Project Portfolio Re-Baselining Training Course After Major Disruption

Programme Summary

Project portfolio re-baselining is the subject of this one-week training course for programme directors, project sponsors and heads of project offices, ending in a re-baselined portfolio plan for one portfolio. A major disruption leaves projects with broken schedules, unfunded scope and sponsors who disagree on what to keep. The programme moves from triage of the affected projects to resetting scope, schedule and cost, then ranking and funding the portfolio, and finally controlling delivery and recording lessons. Mars Training Centre UK delivers this programme on project portfolio re-baselining to mixed-organisation cohorts.

The Business Case

Construction firms, utilities, hospitals, banks and public bodies often carry dozens of projects when a crisis strikes. Original baselines stop being credible within weeks, yet reporting continues against them, so decisions rest on figures no one believes. Project recovery at portfolio level gives sponsors one honest picture of what can still be delivered, with what money, and in what order.

• Forecast Reliability: Improves when cost-to-complete and schedule are reset on stated assumptions.
• Funding Efficiency: Rises when scarce funds follow ranked value rather than the loudest sponsor.
• Delivery Control: Strengthens when variances trigger agreed escalation rules.

Principles and Evidence Base

• ISO 21502: Gives guidance on project management, applied in Session 4 to governance review and escalation of the re-baselined work.
• ISO 31000: Provides the risk management process, applied in Session 1 to the risk review of each affected project.
• ISO 21508: Describes earned value management, applied in Session 2 to reset performance measures after a new baseline is approved.

Intended Participants

• Programme directors who answer for a group of projects after a disruption.
• Project sponsors who must decide what continues, pauses or stops.
• Heads of project offices who own baselines, reporting and control.
• Executives who allocate limited funds and people across competing projects.

Typical settings include construction, utilities, healthcare, banking and public administration.

Learning Outcomes

1. Participants will be able to evaluate which projects in a portfolio are most affected by a disruption.
2. Participants will be able to construct a new scope, schedule and cost baseline for an affected project.
3. Participants will be able to prioritise projects for funding using stated value and urgency criteria.
4. Participants will be able to diagnose delivery variances against the new baseline.
5. Participants will be able to design escalation rules and a recovery dashboard for sponsors.
6. Participants will be able to justify a re-baselined portfolio plan to an executive committee.

Programme Structure

Day 1: Triage for Project Portfolio Re-Baselining

Which projects are most affected, and what must be held steady first?

• Portfolio Impact Triage Sheet
• Project Health Check Scorecard
• ISO 31000 Risk Review Template
• Critical Dependency Map
• Interim Control Measures Log

Day 2: Resetting Scope, Schedule and Cost

How are scope, time and cost reset on a basis that sponsors accept?

• Scope Reduction Options Grid
• Schedule Re-Plan Method
• Cost-to-Complete Estimate
• ISO 21508 Earned Value Reset
• Baseline Change Approval Record

Day 3: Ranking and Funding the Portfolio

Which projects continue, pause, shrink or stop?

• Portfolio Ranking Matrix
• Value and Urgency Criteria
• Funding Trade-Off Table
• Resource Reallocation Plan
• Sponsor Decision Paper

Day 4: Controlling Delivery and Recording Lessons

How is delivery held to the new baseline, and what is learned?

• ISO 21502 Governance Review
• Recovery Progress Dashboard
• Variance Escalation Rules
• Supplier and Contractor Reset Note
• Lessons-Learned Register

Day 5: Re-Baselined Portfolio Plan for One Portfolio

Do the earlier tools combine into one plan an executive committee can approve?

• Applying the Session 1 Portfolio Impact Triage Sheet
• Testing the Session 2 Cost-to-Complete Estimate
• Checking the Session 3 Portfolio Ranking Matrix
• Rehearsing the Session 4 Variance Escalation Rules
• Completing the Re-Baselined Portfolio Plan

Methodology

The programme uses a structured exercise built on prepared case material for two portfolios, one held by a regional utility and one by a hospital group, each with project registers, schedules, cost reports and sponsor correspondence after a prolonged disruption. Participants work in groups, challenge each other's baselines and defend their ranking to peers acting as an executive committee.

• Suggested activity: Cutting a portfolio budget and explaining which scope is deferred.
• Suggested activity: Resetting a schedule that depends on a supplier who has failed.
• Suggested activity: Briefing a sponsor whose favoured project is paused.

Capstone Output

Each participant completes a re-baselined portfolio plan for one portfolio. It holds a triage record, reset baselines, a ranked project list with funding decisions, escalation rules and a lessons register. At work the plan is used to brief an executive committee, to hold project managers to new commitments and to support project governance after the disruption.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a training course on project portfolio re-baselining suitable for leaders new to project recovery?

Yes. Project portfolio re-baselining is taught through prepared cases and templates. The programme assumes you oversee several projects or a project office, but needs no earlier work on recovery.

Which standards does project portfolio re-baselining rest on?

Project portfolio re-baselining rests on ISO 21502 for project management guidance, ISO 31000 for the risk process and ISO 21508 for earned value management, each applied to prepared portfolio cases.

How is the plan from project portfolio re-baselining used at work?

You use the re-baselined portfolio plan to brief your executive committee, set new commitments with project managers and apply escalation rules when delivery drifts.

How does project portfolio re-baselining differ from a programme on single project rescue?

Project portfolio re-baselining ranks and funds many projects at once after a disruption, while a single project rescue programme concentrates on repairing one failing project.