Open course master class

Portfolio management:

For an agile and stable course of organisations

Learning to steer developments together with overview and impact

Implementing portfolio management gives organisations overview, focus and direction in their portfolio of change initiatives. Not just by adding structures, templates and tools, but by working together on better choices, clear decision-making and a way of working that suits the organisation. The result is a portfolio that is both logically structured and actually implemented.

Would you like to learn how to really create overview, focus and direction in the (project) portfolio of organisations? That is what you will learn in the Masterclass Portfolio Management. Different, better cooperation on better choices, clear decision-making and a way of working that suits the organisation. Focusing on people and organisation creates overview, coherence and direction - so that strategic goals are actually realised.

Pushing does not help

Many an organisation has more ambitions than opportunities. Pushing through at the front does not usually help. Projects drag on, initiatives lag or lack coherence. Goals get out of sight and the workload increases. The result is a portfolio with a lot of activity, but limited returns. So how do you get a grip on the portfolio again?

How - in a dynamic context - do you create overview, insight and prospects for making the right choices, without lapsing into viscous bureaucracy? How do you achieve focus and sharp priorities in the portfolio together? How do you find the right balance between maintaining and renewing? And, not unimportantly: what do all these efforts deliver?

Hard and soft aspects

Implementing portfolio management requires attention to both hard and soft aspects, structure and culture, content and behaviour. The theory seems logical, but practice is obstinate. That is exactly what this master class responds to, by linking the latest theories and insights to your own, specific practical situation.

Open Course and In-house Masterclass

Besides the Open Course described here, there is also an In-house Masterclass, e.g. for an executive board, management team or staff professionals. We organise the In-house Masterclass on request and set it up according to your needs. Please contact us for this.

What the masterclass will get you

In the Portfolio Management Masterclass, you work on your own issues, with room for reflection and application. It gives you new insights to take steps in your practice that have impact.

The masterclass will provide you with:

More grip on complex portfolio issues;
Understanding how choices are made and how to improve them;
Tools to create coherence between initiatives;
Increased confidence in your role and actions as a portfolio manager or consultant;
Immediately applicable insights for your own organisation.

Open course format

The Open Training Course offers - in 9 half-day sessions - space to learn and deepen together with professionals from other organisations, with room for reflection and application in one's own practice.

The main facets of the Open Course are:

Learning from and with peers from different organisations and sectors;
Working on own case histories with fresh perspectives;
Immediately applicable insights that develop over several meetings.

In an intake interview, we explore your learning questions together so that you start the course with the right focus. We share best practices and theory and participants explore their portfolio management issues together with their colleagues from other organisations. You will work on your own cases and learn through reflection, exchange and application. In this way, you develop immediately applicable insights and skills.

For whom the master class is intended

The Open Course is designed for managers and professionals who are or will be responsible for managing a portfolio of development initiatives, in both profit and non-profit organisations, such as:

Portfolio managers and project management managers;
Programme managers and transition managers;
Business change managers;
PMO managers and portfolio analysts.

Programme Open Course

The first meeting focuses on the individual learning goals and starting points of the participants, so that we can focus the course even better on everyone's needs. In the following half-day sessions, we deepen our insights into the scope, classification and governance of the portfolio, as well as building overview and insight, prioritising, balancing, planning and adjusting, the value (benefits) of the portfolio and of portfolio management and - last but not least - the mindset: how to get everyone on board.

The guide is the book Portfolio management, making strategic choices together (Bloem & Van Gestel - van Gils, 2025), with theory, practical tools and case studies from a number of appealing organisations. We also use various other sources in the field of management and leadership.

We combine theory and practice. You introduce your own organisational issues and reflect on them together with the group, based on your personal learning questions. You continuously exchange experiences about challenges, approaches, solutions and pitfalls. This stimulates active learning and direct application in your own work environment.

Information

The Open Course is organised twice a year, in spring and autumn, viz:

Every other week, on Friday mornings, from 08:30 to 12:30;
The first time consecutive 2 sessions, so the whole day;
On location in Utrecht;
With a group of 3 to 7 participants;
Upon completion, participants will receive a certificate;
Cost for participation is €3,950 excluding 21% VAT;

Dates, by mutual agreement, may be varied:

Dates - Spring

Friday 10 April (2x)
Friday 24 April
Friday 8 May
Friday 22 May
Friday, 5 June
Friday, 19 June
Friday, 3 July
Friday, 17 Jul

Dates - Autumn

Friday, September 18 (2x)
Friday, 2 October
Friday 16 October
Friday, 30 October
Friday 13 November
Friday 27 November
Friday, 11 December
Friday 15 January

Master

The Masterclass will be delivered by Jan Bloem (1957). Jan is a change expert, consultant, programme manager and portfolio management specialist at Portfolioflow and Improven. Jan started this masterclass in 2014. He also organises the PPM Annual Conference (since 2004), is co-author of the book Portfolio Management (Boom, 2025) and creator of Portfolioflow, the model that matches the energy and development of organisations.

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