Seven Warning Signs that You Need to Step-Up Your R&D Portfolio Management
When we engage with a client, our primary objective is to ensure that they are investing in the right projects: Those in closest alignment with their strategic goals. Without proper attention paid to project execution, however, you’ll never unlock the potential of your chosen projects. Last year we blogged about the distinctions between operational and strategic R&D portfolio management and the critical nature of both activities. The two terms have often been contrasted with a phrase like this:
Strategic R&D portfolio management ensures you are working on the right projects, while operational project management ensures the projects are done right.
It is a useful aphorism, but separating the activities into completely discrete tasks is illusory: insights gleaned during project execution always inform your chosen project set, and refinements to your strategy and resulting portfolio will always affect how and when you execute. So in reality the activities are inextricably linked in a healthy organization. All activities ultimately serve the same goal: Delivering novel products that delight the customer.