The illusion of rolled-up reporting: when overview does not provide insight

🔍 "Let's do a deep dive!" Or "We want to see the progress of the top projects." If you work as a portfolio manager, you will recognize these statements. We roll everything up neatly, present a nice overview at portfolio level, and... it still turns out to be a flop.

But what can managers really do with these rolled-up reports? The honest answer: often nothing at all . A red status in a report at most offers a retrospective signal that something went wrong somewhere, but effective correction? Difficult.

Should we stop reporting then? 🤔 No, definitely not! Reporting has an important accountability role, but we need to be more realistic about its value.

📅 Reports look back at the past period and tell us what has or has not been achieved. What is often missing? The outlook. In addition to the retrospective, effective reporting should also provide a preview of important milestones and risks in the coming period. So that managers know which issues require attention and where adjustments are needed.

The traffic light model: green, orange and red flags 🚦 In many organizations, the traffic light model is still popular. But if all reports are aggregated, what does this aggregate actually say? Suppose a large organization with different divisions reports with this model. What can a manager do with a red flag that is more than a month old? Or is it only meant "for information"?

Managers want to know where to focus their attention – not on individual issues, but on the bigger picture. What is often missing from these reports? A clear translation of the managerial status of change initiatives in relation to the total portfolio.

🛠 What should portfolio management do? 

• 🌱 Don't just report on achieved milestones, also show the net inflow and outflow of the change portfolio.  

• 📊 No endless top 10 lists without context. Red flag at portfolio level? Then a decision must have been made or is in the making, otherwise it remains just 'information' without action.

📈 Good portfolio reporting should provide managers with insight to make the portfolio manageable. The focus should be on optimizing change power, not on 'Playmobil office games' with individual projects.

In other words: we can continue to roll up, but without administrative translation it is mainly administrative work with little value for the manager and real portfolio management.