Work bunched under one priority or one branch.

What the check catches.

Helen's Foundry keeps the line from your strategy down to each piece of work as linked records. In the product, this line is called the context chain. This check starts from each goal, project, problem, or customer you serve that is not a draft, closed, or archived. It counts the projects and tickets below it that are not drafts, closed, or archived.

For priority, Helen counts projects and tickets separately and needs at least five of one type. She flags the group when 60 percent or more is marked critical. Otherwise, she flags it when about four in five or more share one priority. Separately, she flags it when half or more have no priority set.

For branches, Helen looks at the items directly under the parent that are not closed or archived. Each one is a branch, unless another branch already reaches it. She counts the projects and tickets that only one branch reaches, and sets aside work that two or more branches share. She flags the parent when at least two branches hold such work, the total is twelve or more, and one branch holds at least one item more than 70 percent of it.

When a lower goal, project, problem, or customer holds exactly the same work and shows the same pattern, Helen flags only the lower one.

What Helen records.

When Helen sees something in your plan worth a look, she raises a flag. In the product, this flag is called a finding. Each Portfolio Distribution Anomaly finding records the parent, the pattern, and the counts behind it.

• The parent Its title and its type.
• The pattern Which pattern Helen found, and whether she counted projects, tickets, or branches.
• The counts How many items she counted, how many carry each priority or sit in each branch, the share behind the pattern, and the share that sets it off. For branches, it also records how much work two or more branches share.
• Examples Up to five of the items behind the pattern.

What a person does about it.

The flag goes to Reconcile, the place where a person decides what to do about a flag. Reconcile groups the priority findings for one parent on one card, with a row for each pattern that you can settle on its own. For a branch pattern, Reconcile names the branch, says how much of the work it holds, and asks whether that matches your priorities.

A lopsided mix can be on purpose. If it is, dismiss the flag and record why. Helen keeps a dismissed flag closed while the evidence behind it stays the same. If it is not on purpose, change the priorities on the work or move work between branches. Reconcile offers no one-step fix, because the right mix is your call.

Reconcile shows this flag at Info, the lowest of its three attention levels. Helen does not label it as blocking, and she does not stop anyone from working. Helen never changes a decision on her own.

Research basis.

Cooper, R. G., Edgett, S. J., & Kleinschmidt, E. J. (2000). New problems, new solutions: Making portfolio management more effective. Research-Technology Management, 43(2), 18–33.