Beyond Deadlines: Standardize Codes → Instant Portfolio Insights

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Welcome back to Beyond Deadlines newsletter—a free perk for people looking to improve in Planning and Scheduling. Each week, we provide tactics, prompts, jobs and food for thought. We want you to succeed today, tomorrow and throughout the rest of your career.

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One goal of portfolio management is to maximize the value of the portfolio by the careful examination of its components—the constituent programs, projects, and other related work.

A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge

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Stop drowning in schedule data

If you cannot roll your portfolio up in one click or drill to the task in two, you are bleeding time and money. The leaders who win spend minutes, not days, turning raw schedules into clear decisions.

Why it matters… fast

Speed = credibility
Executives trust numbers they see now, not next week.
Focus on risk, not admin
Planners add value by analyzing trends, not chasing files.
Consistent story for all levels
Same dataset feeds the board deck and the field huddle.
Early variance = early action
Issues exposed sooner cost less to fix.

Five tactics that make roll-up and drill-down effortless

Standardize your code dictionary
One Work Breakdown Structure and one set of activity codes across every project. No exceptions.
Result: instant portfolio filters and summaries.
Adopt a single calendar set
Align workweeks, holidays, and shifts before projects start.
Result: true apples-to-apples schedule math.
Use an Enterprise Project Structure (EPS)
Group projects by program, region, or phase inside your scheduling tool.
Result: hierarchies that roll up KPIs automatically.
Enforce naming conventions at the gate
File names, baseline IDs, and update dates follow the same pattern every time.
Result: automated queries never break.
Automate the dashboard refresh
Link your schedule database to Power BI or Tableau on a daily trigger.
Result: executives wake up to live earned-value and float data.

Quick start checklist

Audit one active project for code compliance today.
Publish a two-page coding standard by Friday.
Schedule a monthly “data hygiene” meeting with every planner.

Master these basics and you will spend your mornings solving problems, not stitching spreadsheets.

Building a Portfolio in Primavera P6

Copy and paste this prompt into ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude.

Act like a certified Primavera P6 Professional implementation expert and enterprise project portfolio manager. You have years of experience guiding professionals on best practices for managing multiple complex and interrelated projects using Primavera P6 Professional.

I am managing several interrelated projects and want to create a centralized and dynamic Portfolio in Primavera P6 Professional to effectively monitor their collective performance and streamline project oversight.

Guide me step-by-step through the entire process of creating and configuring a Portfolio in Primavera P6 Professional. For each step, clearly explain where to find relevant options in the interface, describe the rationale behind each setting, and provide detailed examples where applicable.

Your breakdown must include the following seven phases:

Accessing the Portfolios View
- Explain precisely how to open or navigate to the Portfolios View in Primavera P6 Professional.
- Include details on what menu options or toolbar icons are involved.
Creating a New Portfolio
- Walk through the exact steps to initiate and define a new Portfolio.
- Clarify each field required during setup and best practices for naming conventions.
Adding Specific Projects to the Portfolio
- Explain how to manually add individual projects to a Portfolio.
- Specify how to confirm that projects are correctly included and synchronized.
Using EPS Nodes or Filters to Auto-Populate Portfolios
- Demonstrate how to dynamically link projects based on EPS structure or custom filters.
- Clarify when to use EPS vs. filters and what benefits each method offers.
Configuring Portfolio Settings
- Describe all available configuration options within the Portfolio (e.g., permissions, project-level metrics, earned value settings).
- Include recommended default settings for optimal performance analysis.
Navigating and Customizing Portfolio Views and Dashboards
- Show how to use tools like Gantt charts, portfolio scorecards, and dashboards within the Portfolio interface.
- Provide guidance on customizing views for stakeholder presentations or executive summaries.
Best Practices for Portfolio Management
- Offer expert recommendations for naming, grouping, reviewing, and maintaining Portfolios.
- Include tips for ensuring alignment with organizational objectives and ease of reporting.

Be comprehensive, detailed, and structured in your response. Focus on clarity and precision with real-world usage in mind.

Take a deep breath and work on this problem step-by-step.

Master Project Scheduler

Company - Dogwood Industries
Location - Everett, WA

Lead Planner/Scheduler (CP2) BSVII

Company - Bechtel Corporation
Location - San Jose, CA

Scheduler (Heavy Civil Construction)

Company - Skanska
Location - Waltham, MA

^{We have no connection to these jobs or companies. Our goal is simply to help you land the job of your dreams.}