PORTFOLIO, PROGRAMME & PROJECT MANAGEMENT OFFICES

FUNCTIONS GUIDE

Developed by the Department of Health Informatics Directorate Informatics Capability Development branch

FUNCTIONS GUIDE
This guide is primarily intended for use by staff looking to set up (or currently running) a PMO.
For the purpose of this guide PMO refers to Portfolio, Programme or/and Project Offices.

This guide looks at:

FUNCTIONS

EXAMPLE PMO MODELS

ROLES WITHIN A PMO

PMO REFERENCE MATERIAL

Functions guide

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. The role of the PMO

2. Which PMO model should your organisation set up?

3. Why set up a PMO? 4. Benefits of a PMO function for an organisation 5. Examples of different models of office

6. The role of the PMO

7. Example of a PMO model 8. Roles within a PMO 9. Tools & reference materials

10. Checkpoint
11. References

Functions guide

1) THE ROLE OF THE PMO

A PMO model provides the structure, governance, functions and services required for defining a balanced portfolio of change and ensuring consistent delivery of programmes and projects across an organisation or department.
A PMO model can significantly increase an organisations chance of delivering its business goals and strategies ensuring: That strategies and performance requirements are realised via projects, programmes and operational business units. A joined up set of outcomes and benefits is measured, managed, monitored and refined to ensure that optimal investment and strategic goals are achieved.

Definitions of portfolio, programme and project management can be found at the following link: www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk/systemsandservices/icd /informspec/p3m/resource/implementing/definitions/ind ex_html/

Functions guide

2) WHICH PMO MODEL SHOULD YOUR ORGANISATION SET UP?

Examples of different models of office
The table shows different office functions and a high level definition of the service they may offer.

Model
PMO model

Definition
The total structure put in place to deliver functions and services across an organisation or enterprise through a single or multiple offices Permanent office set up to support the definition and delivery of a portfolio of change across the entire organisation or enterprise. Temporary office set up to support delivery of a specific change initiative being delivered as a programme

Organisation Portfolio Office Programme Office

Project Office
Centre of Excellence (COE)

Temporary office set up to support delivery of a specific change initiative being delivered as a project
A portfolio, programme and project management standards unit, which defines standards (processes, templates and tools), skills and training, manages knowledge and may provide independent assurance. The COE may be part of a portfolio office or exist as a separate independent unit.

Functions guide

3) WHY SET UP A PMO?

PMO structures help organisations to respond to the following questions :

What will be the impact of missing milestones?

Can we take on this new area of work?

Which programmes and projects under our control are delivering the best value?

What will happen if a key resource leaves?

Are we meeting deadlines?

How quickly would we be able to deliver if we had a bigger budget or more skilled staff?

What is the number one project in the organisation?

What are our priority pieces of work?

Are we doing the right projects and programmes?

Are we going to remain within budget?

Do we have capable staff to deliver against our business plan?

Functions guide

4) BENEFITS OF A PMO FUNCTION FOR AN ORGANISATION

There are a number of business benefits that a PMO structure can bring to an organisation. Below are some of these benefits:
Provide the management team with current project information. Identify bottle necks for immediate corrective action. Identify excess budget that can be reallocated to other work. Enhance confidence and capabilities of project management staff throughout the organisations. Increasing confidence that your organisation is managing projects, programmes and portfolios effectively. Focussed portfolio aligned to business strategy and organisation targets. Provides a big picture view on the organisations work. Predictability of delivery. Clarity of decision making. Consistency of approach and delivery. More effective use of resource. Consistent stakeholder engagement.

Functions guide

5) EXAMPLES OF DIFFERENT MODELS OF OFFICE

There is no 'one size fits all' approach. The type of PMO will be dependent on the type and size of organisation, i.e. in a small organisation the PMO model may simply be a single individual acting as a multi tasking PMO officer. Key considerations to help you to determine an appropriate model: Organisations vision and goals Organisation size Current and future business needs Maturity level of organisation Amount of staff The numbers of programmes and projects being undertaken Organisations political and cultural environment Department structure and the geographical location of staff i.e. centralised vs local delivery Organisation senior support and maturity levels for P3M Whether there is already a PMO structure in place already Once these factors have been considered, the precise functions will be able to be determined. An organisations P3M maturity and capability should be considered when determining what model to set up. More information on determining your organisations P3M maturity can be found on the following link www.connectingforhealth/systemsandservices/icd/infor mspec/p3m/resource/capability/maturity/index_html/

Functions guide

6) THE ROLE OF THE PMO

Example PMO functions
The type of functions a PMO should offer will depend on the role of the PMO (see chapter 5). The following are example functions that may be considered.

Implementing organisation strategy

Project portfolio management support Prioritisation and operations planning/forecasting Project management processes & methodology PM metrics/reporting Project management tools Just-in-time support to project needs Project start-up assistance Proposal support Project change management Support Project recoveries/rescues Project assessments Stakeholder engagement and communications Planning and estimating Project and programme set up and closure

Capacity planning Resource management gaps, recruiting & skills competency

Tactical Delivery
Monitor, review and reporting Risk, issue and change management Finance Assurance and quality Information management Transition management

Building organisation capability

Workforce development people and skills Leadership - key projects Certification Standards and methods Internal consultancy Knowledge management

Managing organisation capacity

Functions guide

7) EXAMPLE OF A PMO MODEL

This is an example of a permanent PMO unit (could be known as organisation portfolio office).
The services that the office may offer may depend on the maturity of the organisation Main Board Director

Organisation Portfolio Office

Portfolio Functions Strategy Support Prioritisation Benefits Management Dashboards Governance support Oversight, scrutiny and challenge Delivery Functions Flexible Resource Pool Capacity Planning Resource Management HR Management Contract Management external resources Facilitate programme or project start-up Centre of Excellence / Assurance Functions Standards Training and Coaching Assurance Good Practice Knowledge Management Tools Consultancy

In this particular model a single unit is responsible for three functional areas: portfolio functions, delivery functions and centre of excellence functions.

Programme Office (temporary set up to support a specific initiative)

Project Office (temporary set up to support a specific initiative)

Functions guide

8) ROLES WITHIN A PMO

There could be a number of different staff roles that sit within a PMO function. The list indicates some of these roles. The number of staff and specific roles recruited will depend upon the specific functions of the PMO. Please note that some smaller PMOs may only require one staff member. Some roles may be merged.

Staff role
PMO Sponsor. Champions the PMO Programme/Project Office Head Portfolio Analyst

Information
Senior member of NHS organisation main board who will champion the PMO. Establish and leads/ runs the office. Ongoing management of the portfolio. Develop and maintain management dashboards. Promotion of P3M methods. Roll out of good P3M practice and monitoring projects where required. Implement guidelines, procedures and templates. Collect and maintain data. Provide delivery support. Provides benefits realisation support to programme managers and change managers. In the NHS there may be separate benefits roles.

Programme/Project specialist

Programme/Project Officer

Benefits role

Continued on next page

Functions guide

8) ROLES WITHIN A PMO

Staff role
Communications and stakeholder engagement role Information management role

Information
Stakeholder analysis, communications plan creation and implementation, media relations. Guardian of master copies of P3M information. Configuration management duties. Establishes a professional finance function within the portfolio, programme or project. Ensuring the portfolio, programme or project has effective processes in place to identify, monitor and resolve risks and issues. Facilitate the development and maintenance of the portfolio, programme and project plan and dependency logs. Leads work to ensure that new products or services delivered by the portfolio, programme or project are fit for purpose and capable of delivering the benefits defined by the board. Collates base data and generates reports. Administrative support. May provide secretariat function for boards.

Finance role

Issue and Risk role

Planning role

Quality assurance role

Reporting role Administrator

Functions guide

9) TOOLS & REFERENCE MATERIALS

The following materials may be used for support
The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) has produced a the Portfolio, Programme and Project Offices (P3O) guide to provide universally applicable guidance, including principles, process techniques, that will enable individuals and organisations to successfully establish, develop and maintain appropriate support structures. A description of P3M standards, professional bodies and specific interest groups www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk/systemsandservices/icd/i nformspec/p3m/resource/implementing/standards A link to definitions of P3M www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk/systemsandservices/icd/i nformspec/p3m/resource/implementing/definitions/index_ html/

http://www.best-management-practice.com/PublicationsLibrary/P3-Offices-P3O/Project-Programme-and-PortfolioOffice-P3O/?DI=603514
Portfolio, Programme and Project Management Maturity Model (P3M3). A maturity model produced by the OGC. can be used as a guide to identify the level of maturity of 32 different practices covering portfolio, programme and project management (P3M). The P3M3 guidance provides generic descriptions for each practice, at each of the five levels of maturity, against which your organisation can be assessed. More information can be found at the following link: www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk/systemsandservices/icd/i nformspec/p3m/resource/capability/maturity/index_html/

Functions guide

10) CHECKPOINT

Do you have the most appropriate support structures for portfolios, programmes and projects in your organisation? Are you aware of different types of offices that may sit within the PMO function i.e. programme office? Are you aware of different functions a PMO could offer to your organisation? Are there any other services the PMO could deliver for your organisation? Are you aware of different staff functions that could support your organisations PMO? Is your PMO model appropriate to the size and type of your organisation? Have you accessed OGC (now Cabinet Office) guidance on P3Os? Have you accessed OGC (now Cabinet Office) guidance on the P3M maturity model (P3M3)?

Functions guide

11) REFERENCES
Getting Return on Investment from your Programme or Project Management Office The ProjectPlus Group http://www.apm.org.uk/blog/return-pmo-investment Dave Rochford BSc, MA, Fellow CMA & Iain Fraser, PMP, PMI Fellow, Fellow PMINZ Project Plus Ltd Portfolio, Programme and Project Offices Office of Government Commerce Published by TSO P3M3 Portfolio, Programme, and Project Management Maturity Model (P3M3) Office of Government Commerce Released in June 2008