assessment of PPM Capability
Requirement The Department for Education (DfE) commissioned Acuity to provide support in enhancing their existing project management office (PMO) capability in preparation for the reprocurement of an administration service for the Teacher’s Pension Scheme (TPS). The aim was to ensure the embedding on practice whilst acknowledging existing levels of PPM expertise.
Delivery Our delivery of this assignment was structured into 4 phases:
The initial task was to undertake an assessment of PPM/PMO practices being deployed within the TPS team. This quickly allowed us to understand existing capability levels and identify areas where some development would be required. Our findings were summarised in a concise assessment report.
We rapidly progressed to developing an operating model for a PMO, defining it’s role, how it would interact with the wider business and it’s resource requirements. This enabled the PMO to be resourced promptly, having identified suitably skilled internal staff.
In parallel with the initiation of the PMO function, we developed a series of templates that aimed to provide DfE with a robust but easy to use set of tools that supported their delivery whilst also aligning to PRINCE2 standards. Our toolkit of templates included the following:
Portfolio report.
Transformation map.
Programme definition document.
Programme overview document.
Project brief.
Project initiation document.
Strategic schedule (plan on a page).
Action log.
Decisions log.
Risk dashboard.
Risk register.
Stakeholder engagement and communications strategy.
Communications plan.
Benefits Realisation plan.
Project Closure report.
Our final activity was to undertake a skills transfer exercise to ensure that the newly appointed resource and wider stakeholders within DfE were able to fully utilise the PPM toolkit and provide high quality support to the Pensions Administration Reprocurement Programme. This was achieved via the delivery of a number of one to one and group based sessions, together with ensuring that all templates contained guidance written in plain English that would be understandable for non-PPM professionals.
Result The assignment provided DfE with a complete assessment of the current application of PMO practices, along with a RAG-rated list of recommendations to address areas of improvement. This was supported by a tailored approach and supporting implementation plan for setting up a robust portfolio office. This provided the client with everything they needed to reform their application of PMO practices across the department.