1) Portfolio walls are used to plan and prioritize work across teams and departments for the next 3-12 months, creating transparency and focus on goals. 2) Shifting a portfolio wall's focus from team to department goals changes conversations from individual contributions to collaborative wins. 3) Aligning portfolio walls across departments and managing dependencies between teams improves decision making and increases business agility.

1. Portfolio planning
and prioritization at
scale
Jasper Sonnevelt
Twitter: @jaspersonnevelt
Lean Kanban Central Europe 2016 | @jaspersonnevelt
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2. Problem 1: Autonomy, entrepreneurship, alignment
How to align Product Owners &
teams to organizational goals
without telling them what to do?
Lean Kanban Central Europe 2016 | @jaspersonnevelt
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3. From (department) purpose to tasks
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Team goals (kpi’s) (quarter - year)
(multiple sprints)Epic
Feature(< sprint)
Why?
Why?
Why?
Why?
(hours)Tasks
User story (days)
Team purpose (~1 year)
Goals (~1 year)
Department purpose (multiple years)
Lean Kanban Central Europe 2016 | @jaspersonnevelt

4. From (department) purpose to tasks
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Department purpose
Team goals (kpi’s) (quarter - year)
(multiple sprints)Epic
Feature(< sprint)
(hours)Tasks
User story (days)
Team purpose (~1 year)
Goals (~1 year)
(multiple years)
Lean Kanban Central Europe 2016 | @jaspersonnevelt

5. The Portfolio Wall
Makes work visible for the next 3-12 months
Creates focus on department goals
Aligns teams and is used to manage
dependencies
Lean Kanban Central Europe 2016 | @jaspersonnevelt
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6. Portfolio wall - theory
A portfolio wall shows the work to be done, usually up to half a year ahead:
§ The X-axis shows time, for instance in sprint numbers
§ The Y-axis shows:
• in Product Development: teams
o for the whole organisation
o for a product, in a tribe, portfolio or business line
o or a single team/squad
• in Business: customer segments or product
Purpose of a portfolio wall:
§ Visually prioritizing and planning the work ahead
§ Creating focus
§ Adjusting the plan: changes, team estimates
§ Coordination over teams or customer segments
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Lean Kanban Central Europe 2016 | @jaspersonnevelt

7. Goals for now
Information sharing
Transparency
Better discussions and decision making
Lean Kanban Central Europe 2016 | @jaspersonnevelt
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Portfolio walls are a great place to share
information about what we are actually
passionate about

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Teams

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12. Portfolio Market Place
Portfolio wall is updated
New work is prioritized and
added
Changes are discussed
At the end of the meeting
everybody knows what to
focus on
Lean Kanban Central Europe 2016 | @jaspersonnevelt
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So what does this
mean for my team?
What could we
swap it for?
New market
development! So
new work!

13. Topics at the portfolio market place
Should we
redistribute our
capacity?
Should we
change
which teams
work on
work items?
Are we
delivering
fast
enough?
What epics do we
have prioritized to
reach these goals
Do we
expect the
right things
to happen?
Outcome Output Sourcing
These are the
goals we are
trying to
achieve
Status of
KPI’s /
Goals
Do we
need to
adjust?
Lean Kanban Central Europe 2016 | @jaspersonnevelt
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14. Problem 2: alignment on shared objectives
How to move from achieving one
team purpose to making the whole
department succesful?
Lean Kanban Central Europe 2016 | @jaspersonnevelt
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15. Setting priorities
Lean Kanban Central Europe 2016 | @jaspersonnevelt
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16. Setting priorities
Lean Kanban Central Europe 2016 | @jaspersonnevelt
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Size:
S = 1 week
M = 2 weeks
L = 4 weeks
XL = 8 weeks
XXL > 10 weeks
Value
Size

17. Changing the portfolio wall
Lean Kanban Central Europe 2016 | @jaspersonnevelt
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18. From (department) purpose to tasks
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Department purpose
Team goals (kpi’s) (quarter - year)
(multiple sprints)Epic
Feature(< sprint)
(hours)Tasks
User story (days)
Team purpose (~1 year)
Goals (~1 year)
(multiple years)
Lean Kanban Central Europe 2016 | @jaspersonnevelt

19. From (department) purpose to tasks
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Department purpose
Epic
Feature
Tasks
User story
Team goals
Team purpose
Goals
Lean Kanban Central Europe 2016 | @jaspersonnevelt

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Department
Purpose
Department
Goal
Team Goal Team Goal Team Goal
Department
Goal
Department
Goal
PBI
PBI
PBI
PBI
PBI
PBI
PBI
PBI
PBI
PBI
PBI
PBI
Team
Purpose

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Shifting the focus of the portfolio wall from a
team to goals changes the conversation from
individual contributions to collaborative
wins

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Goals
Work
in
Teams

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24. Problem 3: alignment on shared objectives at scale
How to sync teams across
departments?
Lean Kanban Central Europe 2016 | @jaspersonnevelt
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25. Aligning portfolio walls
Across departments
Lean Kanban Central Europe 2016 | @jaspersonnevelt
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26. Managing Dependencies
Lean Kanban Central Europe 2016 | @jaspersonnevelt
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27. Results
Lean Kanban Central Europe 2016 | @jaspersonnevelt
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28. Results so far …
Better descisions (significantly)
Responsibility lower in the organization
Transparency: greater commitment to the
goals
Business Agility has increased
Shift: business case -> internal
entrepreneurship
Product Owners have more than one
department/team focus
Lean Kanban Central Europe 2016 | @jaspersonnevelt
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29. Software Development Done Right
Portfolio planning
and prioritization at
scale
Jasper Sonnevelt
Lean Kanban Central Europe 2016 | @jaspersonnevelt
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