A summary of Cliff Consulting\'s way of helping clients reduce costs in their project portfolio, while increasing their chances of success in the most critical projects

1. Project Prioritization Process
Prioritize your organization’s projects to
effectively focus resources where they’ll count
1

2. Big Picture Thinking: Focus and Cost
Savings Combined
 CCI offers an opportunity to focus your organization’s resources on only
those initiatives that matter most, reducing your organization’s costs in
the process
 From this short, cost-limited engagement you will gain:
• Consensus among stakeholders on your current environment,
including key business goals and your current project portfolio
• Insight into how current and planned projects contribute to critical
business success
• Endorsement of a rationalized project queue that enables you to
focus on the most important initiatives and avoid unnecessary costs
• Commitment among key leaders and stakeholders across
organizational boundaries on the path forward
2

3. What You Get
The Experience The Deliverables
 
Facilitation – neutral, experienced A diagnosis summary – An overview of the
consultants guide your stakeholders ‘As Is’ landscape of project initiatives and
toward shared insight into your current business drivers
current environment
 A Portfolio Prioritization Matrix - An
 Partnership – unbiased participation inventory of your projects, set against your
fosters open discussion among key organization’s short- and long-term strategic,
resources and stakeholders. financial, and tactical goals, including gaps
and overlaps
 Expertise – focused analysis of your
 A Portfolio Phasing Map – A prioritized
project portfolio employs tools
synthesized from over 35 years of mapping of your organization’s initiatives
project experience derived from working sessions with key
constituents
 Value – well-vetted action plan
 A Recommended Path Forward – Vetted
enabling your leadership to
successfully focus on a short list of recommendations on portfolio phasing, gaps,
critical initiatives and defer projects cost avoidance opportunities, and next steps,
that can wait. including reusable tools for future analysis
and planning
You Will Experience Immediate Impact with CCI on Your Team
3

4. What We Do
Week 0 Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6
Timing
Discovery Analysis Delivery
1. Discovery: 4. Planning:
2. Synthesis: 3. Prioritization:
Understand current Drive toward
Analyze project Determine
Key environment, goals and commitment to
portfolio against priorities & phasing
Steps project portfolio recommended
key criteria in partnership with
action plan
key stakeholders
• Engaging with your key leaders • Working with constituents to • Citing areas of • Delivering
and stakeholders to understand identify prioritization criteria agreement/disagreement recommendations for top
your organization’s current state • Providing a synthesized view of among key constituents priority projects, and next
what we’ve learned, including • Working with constituents to
and future goals. steps in the decision-
• Collecting and analyzing salient making process
an overview of your current rank projects according to
• Delivering findings,
data, including org charts, environment, key risks, near identified criteria
Key budgets, project lists, business term goals, long term vision prioritized project listing,
Activities • Assembling a comprehensive
cases, etc. analysis tool kits, and
recommendations
list of projects underway,
planned, and envisioned for the
future, with key business case
data, as available
Portfolio Prioritization working
Key Meetings Stakeholder Interviews Initial Findings workshop End presentation
sessions
Deliverables Diagnosis Summary Portfolio Prioritization Matrix Portfolio Phasing Map Recommended path forward
Common endorsement about
Consensus among stakeholders Objective insight into relative Shared commitment for
‘the critical few’ initiatives and the
Outcome on ‘As Is’ status value of the project portfolio the way forward
initiatives to be deferred
4

5. Overview of Key Deliverables
Deliverable Description
•
Diagnosis Summary Shows initial assessment of ‘As Is’ landscape, including key issues to be
analyzed, and potential scoping options
• Summarizes stakeholder near-team goals and challenges
• Summarizes stakeholder priorities and expectations from the project portfolio
and what the project portfolio plans to deliver in reality
•
Portfolio Prioritization Matrix Consolidates and values priority ranking criteria
• Identifies key project initiatives that meet critical business needs as well as gaps
and overlaps
• Identifies project initiatives that are not driven by critical business needs
•
Portfolio Phasing Map Shows tentative phasing based upon business drivers
• Used as discussion document for key constituents to openly discuss priorities
and cost savings opportunities
•
Recommended Path Forward Summarizes key findings, gaps identified, business-critical project initiatives,
cost avoidance opportunities, portfolio roadmap, and recommended actions to
re-prioritize the project portfolio
• Includes re-useable tools for future analysis and planning
5

6. Why Cliff Consulting?
 CCI consultants will facilitate the conversation to bring together
disparate opinions in open dialogue and find common ground on
the way forward
 CCI has a proven track record in reprioritization of its clients’
project portfolios, achieving
• Significant cost avoidance and cost reduction in the near term
• A focus on critical business needs for the long term
 CCI consultants partner with their clients in achieving results,
empowering their clients to re-use the process themselves
 CCI consultants have an average of 15 years experience in similar
projects, supported by a firm with over 35 years of delivering
high value services to a broad range of organizations
6

7. We’re Here to Help
For further information, please contact us!
info@cliffconsulting.net
510-530-7751
7