At the personal or organizational level, we all realize multiple demands for our time. We often process these multiple demands independently but collectively many of these demands are organized and prioritized using a portfolio. Within the organization, project managers typically focus on a limited number of projects. However, the organizational portfolio contains all projects ranked by a variety of inputs, desired outputs, and strategic objectives.
The effective project manager addresses assigned projects while keeping a big picture view and understanding the organizational portfolio. The organizational portfolio presents risks to an individual project by through explicit or implicit constraints, such as resources and money. As a result, I recommend reviewing, understanding, and considering the effect of the applicable portfolio to your project. The more you understand about the portfolio and the risks the portfolio contributes to your project, the better prepared you are to plan, schedule, and manage your project.