Flagship service
PMO and portfolio management
How work is chosen, funded, sequenced and stopped; the office that keeps that honest; and, when you need it, the project management itself.
Flagship 02Scores the dimension Portfolio and PMO
Who this is for
- More projects approved than the organization can staff, and nobody with the authority to say which ones wait.
- A PMO that produces reports and templates, and project managers who route around it.
- An entity that must report progress upward in a set format, and wants the report to be a by-product of running the work, not a second job.
- A project that has to start now with nobody free to run it, or a project manager who would like an experienced hand beside them.
The problem as we see it
A portfolio is a list of promises. When the list is longer than the capacity to keep it, every project slows, the urgent ones jump the queue, and the quiet ones are abandoned without a decision. The failure is not in the projects; it is in never choosing.
PMOs are set up to fix this and often make it worse, because they are designed as control functions before the organization has anything to control. They ask for status nobody uses, and before long they are worked around, reshaped or disbanded.
The PMO that lasts gives something back on its first day: a visible list, a clear way to get a project in or out, and help to the people delivering. Its authority grows with the trust it earns, and its tools arrive after its practices.
What we do
The five stages of Fit-to-Maturity, and what each one does for this practice. Read the method
Short cycles, each checked by your decision-maker, until it matches what you expect.
- 01
Map
We list every project actually underway, estimate the capacity actually available, and score the Portfolio and PMO dimension against both.
- 02
Fit
Intake and prioritization rules the leadership will apply, a portfolio review rhythm, a PMO charter sized to the level, and the few measures that matter.
DesignPut it to workYou check itAdjust
Your decision-makerOn your side, with the final say. Accepts or redirects each step.Short cycles, each checked by your decision-maker, until it matches what you expect.
- 03
Run
Two or three portfolio reviews on real projects, with the first stop decisions and the first re-sequencing. The PMO starts with the services people asked for.
- 04
Hold
The PMO lead runs the review; we coach, and we check whether the measures are still being read.
- 05
Revisit
Each quarter: is the list still shorter than the capacity, is intake being bypassed, and does the next level of practice earn its cost?
Project management, when you need it
Setting up and starting a PMO is one part of this practice. The other is project management itself, in one of two ways.
We run it
A project manager from Altestra runs your project from start to close, inside your governance and with your team, and reports to the sponsor you name. When the project closes, its records stay with you.
We stand beside yours
Your own project manager runs the project, and we work alongside them on planning, risk, the hard conversations with sponsors and suppliers, and the reviews that keep the project honest. Sized to what the project needs.
Sample deliverables
- A portfolio register with one line per project
- Intake and prioritization criteria on one page
- A PMO charter, services first
- A portfolio review agenda and dashboard
- A capacity view the leadership can read in a minute
Samples, shaped to each engagement.
Engagement models
Three ways to engage. No prices on this page: the scope, and the price with it, is set after the discovery call, in a proposal with options.
Diagnostic
A maturity profile, a one-page finding and a roadmap with options, in a short first engagement. Useful on its own, and the first stage of everything else.
Build
One practice designed to the level and run on real work until its owners can carry it, on a timeline set by the size and complexity of the organization. The design group's time is the main cost on your side.
Alongside
A light, continuing presence after a Build, or beside a leadership team that wants a second pair of eyes each quarter. Sized to what the leadership team needs, and reviewed each quarter like everything else.
How we start
- 01
A 30-minute discovery call, where you describe the situation and we ask questions. No slides.
- 02
A written note of what we heard, within a few days, so you can correct us before we propose anything.
- 03
A proposal with options, sized to the maturity we expect to find, with the Diagnostic as the smallest one.
Related insight
Is the PMO still relevant? Yes, but not the one you remember
The PMO as a reporting and compliance office is disappearing, and it should. The PMO as the place where an organization chooses, sequences and stops its work is needed more than ever.
The two other flagships
- Flagship 01
Corporate governance
Decision rights, a board or committee rhythm, and the few documents that make decisions visible and followed.
Scores the dimension Decisions and governance
- Flagship 03
Change management
A change approach sized to the people who will live with the change, so it lasts after the project team has gone.
Scores the dimension People and change