Cross-cutting — Templates

Money already spent gets no vote.

About these templates

These four templates apply across the whole loop rather than to a single stage. They support the operating model, the initial dial-setting, and the ongoing communication and governance of the portfolio.

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G1 — Roles and decision-rights matrix

Purpose: The definitive record of who does what in the portfolio — their role, their decision rights, and the thresholds at which decisions must be escalated.*

Decision	Portfolio owner / chair	Portfolio board	Governing board / Executive	Portfolio office	Investment sponsor	Notes
New investment approval — below threshold	Decides	Informed	Informed	Prepares	Proposes	Threshold: [define in £]
New investment approval — above threshold	Recommends	Decides	Ratifies if above [£]	Prepares	Proposes
Continuation / stop — below threshold	Decides	Informed	Informed	Prepares	Informed
Continuation / stop — above threshold	Recommends	Decides	Ratifies if above [£]	Prepares	Consulted
Reallocation within period	Decides (below threshold)	Decides (above threshold)	Ratifies above [£]	Logs	Informed
Bucket resizing	Proposes	Decides	Ratifies	Documents	Informed
Reference framework re-weighting	Proposes	Decides	Ratifies	Documents	Consulted
Stop criterion override	Cannot override	Can override with stated rationale	Can override	Records decision	May request
Escalation resolution	Decides below threshold	Decides above threshold	Final escalation	Tracks	Informed

Complete the threshold values for this portfolio and review annually. A decision-rights matrix with blank thresholds is a matrix without authority.

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G2 — The Dial-Setting Worksheet

Purpose: A deliberate, documented choice of the portfolio’s setting (Lean / Managed / Enterprise), based on current reality rather than aspiration. Review annually and when the portfolio’s scale or context changes materially.*

Step 1: Describe the current reality

Dimension	Current state
Number of investments in the portfolio	[N — include in-flight and planned]
Total pool value	[£ per year]
Number of decision-makers	[Who actively participates in funding decisions]
Reporting relationships	[Who the portfolio answers to; how many governance layers above it]
Data quality	[Honest assessment: are the value estimates reliable? Are benefits tracked?]
Current process maturity	[Is the cadence kept? Are comparisons rigorous? Are stops made?]
Rate of change in environment	[How quickly does strategy or market context shift?]

Step 2: Score the dials

For each dial, assess the current capability honestly — not the desired capability.

Dial	Lean fits if…	Managed fits if…	Enterprise fits if…	Current fit
Cadence	Owner can hold the re-decision in their head; < monthly formally needed	Quarterly structured review is viable and necessary	Formal governance cycles; board-level scheduling required	Lean / Managed / Enterprise
Who decides	One person, or a very small group, can make the calls	A standing board is needed to represent all stakeholders	Tiered boards; nested decision rights by portfolio level	Lean / Managed / Enterprise
Formality	A page and a conversation is genuinely sufficient	A short pack and a meeting is needed	Full documentation, audit trail, and ratification required	Lean / Managed / Enterprise
Funding rigidity	Money can move freely as judgement changes	Periodic cycle governs when money moves	Formal gates; changes require board ratification	Lean / Managed / Enterprise

Step 3: Select the setting

Field	Content
Primary setting	Lean / Managed / Enterprise
Rationale	One paragraph: why this setting fits the current reality
Known tensions	Any dial that is set differently from the primary setting, and why
Review trigger	The condition that would prompt a setting change: [e.g. “Portfolio exceeds N investments” / “Board established” / “Annual review”]
Date	[Date of this assessment]
Owner	[Who approved this setting]

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G3 — Stakeholder and communication map

Purpose: Identify every stakeholder group with an interest in the portfolio’s decisions, and specify how and when they receive communication about those decisions.*

Stakeholder group	Interest in the portfolio	Information they need	Frequency	Channel	Owner of communication
Executive / governing board	Overall portfolio health; strategic alignment; major stops and starts	Portfolio balance view; funded set summary; significant decisions and their rationale	Each cycle	Board pack	Portfolio owner
Investment sponsors	Their investment’s status and funding; portfolio decisions that affect their investment	Funding decisions; stop-or-continue outcomes; reallocation decisions	At each decision point	Direct briefing	Portfolio owner / board chair
Investment teams	Funding certainty for the current period; priorities and sequencing decisions	Funding confirmation; Steer decisions that affect their work	Each period	Portfolio office communication	Portfolio office
Strategy function	What the portfolio is learning about what works	Lessons log; benefits-after-delivery findings; re-weighting rationale	At each Direction review	Structured learning report	Portfolio owner
Business stakeholders	What is being funded and why; what is not funded and why	Funded-set summary; declined investments with rationale	Each cycle	Published decision summary	Portfolio office

Rules:

1. Communication happens before stakeholders hear through other channels. A funding decision communicated after the affected sponsor has already heard informally is a trust damage, not a communication.
2. The rationale for declines and stops is communicated directly and in the same terms as the rationale for approvals: the forward value, the comparison, the criteria. Not a judgement of quality.

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G4 — Portfolio health and risk-balance card

Purpose: A summary card of the portfolio’s overall health and risk balance, produced at each Review cycle and presented to the governing board. One page.*

Dimension	Metric	Current	Target / appetite	Status	Trend
Total pool committed	[£]	[£]	[£ — total available]	On / Over / Under	Up / Stable / Down
Investments in funded set	Count	[N]	[N target range]	In range / Out of range
Above-line: new investments	Count and [£]
Below-line: declined this cycle	Count
Stopped this cycle	Count and [£] freed
High-risk investments	% of pool	[%]	[% from appetite A3]	Within / Exceeds appetite
Run-the-business	% of pool	[%]	[% from A4]	Within / Outside bucket
Change-the-business	% of pool	[%]	[% from A4]	Within / Outside bucket
Innovation / explore	% of pool	[%]	[% from A4]	Within / Outside bucket
Investments with Amber/Red status	Count	[N]	0–[N threshold]	In range / Requires action
Unresolved escalations > 2 cycles	Count	[N]	0	Resolved / Outstanding
Benefits realised (last 12 months)	[£ or qualitative]		[Claimed at go-live for same period]	On track / Below

This card is the portfolio’s one-page account of itself. If the card cannot be completed honestly, that is itself a finding about data quality and the portfolio’s health.