ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on continual refinement in the context of changed circumstances to refocus the portfolio and improve the chances of successful delivery of our projects and programmes. Experience shows that all the techniques and tools outlined so far will be of limited use if we do not also strictly manage the portfolio entry process. Two Voice of the Customer (VoC) study teams were formed and, after some training on how to do ethnographic research, the teams began their camping-out exercises in England and Sweden. This should result in a funnel of potential opportunities and projects but the key point is that the shape of the pipeline should be that of a funnel rather than the tunnel that we see too often in practice. The National Audit Office (NAO) reported that Britannia's Group Board maintained close scrutiny of the business case's assumptions and forecast benefits via formal reviews on a six-monthly basis.
