Senior leaders are focused on growth and improvement of financial results and performance to customers. This strategic goal can be achieved using a collection, or portfolio, of initiatives aimed at improving all parts of a business. While the portfolio idea is not new, many companies struggle to build and manage one that delivers results.
Growth means an increase in revenue, geographic reach and product range, resulting in increased revenue and improved margins. Improvement means doing better within the current business and often addresses safety, quality, delivery, and cost. Financial targets should be connected with all growth and improvement efforts.
The portfolio should encompass all business functions - Sales, Engineering, Operations, Finance, HR and IT. Improvement ideas come from across the enterprise: employees, customers, suppliers and consultants. A good way to launch the initial portfolio is with an ideation event, where stakeholders meet to agree on the initial list of initiatives.
Once the portfolio is created, a screening step is needed to quantify the benefits of each initiative. Multivariate analysis tools should be used to evaluate benefit vs cost, time and effort needed to achieve it. Senior leaders can then make decisions on which initiatives to apply human and financial capital.
Managing the portfolio for successful results is where the work is done. This is the focus for upcoming articles. Contact me to schedule a discussion on how to outline an improvement portfolio for your business, or to schedule an ideation session to launch it.
BJ Kroppe, President
Wilmarco Technologies
cell: +1 610 427 3949
email: [email protected]