provide the teams with a sense of purpose. Thus, a good portfolio canvas must answer the “why” a certain thing is essential and understand its efforts for the bigger picture. 

• Apart from that, the portfolio must also be flexible and must accommodate changes in the market or customer needs efficiently. This data must be regularly updated and reviewed based on the new insights that you have gathered over time. 

While creating such a portfolio it is highly needed to check the above factors before finalizing the draft. 

Top Suggested Practices for Developing a Portfolio Vision

The primary use of portfolio canvas is to ensure the inclusion of value streams in the SAFe portfolio. It must contain everything certain aspects, which include the value streams and other vital activities required for a portfolio vision development. Some of the best practices that you need to see are as follows: 

• Take follow-ups from your stakeholders, which includes business owners, product managers, and agile teams as well. The insights that they provide will help you to create a better comprehensive action as well. 

• Scaled Agile Framework also called SAFe, is known to provide a tool called Portfolio Canvas. You can use this tool to capture and visualize the portfolio vision appropriately. Apart from that, the canvas also acts as a key documentation for value streams, solutions, customers, and financial considerations as well. 

• Perform a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) to analyze the current areas of growth and improvement. Apart from that, it is also a stable solution regarding shaping the future state vision. 

• It is also suggested to create two variations of the portfolio vision, where one includes the current state and the other represents the future state. When you compare the two canvases, it helps identify gaps and changes needed for streamlining the operations towards a stable future. 

• Communication is also needed for socializing the vision with others as well. When you have created a portfolio vision, it must also be communicated as a whole efficiently to your stakeholders as well. Using multiple channels helps you communicate the decision and also makes sure that everyone is aligned with the same vision as well. 

• Regularly update, as the portfolio vision must be the living document that you can regularly review and update as per situations. Any strategic shifts must be properly communicated and ensure stable business success. 

Consequently, remembering all such factors will help you in getting success as all the teams are working in tandem. This is one of the important features of portfolio vision that companies are trying to promote.

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Tips Required for Effective Portfolio Visioning 

I can provide you with multiple tips to help in the portfolio vision development as per the vision. Some of them are as follows: 

1. Always try to focus on the outcomes and do not focus only on outputs. It is important to check for the desired business outcomes rather than focusing on the technical features. 

2. It is also suggested that while developing the portfolio you take bold steps. These steps encompass anything that is helpful for the development of an appropriate strategy. Do not take any steps that are particularly off-putting as per your business conditions.

3. Make the portfolio canvas truly unique by adding some unique pictures to it. Therefore, it stands as a strong presentation that helps you communicate the important aspects to the clients easily. 

4. Align the portfolio vision with the strategy of your organization. Such a portfolio must represent an accurate direction and strategy that the stakeholders can take. 

5. If your portfolio is moving in an appropriate direction, then it is needed for you to start celebrating every milestone. It helps ensure that you are on the same page, this approach also helps an individual to maintain momentum and provide a strong commitment to vision as well. 

Thus, the key importance of developing a portfolio vision is to create an environment where everyone is on the same page. 

Using SAFe Portfolio Canvas to Document a Portfolio Vision

There are several processes to create portfolio documentation by taking into account the SAFe methods. Mostly, a portfolio vision can be made by taking into account the sections that capture the essential information, they are: 

1. Identifying the Value Stream Solutions 

This section is known to initiate the development of value streams within a specific portfolio and solutions. Each value stream designates a specific set of related activities and helps maintain an appropriate solution for customers. 

2. Value Propositions 

In this case, a canvas is known to provide an appropriate value which a company is delivering to their end users. This includes the customer segment served and channels utilized for reaching them. Additionally, this approach is also known to include the nature of customer relationships that are developed over a specific amount of time. 

3. Key Resources and Activities 

In this section, a particular company is able to get an idea about the key resources in terms of people, infrastructure or technology required for the clients. This is an especially important consideration for delivering appropriate solutions for the clients. 

4. Financial Considerations 

This portfolio canvas is also known to include the financial resources allocated per value stream of the project. This also includes the revenue streams that are generated and the overall cost structure of the portfolio as well. 

When you document all these features of a project in a single portfolio vision it helps ensure that you can understand:

1. Importance of each process applicable in the value stream. 

2. Check the budget allocation and change it as per consideration as well.

3. Developing and delivering an appropriate solution by documenting them in your portfolio. 

Ultimately, one can review the portfolio multiple times and it becomes a living document that can be changed as per requirements. 

Importance of Using SWOT and TOWS for Analyzing Vision Portfolio 

Although there are multiple ways to assess the portfolio vision. A business needs to understand the impact that its portfolio has by analyzing it as per a specific framework. 

Here we will focus on two such matrices that help in understanding the portfolio vision, they are as follows:

• SWOT Matrix (Strength Weakness Opportunity Threat): Under this matrix, you can easily assess the current state of the portfolio of a business. SWOT matrix helps you assess both the internal and external environments at the same time. Therefore, you can easily analyze the opportunities and threats and work your way towards success. 

• TOWS Matrix (Threats Opportunities Weakness and Threat): Such a matrix is known to help with external factors by juxtaposing internal factors (strengths and weaknesses) with external factors (opportunities and threats). Therefore, in this way, it helps with making a favorable strategy against external pressures. 

Together, the SWOT and TOWS matrices are known to bridge the understanding of the current state and targeted future. Using such a matrix, you can capture larger changes as they are reflected in the Kanban-associated portfolio backlog. 

Alternatives to Determine a Future State 

It is one of the important features of any portfolio vision to check for all kinds of alternatives available. In this stage, you need to find alternatives and make sure that the process of delivering value is not compromised. Thus, it is an essential decision to take appropriate steps and find alternatives for your portfolio vision as well. Apart from that, the portfolio is also essential to ensure that you have a proper understanding of the market trends. Key aspects of the process are as follows:

• Define a Clear Vision 

• Identify the process alternatives if applicable

• For each alternative, you must have a comparative analysis as well

After such considerations, you can easily get a clear idea and get an appropriate alternative for project success. 

Enhancing the Portfolio Vision Over Time 

The portfolio vision gets updated every time as per the new data or information that you have received. Therefore, it is important to evolve the portfolio as per the new standards or challenges, they are: 

• Possible discoveries of new solutions 

• Creation of new mergers and acquisitions

• Understanding the market rhythms 

• Getting strategic pivots, etc. 

Therefore, it is a live document that changes the direction of the project as per the new information that you can get. Moreover, it is also helpful in reiterating different aspects of the documentation as per newly received data. 

Sample Portfolio Vision for Businesses 

Let me provide you with an example of Accenture. 

“Think Different. Accenture’s exclusive investment & engagement program for talented entrepreneurs addressing our global enterprise clients’ largest strategic innovation gaps.”. 

This explains the core innovation and the statement that involves connecting everyone under the same sphere as well. Therefore, it is a part of the strategic innovation that a company like Accenture is using to tie everyone under the same framework of development. 

All the companies keep their portfolio vision private, thus after the statement, I am provisioning a rough vision template below: 

Image Source: https://scaledagileframework.com/portfolio-vision/ 

Conclusion

Overall, the portfolio vision helps ensure a company showcases the appropriate ambition or development of the company. It is also key documentation that provides detailed knowledge about resources, key partners, revenue streams, cost structure, etc. This kind of portfolio of a company helps secure the business strategy and march toward development. SAFe Training plays a crucial role in this process by equipping teams with the tools and knowledge to implement the Agile framework effectively under SAFe. It ensures you can access all the necessary information and steer your organization toward success. 

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What does a portfolio vision consist of?

The portfolio vision must consist of aspirational, realistic, and yet achievable outcomes for the team. This document might contain anything that a company intends to keep, notwithstanding what the general templates suggest. 

2. What is the aim of a portfolio vision?

Portfolio vision helps a company provide capital growth over the medium to long-term investing period. This is usually a document that denotes the key strategy of the business and the scopes or sources of revenue generation as well. 

3. What is SAFe in Portfolio Vision?

A SAFe portfolio vision aligns a general strategy of execution with a collection of development value streams. Thus, in the vision portfolio, SAFe helps a user understand the main points where the value is created and its value flows to the customers.