The Teal Book: guiding project delivery in government

Government Project Delivery is the function and profession for project delivery in the UK government, connecting more than 26,000 civil servants that deliver projects across the country.

One of the tools supporting its mission is The Teal Book; a new resource that provides guidance for those leading, delivering and overseeing projects, programmes and portfolios in government. The Teal Book complements other knowledge sources such as the APM Body of Knowledge by defining how projects in government are delivered, and by sharing best practice through the lens of government project delivery.

APM spoke with the team who helped create The Teal Book to learn how it’s changing project delivery across the public sector: Owen Kennedy, the Book’s editor and lead author, and contributing authors William Emmett and Dr Fiona Spencer CBE all work in the new National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA), created earlier this year.

What purpose does The Teal Book fulfil?

Owen Kennedy: "One of the things we’re trying to achieve is to support the Government Functional Standard for Project Delivery; which sets the expectations for government departments for project delivery work. While we have the expectation – the ‘what’ – we didn’t previously have an agreed view on the ‘how’. The Teal Book provides a common language and access to the same knowledge, so we can support departments and bodies in their delivery."

Fiona Spencer: "The Government is putting a real push behind delivery and service transformation, as exemplified by the creation of NISTA. The intention is to deliver projects and new infrastructure better. Our part in that is supporting professionalisation of public sector project delivery, helping people to do it better.

"There is also a big focus in government policy on social value and outcomes. The Teal Book is clear throughout that projects are about delivering outcomes for citizens and about social value."

How was it developed?

William Emmett: "The Teal Book was developed by a core team over a year-and-a-half period. That included a very wide consultation, whereby anyone who works for any one of hundreds of government organisations could review it and give us feedback."

Owen Kennedy: "A lot of work went into making sure that The Teal Book is fully aligned and doesn’t jar with other government policy. There was a lot of effort to make sure that The Teal Book content aligns with government standards, legal requirements and policy, for example on commercial matters, finance, evaluation and so on."

"We are now one of the largest professions in government and we’re seeing a passion for professional development in all its forms."

Will The Teal Book boost confidence in government project delivery?

Fiona Spencer: "Absolutely, yes. As a profession, project, programme and portfolio management has really found its feet now. Chartered Project Professional status and the government’s professional accreditation scheme have contributed a lot to that. People are seeing now that this is a skilled profession, which gives it much stronger credibility; not only among its members but among people outside it, who now take it much more seriously. I think this is being seen not just in government but in the private sector too.

"We are now one of the largest professions in government and we’re seeing a passion for professional development in all its forms, which The Teal Book is really helping with. It recognises that project delivery across government can take many forms and involves many different people, with diverse skills and backgrounds. We’ve written it so it can be used flexibly and tailored to the needs of the work by the people involved. Ultimately, they’re the professionals and we trust The Teal Book to deliver the best possible outcomes for public benefit."

"[The Teal Book] is part of a wider vision that we have for government project delivery – a wider aim to improve consistency and strengthen links between our different services, products and ways of working."

Who can access The Teal Book and how will they use it?

William Emmett: "For those delivering government projects, The Teal Book is integrated into the government online network, to link to relevant guidance or material on gov.uk [the UK public sector information website].

"It’s a web-based document, not a pdf file. We made sure to listen to people’s preferences when we were planning The Teal Book. A lot of people don’t want a 500-page PDF. The other thing about a web-based design is that it can be a ‘living document’ that can be updated. It won’t go out of date and we can respond if there’s a major change in government policy, for example.

"It’s publicly available so everyone, including government supply partners, can access it easily…We also expect government buyers and clients will keep The Teal Book in mind when writing their requirements for suppliers.

"Because The Teal Book is for such a broad audience, it does call out the nuances of different sectors and the unique things that need to be acknowledged. In that sense, it’s part of a wider vision that we have for government project delivery – a wider aim to improve consistency and strengthen links between our different services, products and ways of working."

You can read more about The Teal Book at projectdelivery.gov.uk/teal-book