Optimizing planning with scenario planning in Strategic Planning
As a portfolio manager, optimize your portfolio planning by comparing potential outcomes, assessing their alignment with strategic goals, and approving the best scenario as your live plan.
Scenario planning items in the Prioritization tab
The Prioritization tab of the Scenario page enables you to add and remove planning items to/from a scenario and adjust their dates.
Scenario planning items in the Roadmap tab
The Roadmap tab displays a Gantt chart-like view of the planning items in the scenario, showing their planned start and end dates across the portfolio plan timeline. Using the Roadmap tab, you can drag the bars representing planning items across the timeline to adjust their dates.
Scenario planning features
In scenario planning, you can perform the following actions:
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Create a scenario in Strategic Planning | Create a scenario from the current plan, or another scenario, in a simulated environment to compare the scenario with the live plan and other scenarios. |
| Compare scenarios in Strategic Planning | Compare scenarios and the live plan side by side to review tradeoffs and items added or removed from the plans. |
| Approve a scenario in Strategic Planning | Approve the best scenario. |
| Manage scenarios in Strategic Planning | View list of scenarios, rename scenarios, and delete scenarios. |
Scenario planning use cases
The following are high-level use cases for scenario planning.
- Fiscal year planning: Megan Burke, Portfolio Manager at ACME Inc, is planning for the next fiscal year and is required to prioritize planning items and align them with the organizational strategic goals. Megan creates a scenario for the portfolio plan and then uses the Prioritization tab to align items with goals. Megan holds discussions with program managers and with the financial team, creates multiple scenarios, and compares them. Megan approves the optimal scenario as a well-aligned strategic portfolio plan for the next fiscal year.
- Mid-cycle reprioritization; Changed priorities emerging mid-year require adjustments to the current portfolio plan. John Doe, the product manager at ACME Inc, creates a scenario and incorporates the changed priorities. John adjusts the plan based on the program manager's and financial team's feedback and finalizes the plan.