Portfolio, programme and project office

Sue Vowler presented to South Wales and West of England Branch in February 2007 on changing the way we support change. Sue looked at the why, what, who, when and howof programme and project management, focusing alsoon processes, organisation, roles, standards and controls. Sue stated that effective change support enables selection of the right Projects! ensures programmes & projects are done right! and develops capability.

Sue spent some time going through programme management basic services followed byvalue add services. An example from the Office of GovernmentCommercewas used which said that24% of public sector IT programmes delivered on time and in budget. The future aimis a2 - 3 fold improvement in success rates for government IT programmes by 2006. The remitto provide continuous monitoring across all departmental programmes co-ordinating and reporting challenging what is to be delivered and how.

KPMG data was analysed by Sue in the seminar, KPMG spoke to134 companies andfocused on impact of programme office on project performance, they concluded Having analysed all the data collected KPMG predicts that organisations will continue to invest in professional, well equipped and executive sponsored programme offices that will become increasingly integrated with the business while acting as catalysts, conductors and referees of change. The most important programme management functions according to KPMG are tracking and reporting, coordination, communication, standards, governance, risk management, portfolio management and business requirements planning.

Sue concluded that some of the key success factors in programme management are ownership and commitment,credibility - recruiting the right people,early proof of value - stakeholder confidence in outcome - go for wow factor! communication and stakeholder analysis. Sue said ''sell your services, sell your successes!''.

This was an excellent event where delegates enjoyed raising questions on the subject and learning from Sue's vast experience in this sector.

Slides from Sue's presentation are available to download below.