Project Governance & Portfolio Management Flashcards

A PMO is asked to implement a 'toll gate' process. What does this governance mechanism do?

Answer: Requires formal go/no-go approval at predefined decision points before proceeding

Toll gates (stage gates) are structured decision checkpoints where projects must receive formal approval to advance to the next phase.

Portfolio balancing refers to the practice of:

Answer: Optimizing the mix of projects across risk, time horizon, and strategic dimensions

Portfolio balancing optimizes the investment mix across dimensions like risk level, strategic theme, and time-to-value to maximize portfolio outcomes.

Which governance role is responsible for ensuring that program benefits align with and contribute to portfolio strategic objectives?

Answer: Portfolio Manager

The Portfolio Manager oversees the aggregated programs and projects to ensure collective benefits advance portfolio and organizational strategy.

An organization uses a weighted scoring model for project selection. The primary advantage of this approach is:

Answer: It provides a transparent, repeatable framework for comparing projects against multiple criteria

Weighted scoring models bring structure and transparency to decisions by rating projects on multiple criteria with assigned weights.

In project governance, 'escalation thresholds' are used to:

Answer: Define the variance limits at which issues must be elevated to a higher authority

Escalation thresholds specify the variance levels (cost, schedule, scope) that require a project manager to escalate to governance bodies for resolution.

A project is delivering on schedule and within budget but its strategic rationale has changed due to market shifts. The governance board should:

Answer: Re-evaluate strategic fit and consider pivoting, redirecting, or terminating the project

Governance requires ongoing strategic alignment checks; a project performing well operationally but misaligned strategically should be reassessed.

The concept of 'minimum viable governance' suggests that organizations should:

Answer: Implement only the governance processes that add clear value relative to their overhead

Minimum viable governance balances control with agility by adopting only governance mechanisms whose benefits outweigh their administrative burden.