A portfolio operating model asks

Are we pursuing the right work to achieve the strategic result?

A department operating model asks

Do we have the right people, capabilities, systems, standards, and capacity to execute the work well?

Think of Us’s departments are Technology & Innovation, Development, Programs & Services, External Engagement, Strategy & Operations, and CEO Office. Each has a Department Leader, accountable for whether the function is healthy and capable enough to deliver the commitments the organization is making. Functional / People Managers manage people directly. Each department customizes the content, standards, and tools it needs, but the underlying management logic stays consistent. Departments should not become administrative holding places. They are active capability systems that make high-quality execution possible across portfolios and projects.

Draft addition carried forward from the latest guidance: the BAU rule and project-to-BAU handoff extend the department v0.1 draft and belong in its next revision.

BAU rule

Departments own recurring functional operations.

Portfolios may set strategic demand and desired results for BAU capabilities, but they do not become the operating owner. Projects create or materially change capabilities. When a project becomes stable recurring work, ownership transitions into the appropriate department through an explicit project-to-BAU handoff.

Example: Technology

The same subject (technology) shows up in all three places, each with a different job.

Technology & Innovation Department

Owns the capability:

engineers product/design capability data capability technical standards software engineering standards security practices AI governance implementation tooling hiring performance management professional development workload and utilization technical quality

Runs the BAU:

security monitoring platform uptime infrastructure maintenance software engineering standards user access routine bug fixes technical debt management tooling administration staff development

Innovation & Experimentation portfolio

Decides which body of work should exist:

What new capabilities should TOU create?
Which products should receive investment?
Which experiments should continue?
What are we learning?
What should scale or stop?

Its projects can involve people from Technology & Innovation, Programs, External Engagement, Strategy & Operations, and other departments.

Projects

Deliver bounded change:

Build Lee Note Taker
Create the Lived Experience Engine
Launch a new ConnectMe capability

Project → BAU

Once a new capability becomes stable and recurring, there is a deliberate transition: the portfolio/project creates it; the department absorbs and operates it.

The department operating model: six disciplines

Every department manages itself through six common disciplines, parallel to the portfolio model. Development looks different from Technology; Programs looks different from External Engagement. But the management logic is common.

Department discipline	Key question	Department output
1. People & roles	Do we have the right people in the right roles with clear management and expectations?	Role clarity, staffing plan, performance support, and people decisions.
2. Capacity & allocation	Where is our capacity committed, and can we realistically meet all current promises?	Visible allocation, workload view, negotiated commitments, and capacity tradeoffs.
3. Capability & growth	What skills and capabilities do we need now and next?	Growth plans, training, hiring or contracting needs, and capability-building priorities.
4. Functional quality & standards	What does excellent work in this function look like, and are we meeting that standard?	Standards, quality expectations, review practices, and improvement actions.
5. Systems & processes	Are our tools, workflows, policies, and routines helping people do excellent work efficiently?	Improved workflows, clear SOPs, usable tools, and reduced friction.
6. Performance & health	Is the department healthy enough to support the organization’s commitments?	Department health view, risks, interventions, and decisions or escalations.

Roles and decision rights

Role	Owns	Boundary
Department Leader	Department health, people, capability, functional standards, systems, budget stewardship, and overall capacity.	Does not unilaterally set portfolio strategy or override Project Owner outcomes.
Functional / People Manager	Direct people management, staffing, workload, coaching, performance, development, and functional quality.	Does not independently change enterprise or portfolio priorities.
Strategic Portfolio Owner	Strategic fit, intended results, portfolio priorities, cross-project tradeoffs, dependencies, and escalation.	Does not independently allocate another department’s people or capacity.
Project Owner	Project outcomes, approved scope, priorities, KPIs, acceptance criteria, and early risk escalation.	Decides within approved project scope and delegated authority.
Project Manager / Delivery Lead	Day-to-day coordination, sequencing, follow-through, and execution within approved scope and capacity.	Does not unilaterally change strategy, scope, or staffing commitments.
ELT	Enterprise strategy, cross-portfolio tradeoffs, required project governance, and material resource choices.	Does not own routine staffing, functional quality, or day-to-day delivery.

The core boundary is simple: portfolio leaders own strategic priorities and cross-project choices; department and functional leaders own people, capability, capacity, and functional quality; Project Owners own project outcomes; the ELT owns enterprise tradeoffs.

Who owns what: Portfolio Owner and Department Leader

Two roles meet on every project. The Portfolio Owner owns what work we do and why. The Department Leader owns who does it, how well, and with what capacity. In the drafts’ words, portfolios manage strategic demand and departments manage organizational supply.

Portfolio Owner“Are we pursuing the right body of work?”Six portfolios. For example, Mike Leach owns P4 Policy & Influence.

Department Leader“Do we have the people, capability, quality, and capacity to deliver it?”Six departments. For example, the Technology & Innovation leader manages the engineers.

What the Portfolio Owner and the Department Leader each own, with examples
Activity	Portfolio Owner	Department Leader
Results and measures	Sets the portfolio’s intended results, OKRs, and milestones, and reports progress to the ELT.	Tracks department health: workload, quality, capability, and how people are doing.
For exampleMike Leach sets what P4 Policy & Influence must achieve this year, such as the National Report: ACF Lived Experience Engagement reaching federal decision-makers. The department leader tracks whether the people doing that work are stretched too thin.
Choosing the work	Decides the roadmap. Recommends start, continue, change, hold, or stop for each project.	Does not choose the portfolio’s work. Says what can be delivered well, and when.
For exampleMike recommends whether the Policy Platform: TOU Child & Family Wellbeing starts now or waits for the findings of the Discovery Sprint: Child & Family Wellbeing.
People	Gives contributors context and priorities, but does not manage them.	Hires, manages, coaches, develops, and reviews the performance of staff.
For exampleA program manager working on a P4 Administration Convening still has one-to-ones and performance reviews with their own department leader.
Capacity	Says what is needed: which skills, how much time, and by when.	Decides what capacity can be committed, and assigns people. A request for work is not automatically a commitment.
For exampleP4 asks for an analyst 10 hours a week for the National Report. The department leader commits 6 hours and explains the tradeoff, or proposes a later start.
Quality and standards	Defines what success looks like for the portfolio’s results.	Defines what excellent work looks like in the function, and checks it.
For exampleP4 decides who the report must reach. The contributing department sets the writing, data, and review standard it must meet.
Systems and records	Keeps project status, risks, and decisions current in the project source of truth.	Owns the department’s workflows, procedures, and tools.
For exampleWhether a P4 project is on track lives in the project list. How the team reviews and publishes its work lives with the department.
Budget and resources	Names the resources the portfolio needs and brings material requests to the ELT.	Stewards the department budget and staffing plan.
For exampleIf the policy platform needs a contractor, Mike makes the case at the ELT. The department leader confirms how the contractor fits the team and its budget.
Dependencies and risk	Manages dependencies across projects and portfolios, and escalates strategic tradeoffs to the ELT.	Raises capacity, staffing, quality, and capability risks early.
For exampleP2 wants the same engineers for Hackathon: MIT Media Lab that P5 needs for the Business Continuity Plan. The Technology & Innovation leader says what can be committed, and the two Portfolio Owners adjust timing. If it is still unresolved, the ELT decides.
Project approvals	Runs the portfolio gate and brings go/no-go decisions to ELT Week 1.	Confirms the capacity that a project’s approval depends on.
For exampleA new P4 project is not ready for ELT Week 1 until the department confirms who will staff it.
Meetings they run	Monthly Portfolio Review and project gate (8 a year); quarterly reset in January, April, and August; portfolio retreat in October, week 2.	Department Health & Capacity Review (8 a year); quarterly reset in January, April, and August; department retreat in October, week 1; a working session only if needed.
For exampleIn April, the reset replaces the monthly review, so no one attends both.
Does not own	Another department’s people or capacity.	Enterprise or portfolio strategy.
For exampleMike cannot assign a Technology engineer to P4 directly. He asks the Technology & Innovation leader.

One person, two hats

Robert Matthews owns P1 Program Implementation and P3 Technical Assistance & Field Building, and leads Programs & Services (to confirm). In the portfolio review he asks: is the CA KIN Accelerator Pilot the right work this year? In the department review he asks: do our program staff have the time and skills to deliver it well? When the two answers pull against each other and it touches another portfolio, it goes to the ELT.

Draft. Based on the Department Operating Model v0.1 and the Portfolio Operating Model. Examples use real projects from the project list and are illustrative. Department leaders are inferred from titles and need to be confirmed.

The portfolio–department handshake

The matrix only works if the handoff between strategy and capacity is explicit. A request for work is not automatically a capacity commitment.

1

1Strategic demandA specific, visible demand rather than a vague request for help.

2

2Capacity responseA realistic capacity response.

3

3Negotiate commitmentAn explicit commitment both sides understand.

4

4Allocate to workNamed ownership and capacity reflected in the source of truth.

5

5Deliver + learnDelivery evidence flows to both portfolio and department.

6

6Adapt or escalateResolve together when possible; ELT decides material enterprise tradeoffs.

Figure 24. The handshake: the portfolio defines demand and priority, the department determines capacity and allocation, and the two negotiate the commitment.

Step	Portfolio responsibility	Department responsibility	Result
1. Strategic demand	Define the result, priority, timing, work, and capability needed.	Understand the request and clarify what skill or capacity is actually required.	A specific, visible demand rather than a vague request for help.
2. Capacity response	Explain priority and acceptable tradeoffs.	Assess available people, workload, quality requirements, cost, and constraints.	A realistic capacity response.
3. Negotiate commitment	Adjust sequencing or scope if needed.	Offer a feasible allocation or explain the tradeoff required.	An explicit commitment both sides understand.
4. Allocate to work	Give the project or workstream clear context and priorities.	Assign people or capability and confirm management support.	Named ownership and capacity reflected in the source of truth.
5. Deliver + learn	Track results, project health, evidence, and changing strategic needs.	Track workload, quality, capability, and people impact.	Delivery evidence flows to both portfolio and department.
6. Adapt or escalate	Surface changed priority or material strategic tradeoff.	Surface capacity, staffing, quality, or capability constraint.	Resolve together when possible; ELT decides material enterprise tradeoffs.

Capacity commitments should be visible in the shared source of truth. If a portfolio priority changes, the corresponding capacity commitment must be revisited rather than silently absorbing more work.

When BAU work supports a portfolio

A piece of BAU work can support a portfolio without being owned by the portfolio. Imagine the External Engagement Department produces regular field-positioning content that directly advances the Policy & Influence portfolio.

Portfolio

“We need stronger national positioning around kinship this year. Here is the result we need.”

Department

“External Engagement owns the ongoing publishing capability, editorial process, people, quality, calendar and execution.”

The portfolio sets strategic demand and expected results. The department owns the recurring machine that delivers it.

Example: one person working across multiple portfolios

Imagine an engineer in the Technology & Innovation Department. They might spend their time like this:

ConnectMe
40%

Lived Experience Engine
30%

Internal tooling
20%

Technical debt / department work
10%

Figure 25. One engineer’s time across projects and department work.

The Department leader owns

their manager
performance review
professional development
salary/budget
technical standards
workload
whether 100% of that allocation is realistic

1

NeedThe Innovation Portfolio Owner names a need“ConnectMe needs more engineering capacity next quarter.”

2

Not thisThe Portfolio Owner cannot simply decide“Okay, now this engineer is 70% ConnectMe.” They bring that need to the Department leader.

3

TradeoffThe Department leader answers with a tradeoff“I can give you 20 additional points, but it means the internal tooling milestone moves.”

4

ResolveThey resolve it togetherIf they can resolve it together, great.

5

EscalateELT decidesIf the tradeoff affects another strategic portfolio or major enterprise commitment, the ELT decides.

Figure 26. How a capacity request moves through the matrix. That is how it is supposed to work.

The department operating rhythm at a glance

The rhythm is intentionally light. The default is asynchronous visibility, not another meeting. Live time is used when discussion, judgment, tradeoffs, learning, or human connection add value.

Cadence	Mechanism	Length	Desired result	Live-time rule
Always on	Shared source of truth + async updates	—	Make commitments, capacity, risks, decisions, and material changes visible without requiring a meeting.	Default. Routine visibility and status live here.
Weekly or every two weeks, only if needed	Department working session	60 minutes	Coordinate near-term work, resolve blockers, and handle issues that benefit from discussion.	Optional. Use only when pace or interdependence justifies it; cancel when there is no real agenda.
Monthly	Department Health & Capacity Review	60 minutes	Understand people, capacity, capability, quality, systems, and portfolio commitments; make department-level choices.	Primary recurring management forum.
Quarterly: January, April, August	Department Capacity & Capability Reset	1 hour and 30 minutes to 2 hours	Reassess capacity, capability, people, systems, and next-quarter commitments.	Replaces the normal monthly review for that period.
Annual: October	Department Strategic Planning	About 3 hours of working time	Establish next-year capacity, capability, staffing, quality, system, and budget realities before portfolio planning.	Replaces the normal monthly or quarterly review; do not stack meetings.
Triggered only	Deep dive, hiring or staffing plan, process redesign, recovery, or a sensitive people issue	As needed	Resolve one specific issue that cannot be handled well asynchronously or in the normal rhythm.	Not recurring. Invite only the people required.

A department does not need a weekly live meeting simply because this model exists. Some functions may need one during periods of high coordination. Others may operate well with a working session every two weeks, or asynchronous updates plus the monthly review. When a working session is held, it covers what is happening this week, what capacity issues exist, what work needs coordination, and what decisions the department can make itself. Not portfolio strategy.

The monthly Department Health & Capacity Review

This is the primary recurring department management forum. It steps above tasks and answers whether the department can actually support the commitments it has made. Desired result: the department understands its people, capacity, capability, quality, systems, and portfolio commitments; resolves issues within its authority; and identifies only the tradeoffs that truly require another portfolio or ELT.

Objectives: assess people, capacity, quality, and systems; resolve department-level choices; negotiate or escalate material constraints; confirm commitments and review points.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

#	Agenda item	Time
1	Welcome and check-in Who is here, and how are we arriving?	5 minutes
2	Desired result + decision queue What must be understood, resolved, or decided today?	5 minutes
3	People + capability Where do people need support, where are roles unclear, and what capabilities need attention?	10 minutes
4	Capacity + portfolio commitments Can we meet our current commitments, and where are workload or allocation tradeoffs emerging?	10 minutes
5	Functional quality + systems Are our standards, tools, workflows, and processes enabling high-quality work?	10 minutes
6	Risks + decisions + handoffs What can we resolve here, what needs portfolio negotiation, and what truly needs ELT?	10 minutes
7	Action steps, said out loud What changes now, who owns it, when do we review it, and what should improve before next month? Said out loud.	5 minutes
8	Check-out round robin One sentence each. Then: “Lee, please assign these action steps in Asana.”	5 minutes

Figure 27. The monthly Department Health & Capacity Review agenda, 60 minutes. Proposed reallocation: capacity discussion is 10 rather than the source draft’s 15 minutes to make room for the 5-minute welcome. “Are we able to meet the commitments we made to portfolios?” is where the two systems connect.

Project status is not repeated here. Projects appear only when they expose a material capacity, quality, performance, capability, dependency, or resource issue for the department.

Quarterly and annual department planning

Department planning feeds portfolio planning and enterprise planning. This is why departments must establish real capacity and capability before portfolios make major commitments.

Timing	Department job	Connection to portfolio / ELT
January, Week 2	Organization kickoff: understand the approved strategy, priorities, major projects, and expectations.	Activation, not annual strategy formation.
January, Week 3	Q1 Department Capacity & Capability Reset.	Confirm Q1 capacity and commitments before the Q1 ELT reset.
April	Q2 Department Reset based on Q1 evidence and workload.	Feed revised capacity, capability, and risk into portfolio and ELT Q2 decisions.
August	Q3 Department Reset and early next-year capability outlook.	Surface likely next-year constraints and opportunities before September Board and annual planning.
September Board	Absorb guidance about what should shape next year.	Creates planning guardrails for management.
October, Week 1	Annual Department Strategic Planning.	Establish real people, capacity, capability, systems, and budget assumptions first.
October, Week 2	Support Portfolio Strategic Planning with those realities.	Portfolios make next-year recommendations against real capacity.
October, Week 4 through December	ELT integrates; November reconciles strategy, people, projects, money, and funding; December Board governs and approves.	One integrated annual plan becomes ready for January activation.

October matters most

“Here is what we realistically have next year.”

Departments establish the realistic capacity and capability picture first; portfolios then use that reality to make next-year strategic recommendations; the ELT integrates the full set of choices into one enterprise strategy.

For example, a department might report

4 FTE available one expected vacancy one consultant ending engineering capacity X policy capacity Y new skill required $300K budget need major system replacement needed training/capability gaps known constraints

Then the portfolio plans against reality.

An async-first management system

The operating model should reduce meetings, not multiply them. A healthy department makes routine work visible without requiring people to narrate it live.

Mechanism	What stays async	When live discussion is justified
Shared source of truth	Capacity allocations, commitments, project links, risks, decisions, owners, due dates, and major changes.	When the information creates a tradeoff or unresolved decision.
Async weekly snapshot, when useful	Material changes, wins, blockers, workload shifts, upcoming deadlines, and requests for help.	When comments cannot resolve the issue quickly or safely.
Dashboards / scorecards	Department metrics, workload, quality, budget, hiring, and capability indicators.	When the trend requires interpretation or intervention.
Written pre-read / decision packet	Problem, evidence, options, recommendation, implications, and decision question.	When a group must exercise judgment or make a consequential choice.
One-to-one management	Individual performance, coaching, feedback, growth, and sensitive workload issues.	Live with the appropriate manager; do not turn personal management into a broad department meeting.
Project / functional tools	Task status, detailed project updates, SOPs, technical or functional work products.	Use existing working forums only when real-time collaboration adds value.

The test for a meeting

The test for a meeting is not whether the topic is important. The test is whether synchronous discussion will materially improve a decision, tradeoff, relationship, learning process, or shared understanding.

Decision and escalation path

Issue	Primary home	Escalate when
Routine individual work / task coordination	Individual, manager, or existing project/functional tool	A blocker cannot be resolved within normal authority or creates a meaningful dependency.
Project delivery / project scope within authority	Project Owner / Project Manager	The issue exceeds approved scope, capacity, budget, or delegated authority.
Staffing, workload, performance, capability, or functional quality	Department Leader / Functional Manager	The choice affects major commitments, multiple portfolios, or cannot be resolved within department authority.
Portfolio priority or demand for more capacity	Strategic Portfolio Owner + Department Leader	The two sides cannot reconcile priority, timing, scope, or capacity without affecting another enterprise commitment.
Cross-portfolio / material enterprise resource tradeoff	ELT	Enterprise priorities, significant resources, or major strategic commitments must change.
Formal governance, budget approval, CEO accountability	Board	The decision sits within Board authority.

Use the lowest level with the authority and context to make the decision. A department should not send normal staffing or quality choices to ELT. A portfolio should not send routine project choices to ELT. ELT is for enterprise judgment, material cross-portfolio tradeoffs, significant resource choices, required project governance, and genuine deadlocks.

Rules of the department system

Async first. A meeting is not the default mechanism for visibility.
Do not duplicate project or portfolio status in department meetings.
Use one source of truth for capacity, commitments, risks, decisions, and major changes.
Make portfolio demand and department capacity visible before work is committed.
Protect functional quality even when delivery pressure is high.
Use existing forums first. Merge, shorten, or cancel recurring forums that do not produce a distinct result.
Quarterly and annual planning replace the normal monthly review for that period rather than stacking another meeting on top.
People-management issues stay with the appropriate manager and are not turned into broad team meetings.
Every decision closes with an owner, due date, evidence of success, review point, and who needs to know.
Every meeting opens with a welcome and check-in, then its desired result and objectives.

The TOU matrix in one line

Board governs. ELT integrates. Portfolios choose and steward the strategic work. Departments build and allocate the capability to deliver it. Projects execute.

Evidence and learning move back through the system.

Still to write

A department-specific operating model for each department: Technology & Innovation, Development, Programs & Services, External Engagement, Strategy & Operations, CEO Office. Department and portfolio resets (January, April, August) also need to be confirmed against the ELT resets (February, May, August).