Read the context behind a project report

Bring your next portfolio question.

Trace a management signal to the project, evidence and decision behind it.

30 minutes · Demonstration data · No project upload required

Build your internal business case

0:00 / Four projects need attention. Says who?

A report lands on the board's desk: four projects need attention. Before anyone repeats that number, three questions. Which projects are included? How current is the information? And what, exactly, triggered the flag?

0:14 / First: which projects?

First, scope. Four of twenty four is a portfolio statement. Four of eight is a different story. The same number means different things depending on which projects the view includes, and your access may limit what you see.

0:29 / Second: progress as of when?

Second, time. The August update was uploaded on the first of September, but its progress stops on the thirty first of August. The upload date tells you when the file arrived, not how current the work is.

0:42 / Third: what sits behind the headline?

Third, the evidence. In the Kairos one pager every headline sits on a record: four projects with negative schedule variance, twenty one of twenty four submissions received, and the actions needing attention listed underneath.

0:57 / Follow the number to the project.

Follow the number down. The register shows which four, and for Harbor Renewal, why: delayed, high risk, seven days against the agreed finish.

1:07 / Compare like with like.

When you compare two reports, check they cover the same projects and the same data date. A changed filter can change a total when no project has moved.

1:17 / Share the meaning with the number.

Share the scope and the data date with every figure you repeat, and the figure will survive the questions. Know sooner. Act faster.