Don’t Just Fund Projects—Build a Portfolio That Can Pivot
Every PMO leader knows the feeling.
You’ve just wrapped months of working sessions, negotiations, and recalibrations. The portfolio feels stable, the sequencing is mapped out, and teams are getting into motion. For a moment, it feels like the hard part is done.
But then something shifts.
It might be a regulatory requirement you didn’t see coming. Or a market opportunity that wasn’t part of the original plan. Maybe it’s an executive request with real urgency behind it. You look for room to maneuver, only to find there isn’t any. The budget’s fully committed. Every delivery team is already at their limit.
So the juggling starts. Active projects are paused. People are moved midstream. And before long, you’re in damage control mode, explaining delays, justifying trade-offs, and trying to maintain credibility with sponsors and leadership.
This scenario isn’t unusual. It’s what happens when we design portfolio budgets around the assumption that nothing will change.
Budgeting for Movement, Not Just Plans
Too often, the PMO is handed a budget after projects are already locked in. What’s missing is a conversation about portfolio-level agility.
The truth? In-flight projects shift. New ideas will surface mid-year. Some business cases will fall apart once delivery starts. Others will expand. A solid portfolio budget accounts for all of that.
This is where reserves matter.
Why a Portfolio-Level Reserve Isn’t a Luxury
A reserve is not padding. It’s strategic breathing room.
When a new high-impact request arrives or a critical initiative exceeds cost expectations, the reserve lets you say: “Yes, we have options.”
You don’t need 20%. Even setting aside 5–10% can allow for:
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Starting new, high-priority projects without jeopardizing what’s underway.
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Handling cost escalations without pausing initiatives midstream
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Demonstrating to executives that your governance model supports change, not resists it.
Without a reserve, every adjustment becomes political. And PMO leaders get stuck defending decisions they didn’t cause.
The PMO’s Role in Building a Resilient Portfolio Budget
The PMO can lead this differently.
First, by making sure the budget isn’t just a sum of individual projects. Instead, it should reflect:
- Forecasted need across all programs.
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Rolling data from in-flight delivery.
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Anticipated demand from upcoming or deferred business cases.
Second, by organizing these numbers into a form executives can engage with: not just lists of funding lines, but a portfolio view by strategic category (Run, Grow, Transform).
Third, by defining how the PMO will use delivery and forecast data to support scenario discussions.
Executives need to hear:
- What the impact of funding this new idea would be.
- What trade-offs are in play.
- Whether the current spend model still aligns to strategy.
That’s how the PMO shifts from reporting to enabling decisions.
Clarifying Roles to Keep the Portfolio Moving
When the portfolio is live, agility hinges on having well-defined boundaries.
The PMO needs room to manage the day-to-day flow of delivery. That includes re-forecasting budgets as conditions change, adjusting allocations between similar efforts, and responding to small shifts in scope without seeking executive sign-off each time. These aren’t budget overhauls, they’re course corrections that keep things on track.
At the same time, bigger moves like authorizing new projects, tapping into the reserve fund, or stopping an in-flight initiative should stay with the steering committee. These are governance-level decisions with broader impact, and they require executive alignment.
When everyone understands which decisions sit where, the portfolio moves more fluidly. PMO leaders operate with confidence, teams avoid unnecessary delays, and funding conversations stay focused on outcomes, not authority.
Rethinking Budgeting as a Strategic Capability
Effective portfolio budgeting isn’t about controlling change. It’s about making space for it.
When PMO leaders reserve funds at the portfolio level, aggregate delivery and forecast data, and clarify decision-making rights, budget conversations become strategic tools, not administrative exercises. And if your PMO is still chasing approvals every time a project shifts slightly, the problem isn’t just budget design, it’s ownership.
Let’s build a budgeting model that allows your team to lead the change, not just react to it.
