8 min read • Guide 563 of 877
Portfolio Management for Multiple Projects
Portfolio management provides visibility across all projects so you can allocate resources, balance priorities, and identify risks at the organizational level. GitScrum's multi-project dashboards and cross-project reporting help managers see the big picture while teams focus on their individual work. The key is connecting strategic priorities to project execution.
Portfolio vs Project Management
| Aspect | Project Management | Portfolio Management |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | Single project | Multiple projects |
| Goal | Deliver on time/budget | Strategic objectives |
| View | Detailed tasks | High-level status |
| Decisions | How to execute | What to prioritize |
| Horizon | Weeks/months | Quarters/years |
Portfolio Structure
PORTFOLIO ORGANIZATION
PORTFOLIO HIERARCHY:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ PORTFOLIO: Product Development │
│ Owner: VP Engineering │
│ │
│ ├── PROGRAM: Platform Modernization │
│ │ ├── Project: API v3 Migration │
│ │ ├── Project: Database Upgrade │
│ │ └── Project: Cloud Migration │
│ │ │
│ ├── PROGRAM: New Product Launch │
│ │ ├── Project: Core Feature Development │
│ │ ├── Project: Mobile App │
│ │ └── Project: Integration Suite │
│ │ │
│ └── STANDALONE PROJECTS: │
│ ├── Project: Security Compliance │
│ ├── Project: Performance Optimization │
│ └── Project: Technical Debt Reduction │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
PORTFOLIO METADATA:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Project Priority Budget Status │
│ ────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ API v3 Migration P1 $500K 🟢 Track│
│ Core Features P1 $800K 🟡 Risk │
│ Mobile App P2 $400K 🟢 Track│
│ Cloud Migration P2 $600K 🔵 Plan │
│ Security Compliance P1 $200K 🟢 Track│
│ Performance Opt P3 $100K ⏸ Pause │
│ Tech Debt P3 $150K 🟢 Track│
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Prioritization Framework
PROJECT PRIORITIZATION
SCORING MODEL:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Criteria Weight Score (1-5) │
│ ────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ Strategic alignment 30% How well does │
│ it support OKRs?│
│ │
│ Business value 25% Revenue/cost │
│ impact │
│ │
│ Urgency 20% Time-sensitive │
│ factors │
│ │
│ Risk level 15% Technical and │
│ execution risk │
│ │
│ Resource efficiency 10% Team capability │
│ and availability│
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
SCORING EXAMPLE:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Project: API v3 Migration │
│ │
│ Strategic alignment: 5 × 0.30 = 1.50 │
│ Business value: 4 × 0.25 = 1.00 │
│ Urgency: 4 × 0.20 = 0.80 │
│ Risk (inverse): 3 × 0.15 = 0.45 │
│ Resource efficiency: 4 × 0.10 = 0.40 │
│ ───────────────────────────────────────── │
│ TOTAL SCORE: 4.15/5.00 → Priority 1 │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
PRIORITY BANDS:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ P1 (4.0+): Active, fully resourced │
│ P2 (3.0-3.9): Active, may share resources │
│ P3 (2.0-2.9): Backlog, work when capacity │
│ P4 (<2.0): Deprioritized, consider dropping │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Resource Allocation
CROSS-PROJECT RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
TEAM ALLOCATION VIEW:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Team Alpha (6 engineers) │
│ ├── API v3 Migration: 100% │
│ └── Dedicated team, no sharing │
│ │
│ Team Beta (5 engineers) │
│ ├── Core Features: 80% │
│ └── Tech Debt: 20% │
│ │
│ Team Gamma (4 engineers) │
│ ├── Mobile App: 100% │
│ └── Dedicated team │
│ │
│ Platform Team (5 engineers) │
│ ├── Cloud Migration: 60% │
│ ├── Security Compliance: 30% │
│ └── Support: 10% │
│ │
│ Total: 20 engineers across 7 projects │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
SHARED RESOURCE PROTOCOL:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Specialists shared across projects: │
│ │
│ @dba (1 person): │
│ ├── Mon-Wed: Database Upgrade │
│ ├── Thu-Fri: Security Compliance │
│ └── Rule: Min 2-day blocks │
│ │
│ @security-lead (1 person): │
│ ├── 50% Security Compliance │
│ ├── 30% Cloud Migration │
│ └── 20% Consulting to other projects │
│ │
│ Conflict resolution: │
│ └── P1 projects take precedence │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Portfolio Dashboard
PORTFOLIO STATUS DASHBOARD
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Q1 2025 Portfolio Health │
│ │
│ Projects: 7 Active | Budget: $2.75M | Teams: 4 │
│ │
│ Status Distribution: │
│ 🟢 On Track: 4 🟡 At Risk: 2 🔴 Off Track: 0 ⏸ Paused: 1│
│ │
│ Budget Status: │
│ Spent: $1.2M (44%) Remaining: $1.55M Burn Rate: On Track │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
PROJECT DETAIL VIEW:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Project Progress Health Budget Timeline Risk │
│ ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ API v3 Migration ███░░ 65% 🟢 ██░ 55% On Track Low │
│ Core Features ██░░░ 45% 🟡 ███ 60% 2 wks late Med │
│ Mobile App ████░ 80% 🟢 ██░ 50% On Track Low │
│ Cloud Migration █░░░░ 20% 🟢 █░░ 15% On Track Med │
│ Security Compl ███░░ 70% 🟢 ██░ 45% On Track Low │
│ Performance Opt ░░░░░ 0% ⏸ ░░░ 0% Paused - │
│ Tech Debt ██░░░ 40% 🟡 ██░ 50% Slow Low │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
ATTENTION NEEDED:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 🟡 Core Features: 2 weeks behind schedule │
│ Cause: Key dependency delayed │
│ Action: Review scope for MVP reduction │
│ │
│ 🟡 Tech Debt: Velocity below target │
│ Cause: Team pulled into Core Features │
│ Action: Reassign after Core stabilizes │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Portfolio Review Process
PORTFOLIO GOVERNANCE
WEEKLY: Project Status Updates
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Each project lead reports: │
│ ├── Progress this week │
│ ├── Status (Green/Yellow/Red) │
│ ├── Blockers needing escalation │
│ └── Key decisions needed │
│ │
│ Format: Async status in project tracker │
│ Time: 15 min per project lead │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
MONTHLY: Portfolio Review Meeting
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Attendees: Portfolio owner, project leads │
│ Duration: 90 minutes │
│ │
│ Agenda: │
│ 1. Portfolio dashboard review (15 min) │
│ 2. At-risk projects deep dive (30 min) │
│ 3. Resource rebalancing discussion (20 min) │
│ 4. New project intake review (15 min) │
│ 5. Decisions and action items (10 min) │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
QUARTERLY: Strategic Review
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Attendees: Executive team, portfolio owner │
│ Duration: 2 hours │
│ │
│ Agenda: │
│ 1. Q performance vs objectives │
│ 2. Project priority re-scoring │
│ 3. Resource allocation for next Q │
│ 4. New projects to add to portfolio │
│ 5. Projects to pause/stop │
│ 6. Budget adjustments │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Trade-off Decisions
PORTFOLIO TRADE-OFF FRAMEWORK
WHEN PROJECTS COMPETE:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Scenario: Two P1 projects need same resource │
│ │
│ Decision Framework: │
│ 1. Which has harder deadline? → Wins │
│ 2. Which has higher risk if delayed? → Wins │
│ 3. Can either be descoped? → Try that first │
│ 4. Can we hire/contract? → Evaluate cost │
│ 5. Escalate to portfolio owner for decision │
│ │
│ Document decision and rationale always │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
RESOURCE CRUNCH PLAYBOOK:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Options when over capacity: │
│ │
│ 1. Pause P3 projects (first choice) │
│ 2. Reduce scope on P2 projects │
│ 3. Extend timelines on P2 projects │
│ 4. Add temporary resources (contractors) │
│ 5. Reduce scope on P1 projects (last resort) │
│ │
│ Never: Overwork teams as default solution │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Best Practices
- Limit active projects to available capacity
- Prioritize ruthlessly — not everything is P1
- Dedicated teams when possible to reduce switching
- Regular reviews to catch issues early
- Clear trade-off criteria for decisions
- Transparent status across all projects
- Buffer capacity for unexpected work
- Stop projects that aren't delivering value
Anti-Patterns
✗ Too many active projects for capacity
✗ Everything is "Priority 1"
✗ Resources split across 4+ projects
✗ No regular portfolio reviews
✗ Never stopping or pausing projects
✗ Hidden status until crisis