This article describes the purpose of Portfolio Forecaster’s scenario mode and how to use it. Use these links to jump to the desired section of the article:

What is scenario mode?

Scenario mode allows you to exit your actual forecast and let you play through some What If? scenarios to see how they affect your forecast. You enter scenario mode by turning on the Show not started toggle in the forecast parameters box.

Open

Forecast Parameters Box

The box will change background color to let you know you’re in scenario mode and it adds additional parameters Concurrent Items and Advanced > Work ahead that come into play when you are forecasting beyond work that is already in progress. Read about how to use them.

Open

The Forecast Table

The table will now show all epics or versions with unfinished items remaining within. Ones that are officially In Progress will have in progress next to them so you can keep track as you explore different scenarios. In this view, you can re-order items via drag and drop as the app will use both the concurrent items value you have set and the order (rank) in which they are listed to determine how many and which items are “in progress” at one time.

Questions to explore

What if we work on a different number of items at one time?

Use the Concurrent items dropdown to adjust how many items the simulation will treat as in progress. Generally speaking, the more items you’re working on at one time, the longer it takes to finish any one item. This has a cascading effect on future items.

Once you change the value in the dropdown you’ll need to click “Save” in order for the changes to take effect. This will cause the simulation to be recalculated.

What if we worked on these in a different sequence/priority?

Use the vertical order (stack ranking) of the individual rows to simulate the sequencing or order in which the work will be done.

You can reorder rows by drag and drop. As soon as you move one item you’ll see this banner:

We suggest that you make all of the changes you want and THEN recalculate as the calculations can take time.

What if we work ahead without officially starting those items?

Use the advanced setting called Work Ahead to choose what percentage of your work should be allotted to working ahead in our simulation.

Don’t forget

You are in scenario mode. This is not your actual forecast. Using scenario mode, you get to play what if scenarios to decide what process changes you want to make. Now it’s time to go put those in place and see how your actual forecast changes.