PPfM-01-V1-Apr06 - Project Portfolio Management - Framework

Project Portfolio Management
Framework – Cambridgeshire County Council
Programme, Project and Change Management
Capacity Building Programme

Supported by Communities and Local Government 4
Project Portfolio Management
PPfM
Framework
Cambridgeshire County Council Efficiency Programme
Supported by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister through the eInnovations Programme
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©Cambridgeshire County Council
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................5
SECTION 1 - ABOUT THE FRAMEWORK......................................................7

What is Project Portfolio Management?...........................................................................................7
What is the PPfM Framework?.............................................................................................................7
Why a Framework?................................................................................................................................7
How will the Framework help?.............................................................................................................8
High Level PPfM Framework..............................................................................................................10
ILLUSTRATIVE HIGH LEVEL PPFM FRAMEWORK....................................11
SECTION 2 –PPFM OVERVIEW....................................................................12

Getting Started .....................................................................................................................................12
What are the benefits and drivers of PPfM?......................................................................................12

Linkage with CPA..............................................................................................................................14
Mitigating risk of project failure.........................................................................................................17
Addressing common inefficiencies.....................................................................................................19
What are the Organisational Barriers for PPfM?.............................................................................20
What are the prerequisites of PPfM?..................................................................................................21
Where is PPfM positioned?..................................................................................................................22
What are the Portfolio Management processes?................................................................................25
Corporate Level PPfM process – page 1.............................................................................................26
WITH THE ANALYSIS COMPLETE, ASSESSING THE PORTFOLIO

PROVIDES THE OPPORTUNITY TO EVALUATE THE RELATIVE
STRENGTH AND FIT OF THE PROJECTS WITHIN THE PORTFOLIO, TO
RE-EVALUATE OR REALIGN PROPOSALS AND THEN PRIORITISE THE
CHANGE PROGRAMME, BASED ON THE ORGANISATIONS ABILITY TO
DELIVER, WHILST AT THE SAME TIME, MAINTAINING THE OVERALL
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BALANCE AND ENSURING NOT ALL EGGS ARE IN ONE BASKET. THE
ASSESSMENT WILL HELP ANSWER QUESTIONS SUCH AS:..................26
SECTION 3 – MATURITY ASSESSMENT MODEL.......................................29

Introduction...........................................................................................................................................29
What is the maturity assessment model?............................................................................................30
Benefits of the maturity assessment model ........................................................................................31
The tool is not intended as a ................................................................................................................32
Quick Maturity Assessment ................................................................................................................34
Detailed Maturity Assessment.............................................................................................................36
SECTION 4 – PPFM EXPERIENCE IN CAMBRIDGESHIRE COUNTY

COUNCIL .......................................................................................................44
Background ..........................................................................................................................................44
The Challenges......................................................................................................................................44
Response to Challenges........................................................................................................................45
Summary................................................................................................................................................46
Experiential learning assessment tool.................................................................................................47
LESSONS LEARNED FROM CAMBRIDGESHIRE .....................................................................53
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...............................................................................56
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Conditions of use
All material in these documents, unless otherwise stated, and in any materials developed using or
based upon these documents, including without limitation text, logos, icons, photographs and all
other artwork, is copyright material of Cambridgeshire County Council or its partners. Use may be
made of these documents and materials for non-commercial purposes without permission from
the copyright holder on condition that the ownership of CCC or its partners is identified in any
material so used. Commercial use of this material may only be made with the express, prior,
written permission of Cambridgeshire County Council and subject to such conditions as the
Council may determine.
Material contained in these documents provided by any third party, including material obtained
through links to other sites, is likely to be the copyright material of the author. Permission to copy
or otherwise use such material must be obtained from the author.
In no event will Cambridgeshire County Council be liable for any loss or damage including,
without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damages whatsoever
arising from use or loss of use of, data or profits arising out of or in connection with the use of the
documents or materials. Links to other websites contained in these documents are for information
only and Cambridgeshire County Council accepts no responsibility or liability for access to, or the
material on, any such website.
CONTACT
Debbie Bondi
Head of Business Development
Cambridgeshire County Council
Shire Hall
Cambridge CB3 0AP
e-Mail: debbie.bondi@cambridgeshire.gov.uk
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INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the Project Portfolio Management (PPfM) Framework developed through the Office of the
Deputy Prime Minister’s eInnovations programme by Cambridgeshire County Council and partners to
help Local Authorities improve the management of change by selecting and running the optimum set
of projects and programmes. It has been developed in response to the demand from Local Authorities
for support and guidance with developing a range of capabilities required for managing, delivering
and sustaining successful business change.
With the emphasis on demonstrating value for money and the introduction of the Annual Efficiency
Statement and the Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) scoring on “Use of Resources”,
Authorities are now looking to develop and improve existing capabilities as a foundation for
establishing structured and robust methods of investment decision making so its resources are
directed at the changes that will contribute most effectively to its strategy and objectives.
All too frequently, projects can be approved on the basis of who shouts loudest or who has got the
money in their budget. However, the budget may have been set under different conditions from those
that now prevail, and the money could be better spent from both the citizen and Authority standpoint.
An additional level of complexity is that, once approved, changes in the internal and external
environment can invalidate projects or programmes and senior managers need consistent information
on which to judge the impact of such changes.
This framework provides a structure for establishing PPfM within a Local Authority setting, so the
appropriate capabilities and infrastructure are established that will support an effective investment
decision-making process and project delivery function. This will ensure:
• The right projects and programmes are selected to achieve the strategic outcomes and
priorities set by the Authority.
• Unnecessary activities are terminated or never started at all.
• Resources are deployed where the organisation needs them most.
• Programmes and projects are monitored against key outcomes
• Ongoing successful delivery of programmes and projects
Project Portfolio Management tools in the market place are mature, and it would be very easy
(tempting!) to purchase one of these without due regard to the functionality required. The temptation
to invest early in purpose-built or off-the-shelf tools to support a PPfM function could prove expensive
and unnecessary if they don’t provide the functions and features required, or are too functionally rich
for an Authority’s immediate and longer term needs. Automated tools are a useful aid for capturing
and analysing data before translating into management information. However, our experience is that
many Authorities don’t yet create or collect the source data on which to base this information. One of
the key principles of this framework is to enable Authorities to develop a more rounded PPfM function
and adapt a range of ‘manual’ processes or exploit features in existing tools before undertaking a
major investment in automated tools.
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Through dedicated funding this framework encapsulates a range of experiential learning from the
Local Authority sector and uses existing practical guidance and material to support a Project Portfolio
Management function. It synthesises approaches and methodologies in the Public Sector to come up
with a practical generic framework that could easily be applied in a Local Authority setting. The
project studied the processes and conditions necessary to set up and grow a successful PPfM
function in an incremental way that would maximise any future investment in tools and infrastructure.
We have found this process of experiential learning an effective method by which to develop the
PPfM function.
A Project Portfolio Management function helps to ensure that the citizen gets the maximum value
from each pound spent on projects and programmes, which the Meta Group estimates can reduce
spending by up to 30 percent.
If you can’t respond yes to 3 key questions, this Project Portfolio Management framework is for you.
• Are we doing the right projects right?

• Are we investing in the right areas?
• Do we have enough of the right types of resource?
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SECTION 1 - ABOUT THE FRAMEWORK
What is Project Portfolio Management?
A Working Definition
In the context of a Local Authority delivering key services and improvements, Project Portfolio
Management (PPfM) is viewed as a corporate, strategic level process for coordinating successful
delivery across a Local Authority’s entire set of programmes or
1 in 3 firms have no project
projects. It provides a structured method of decision-making that
selection criteria
enables an Authority to select and run the optimal set of
Programmes and Projects. In particular it considers alignment with 1 in 3 firms do not explicitly
Public Sector Agreement (PSA) and CPA targets and other align projects with strategy
source Gartner © 2004
corporate policies/objectives and overall achievability based on the
Local Authority’s capacity and capability to deliver.
What is the PPfM Framework?
The Project Portfolio Management (PPfM) framework has been developed by Cambridgeshire
County Council and partners to help other Local Authorities improve the management of change by
selecting and running the optimum set of projects and programmes to support their strategic
priorities. It is the response to the demand from Local Authorities for support with developing the
skills, capabilities and knowledge required for managing and delivering successful business change
projects
The framework provides guidance based on experiential learning and existing practice and
identifies the building blocks on which to start developing a PPfM function within a Local Authority. It
is designed to complement and build on existing guidance provided by Central Government already
in the public domain and should be read as a framework for an approach and not a prescriptive
implementation path or standard.
Why a Framework?
Unlike Project and Programme Management, there isn’t a de facto standard for PPfM, and in
practice the maturity of PPfM is relatively low within many Local Authorities. Much of the material
that can be purchased or is in the public domain does not have a Local Authority focus and can be
both difficult to absorb, too advanced or lacks relevance for the present levels of project,
programme and change management maturity within Local Authorities.
There is only so much change an organisation can manage efficiently at once, so this framework
suggests a staged and phased approach to develop the PPfM function. There is no magic wand or
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big bang approach, and it is intended the approach will be towards incremental improvements in
developing the capabilities.
How will the Framework help?
This framework is designed to be as generic as possible, although the look and feel of the PPfM
function is likely to vary from Authority to Authority depending on individual preferences and
tailoring.
It has been established to help Local Authorities develop their own portfolio management function
through a method of:
• Promoting the benefits of PPfM within their Authority

• Developing an understanding of the barriers to establishing a PPfM function
• Identifying the processes and capabilities required to be effective at different levels of
maturity
• Understanding of the organisational structure and governance arrangements that support a
PPfM function
• Having access to tools and guidance that will support the development of the required
capabilities, infrastructure and processes
• Reflecting, reviewing and planning based on experiential learning.
The framework comprises 5 sections – here is a brief synopsis of each section
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Sections
1 About the framework
This section defines what Project Portfolio Management is and puts the framework
and its components into context
PPfM overview
2
This section provides summary guidance, an overview of the Project Portfolio
Management function and a definition of 7 core Portfolio Management processes.
The content of this guidance has been developed from a blend of practical learning
and research and is aimed at helping departments understand the principles and
value of Project Portfolio Management and how to get started.
Maturity Assessment Model

3
The model sets out the transitional states of PPfM maturity. It provides a framework
for an Authority to assess and plan how it will develop its own PPfM function through
improving the Authority’s level of capability in key practices. The overall framework
provides links to a range of useful guidance or tools that will help in developing a
more detailed understanding of the basic and underlying capability
4 PPfM Experience in Cambridgeshire County Council
This section provides a vignette of PPfM implementation in Cambridgeshire County

Council and using the outputs of Cambridgeshire’s experiential learning assessment,
the lessons learned in developing each capability are described.
The experiential learning assessment was completed using a set of questions on

which to reflect, review and plan the Authority’s progress against key PPfM practices
it is developing. This tool was developed by Cambridgeshire, and can be used or
modified by any Authority that wishes to use experiential learning as an approach.
Tools
5
This section provides some useful tools in the form of guidance or techniques to help
develop the necessary capabilities and infrastructure of the PPfM function. Some of
these tools have been developed by Cambridgeshire, others are freely available
using the OGC Successful Delivery Toolkit or via other web sites where you may
need to register first. These tools are signposted using links or are embedded in this
document
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High Level PPfM Framework
This framework comprises 3 elements that form part of the broader PPfM function.
1. Strategic PPfM Process

2. Supporting Capabilities
3. Building Blocks (PPfM infrastructure)
It acknowledges in principle that PPfM is a strategic decision making process, but it is reliant on a
level of capability underneath to enable good information and practice to flow, without which the
strategic level processes are likely to lead to poor decisions.
This framework doesn’t attempt to prescribe a specific sequence in which these elements are
implemented as the level of capabilities may vary according to personal preference or current levels
of maturity and the individual nature of the organisation
The following table describes the elements in more detail.
PPfM Elements
These are the strategic (corporate) level processes of the PPfM
function. PPfM in its narrow definition is the process of strategic
decision making for selecting and maintaining an optimum level of
project and programmes. This framework defines what these are,
Strategic Level
PPfM Processes
and what capabilities need to be developed, but is sensitive to the
broader needs and requirement for good management information
to enable strategic decision making to take place. This framework
has been established around a number of capabilities that need to
be developed in order good practices and information can be
created.
Capabilities are a set of behavioural characteristics observed or

expected at various levels of performance. This framework has
identified 6 supporting capabilities being central to a successful
Core Project Portfolio Management. Each management function must
Capabilities operate and interact together through a blend and mixture of these
capabilities. Capabilities in this framework comprise human and
non-human characteristics and become the collective ability through
which a function performs successfully.
Building blocks are the individual components that underpin each

capability. Therefore to be come ‘capable’ needs more than just
skills, knowledge and understanding. Ability is created through a
Building Blocks
Infrastructure
supporting infrastructure that combines 6 components.
The following table is an illustrative High Level Framework that describes the components of these
3 elements in more detail
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ILLUSTRATIVE HIGH LEVEL PPfM FRAMEWORK
Corporate Track &

Definition Selection Monitor
Planning Corrective Actions
During the Project

This process This process provides a Portfolio management
Definition bridges selection process key
establishes the helicopter view of the continues to track the
potential gaps between information relating to
Corporate Plan, which organisation’s delivery realisation of benefits
strategy planning and each project is
sets out the and investment beyond the life of the
project delivery. This is collected and analysed
organisations priorities commitment and is project or programme.
achieved by articulating before a process of
and details how they designed to maintain the Portfolio management
High Level the strategic prioritisation based on
will be achieved. optimum portfolio of identifies and
requirements for change predetermined
Strategic projects. This process recommends any
Corporate objectives into logical groups of selection criteria
Level and priorities will begins. Project
will monitor and review necessary intervention
project that clearly map
Processes embody the vision and all programmes and strategies or measures
project and programme approvals will confirm
values of the projects upto the point in response to an
outputs to the strategic decisions based on
organisation. they produce the unexpected shortfall in
and performance sound judgement and
outcomes or capability the desired level of
outcomes desired by the a rationalised approach
they were designed to programme or project
organisation. to selecting each
deliver. benefit.
project portfolio.
Core
Capabilities
Investment
Manageme
Managem
Managem
Managem
Managem
Managem
Performan
Project &
Capabilit
Strategic
Program
Capacity
Benefits
Risk
ent
ent
ent
ent
ent
me
&
ce
nt
&
y
Infrastructure
Building Blocks
Organisation Methodology Tools Governance Processes Competency
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SECTION 2 –PPfM OVERVIEW
At the end of this section you will be able to:

• Understand and explain how PPfM could benefit your Authority
• Identify the barriers and challenges and how to mitigate these.
• Explain the prerequisites for success
• Understand the benefits of PPfM
• Understand the key practices that need to be established for a projects portfolio management
function
• Understand the underpinning capabilities and infrastructure required for different levels of
maturity.
• Understand the inter relationships between the different management functions
• Recognise and understand the characteristics and behaviours associated within the function
• Understand and improve an Authority’s position of the components of a PPfM function.
• Plan the implementation of a PPfM functions in a more structured way
Getting Started
Change requires the desire and motivation to do it and the greater this is the more likely you will
succeed. This alone will not guarantee success when implementing PPfM in your Authority, although
with an understanding of the benefits, challenges, and how these can be managed, an Authority can
better prepare for the journey ahead. Using this framework any Authority will be able to establish a
plan for developing PPfM. It does not provide an implementation route map, but an overall approach
that will help to deliver noticeable benefits.
What are the benefits and drivers of PPfM?
Many Authorities are in the process of developing, or have already established project management
as a method for managing and delivering change. Whereas the methods, standards and benefits of
project management are more widely understood, the value of PPfM is less well known and viewed
by some with certain cynicism as just another distraction, more bureaucracy that will consume more
time across an already overstretched workforce.
Although Project Management is now becoming a well-established practice across many Authorities
to an acceptable standard, it doesn’t necessarily mean we are
investing in the right projects. The investment in developing excellent In short ‘we might be
investing our time and
project management capabilities could be devalued as a result of energy in managing and
approving projects that don’t deliver real value or are not aligned with delivering the wrong projects
the real priorities of the Authority. well’.
The project focus to deliver on time, budget and to quality although

valid, may do little to improve the overall performance of the Authority and in the areas it wants to
improve most. PPfM is about weighing up the relative merits and value of its projects, with
consideration of the risks, benefits and resource constraints. It provides an approach for selecting and
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sustaining the most advantageous projects by improving the organisation’s decision-making process
through access to better information, and having the means and capability to support this.
The case for PPfM is about ensuring any investment decisions will be made with the necessary and
appropriate attention given to the short and long-term value the change will deliver.
It is understandable that senior managers will ask the question ‘ what will PPfM do for us’ or ‘what will
we get out of it’. The immediate benefits are summarised:
1. Increase visibility of the Authority’s demands – risks, issues, resourcing, budgeting

2. Create an understanding of the capability requirements to meet resource and financial
demands
3. Maximise use of scarce resources
4. Matching projects needs with right skills
5. Improve financial control with a clear understanding of costs and strategic value of the
projects
6. Better management information on which to make more informed investment decisions
7. Establish a common understanding and targets energy and money on the key priorities
8. Creates visibility of the deliverables and outcomes expected, and a vision of what success will
look like.
This isn’t an exhaustive list, but these are the benefits often cited or associated with Project Portfolio
Management.
Whilst this framework does not attempt to provide a generic cost benefit analysis for PPfM, the
following sub sections clearly identify the areas where any Authority could benefit from PPfM
practices.
Rather than expand on the generic PPfM benefits above that apply equally to both public and private
organisations, the following expands on 3 key drivers for improving efficiency that are relevant and
specific to any Authority delivering public services.
The Gershon and CPA efficiency drives for realising cashable and non-cashable gains can be
achieved through better management of an Authority’s financial and human resources and strategic
risks. These are explicit principles of PPfM and core components of the capabilities within the
framework.
Sections to explain the relationship between a PPfM approach and the following three drivers:
1. Linkage with CPA

2. Avoiding common causes of project failure as defined by the National Audit Office
3. Addressing common inefficiencies
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Linkage with CPA
The philosophy of portfolio management supports the CPA process in a number of ways.
The following areas have been discussed with the Audit Commission as part of this project:.
Corporate Assessment The principles of portfolio management support the Corporate Assessment in a number of ways
particularly with respect to Prioritisation (Theme 2) and Capacity (Theme 3).
Each area is considered in more detail in the table below, based on the Key Lines of Enquiry
(KLOE) documents, which can be found at http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/kloe/index.asp
Corporate Governance The philosophy behind portfolio management appears to support Corporate Governance since it
concerns the husbandry and governance of resources in a clear and transparent manner.
In particular, several KLOEs (Key Lines of Enquiry) are relevant to portfolio management which
are described in the table below
Use of Resources The philosophy behind portfolio management appears to support Use of Resources since it is
about optimising the way in which resources are utilised with respect to projects and
programmes, in support of corporate objectives.
In particular, under Financial Management, Key Line of Enquiry 2.1 states “The council’s medium-
term financial strategy, budgets and capital programme are soundly based and designed to
deliver its strategic priorities”. Portfolio management supports this by ensuring that proposed
projects and programmes are aligned to strategic priorities before approval is given and by
helping to ensure that business planning is integrated with financial planning.
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KLOE Nr. Corporate Assessment KLOE Relevance to PPfM
2.2 Is there a robust strategy to deliver the This KLOE requires that “resources allocated within and between
priorities? partner organisations are managed, reviewed and revised in line with
priorities”. Portfolio management provides a framework to do this.
3.2 Is capacity used effectively and This KLOE requires that “the council ensures that projects are properly
developed to deliver ambitions and resourced…”. Portfolio management provides resource management
priorities? at a strategic level to ensure that the resources of the organisation are
used to optimal effect in support of strategic priorities and are not
over/under utilised.
3.3 Does the council, with its partners, have By promoting a more strategic approach to developments, portfolio
the capacity it needs to achieve change management provides a framework for looking forward to understand
and deliver its priorities? what resources will be required to deliver current and future priorities.
KLOE Nr. Corporate Governance KLOE Relevance to PPfM

1.2 Does the council have coherent It is assumed that local needs are reflected in corporate priorities and
programmes of change based on local that programmes are then developed which deliver to the corporate
needs and opportunities? priorities i.e.
Local Needs  Corporate Priorities  Programmes
Portfolio management provides a demonstration of the link between

corporate priorities and programmes. However, it should be recognised
that portfolio management will not ensure that corporate priorities
properly reflect local needs and opportunities
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KLOE Nr. Corporate Governance KLOE Relevance to PPfM
1.3 Is the council’s vision translated into A pre-requisite for portfolio management is having corporate priorities
organisational aims and objectives? which are understandable and which are based on the vision.
Instituting portfolio management provides a pressure to ensure that the
vision is translated into meaningful priorities and objectives. In
particular, portfolio management appears to support 1.3.3 which refers
to the quality of decision-making.
2.2 Are the council’s policy and decision- Portfolio management supports good decision-making and is part of
making processes working effectively to good governance.
ensure clear accountability and good
governance?
2.3 Are the council’s corporate and service- Portfolio management supports a “cascade of corporate priorities”
planning processes comprehensive and (2.3.2). One of the components of inadequate performance under 2.3.2
consistent? is a “mismatch of plans and priorities”. Portfolio management helps to
guard against this.
2.5 Does the council have a comprehensive Portfolio management operates at the strategic level, irrespective of
and well-managed strategy for cross- organisational boundaries. In this way, it helps to promote cross-
departmental working? departmental working.
3.3 Does the council plan resources over the Portfolio management promotes strategic planning by considering how
medium and long term? resources can best be utilised in support of corporate priorities.
3.6 Does the council ensure projects are Portfolio management considers resourcing of projects ie. Are they
properly resourced and vigorously achievable and is there sufficient resource?
managed
Portfolio management will however not ensure that projects are
vigorously managed.
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Mitigating risk of project failure
The OGC and NAO have agreed a list of Common Causes of Project Failure. PPfM provides a
complete framework, which develops a range of competencies, processes, and methods that
mitigate these risks.
8 Common causes of Relevance to PPfM

project failure
Investment decisions are based on agreed selection
LACK OF CLEAR LINKS criteria and alignment with organisational priorities.
1 BETWEEN THE PROJECT
AND THE ORGANISATION'S
KEY STRATEGIC PRIORITIES.
Lack of clear senior Multi-layer governance arrangements ensure that
management ownership and governance is appropriate to the level of investment or
leadership. strategic importance of the project and programme It
2 ensures all project and programmes have an appropriate
level of ownership and leadership
Lack of effective engagement PPfM uses an iterative process for reviewing project and
with stakeholders. portfolio alignment, resourcing requirement, business
risks, performance, benefits and corrective actions that
3 sustains stakeholder engagement throughout and
beyond the project lifecycle
Lack of skills and proven The broad nature of the PPfM framework includes
approach to project Project and Risk Management as two of its core
management and risk capabilities. Developing best practices and
4 management. competencies in these disciplines is a component of
PPfM
Too little attention to breaking Decisions on scheduling and sequencing projects are
development and made at the Portfolio level and not project level which
implementation in to minimises resource conflicts, reduce risks and delivers
5 manageable steps. outcomes in line with organisation needs. Stage
planning and stage reviews form an essential part of
PPfM within the Project & Programme management
capabilities
Evaluation of proposals driven Investment decisions consider project alignment with
by initial price rather than long- strategic outcomes rather than just the individual project
term value for money (especially benefits. Investment proposals assess affordability,
6 securing delivery of business achievability, risks and benefits. Evaluation compares
benefits). the relative value of each project in relation to corporate
outcomes and considers whole life costs and returns.
Lack of understanding of, and The portfolio approach of initiating projects provides a
contact with the supply industry better focus on strategic outcomes and partnerships
at senior levels in the than standalone projects. Decision making at the
7 organisation. portfolio strategic level will help to improve sourcing
decisions and avoid isolated piecemeal decisions
Lack of effective project team Effective PPfM is founded on standardising and

integration between clients, the implementing methods of good practice and developing
8 supplier team and the supply repeatable processes together with the necessary
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chain. capabilities to ensure effective partnership working
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Addressing common inefficiencies
The following table provides a few probing questions that may help you address areas of
inefficiency within your authority’s project and change delivery. Where you cannot respond
positively or with certainty, about a specific area, the column opposite indicates the PPfM
capability that needs to be developed to address this.
Areas of project & change delivery PPfM capability to be developed

Are all your projects and programmes aligned with • Investment & Performance
the corporate strategic objectives? management
• Strategic management
Do you focus more on individual project outputs • Benefits management
rather than Strategic outcomes
Are projects properly costed and are lifetime costs • Benefits management
identified as part of the decision making process • Investment & Performance
management
Is there something better you can do with your time • Capacity & capability management
and resources?
Do you know what the impact will be on your
organisation when introducing new projects? • Risk management
Are you able to redirect resources efficiently to • Capacity & capability management
accelerate more important projects?
Are you able to fund the most important projects • Investment & performance management
and identify/ re-allocate excess budget to high
priority projects?
Do you know which projects are under performing? • Investment & performance management
Are you able to effectively manage organisational • Capacity & capability management
capacity and resource?
Can you clearly predict the rate of return of • Benefits realisation
programs/ project?
Is there sufficient capacity in the necessary • Capacity & capability management
competencies to delivery all projects without
compromising operational service levels?
Is there a clear, consistent and defined process for • Investment & performance
initiating and stopping projects and programmes? management.
• Project & Programme management
PPfM has many facets and to move from a project-oriented to a portfolio approach involves
developing and maintaining multi-layer relationships across the Authority to sustain and perform
the PPfM function.
Although there will be a number of challenges to manage and overcome, gaining senior level
support and buy-in for a Portfolio Management functional is required from the outset.
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What are the Organisational Barriers for PPfM?
Consultations with a range of Authorities during the development of this framework have identified
a number of common barriers and challenges that are seen as potential obstructions to
establishing effective PPfM. The Lessons Learned section in this Framework also provides
information on some of the specific barriers and challenges faced in Cambridgeshire.
The high dependency between managing these barriers and achieving effective strategic level
project portfolio decision-making is one of the key reasons for developing a much broader and
deeper PPfM framework that extends beyond the strategic level PPfM processes.
The PPfM maturity model in this framework incorporates illustrative behaviours and
characteristics that guide the direction towards mature and better practices to help overcome
these barriers. They also smooth the transition from a project centric to a portfolio management
approach that minimise the impact these obstacles can have on progress.
The following provides an overview of the areas of challenge and the capabilities that need to be
developed to address these.
Area of Challenge PPfM Capability area

• Diversity of services could create tensions in prioritisation
• Prioritisation is made more complex by the breadth of
activity
• As well as improvements, prioritisation needs to assess
the “givens” i.e. This won’t affect…We must do….We
won’t give up Investment & performance
• Not all priorities are relevant to all services management
• There is a danger that Local Authorities can attempt to do
everything rather than prioritising activities which can lead
to future problems.
• Unwillingness of business managers to see their “pet”
projects shifted in priority
• Some LA’s may not be willing to share or disclose ‘not so
important’ priorities making it harder to identify the
breadth of activity.
• Corporate strategy is at a very high level and does not
support the investment decision-making process. May Strategic Management
need ‘Golden threads’ to link corporate strategy with
priorities and services.
• Senior Management teams need to make investment Investment & performance
decisions (new and continuing ones), which may require management
capabilities that are scarce.
• Senior Management must have the capability to create a
sense of urgency “this is our real priority” Capacity and capability
• Innovation may be missed or suppressed if the whole management
focus is on top down change
• Senior Management needs to identify the most important
areas for services to prioritise.
• Accountabilities and responsibilities may not be Capacity and capability
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Area of Challenge PPfM Capability area
understood at Senior Management Level and Members. management
• Many organisations have experienced difficulties in
moving away from line to matrix management
arrangements.
• The HR implications of the framework e.g matrix
management brought on by project and programme
management and juggling priorities between day jobs and
project work
• Members are set to scrutinise and not intervene. Lack of
engagement can be a barrier.
• Difficulty in allocating skilled resources due to structural,
geographical and HR issues.
• Maturity of organisation is key
• Making and then actioning difficult decisions affecting the Risk management
portfolio as a whole when resources are in short supply
and timescales are tight
• Hard to justify closing a project. Justification of “sunk” Investment & Performance
costs on stopped projects can be too political. management
• Defining how decisions are made. What are the gaps e.g
missing or weaknesses in for instance Benefits
Realisation?
• When looking at the cost benefits for PPfM consider the Benefits management
cost of not doing it.
• Defining what the pre-requisites or critical success factors
are for PPfM
• A significant number of organisations do not have enough Capacity & capability
resources in place to make their project portfolios Management
achievable.
• Resistance from programme and project teams to adopt a

common approach to reporting progress and business Project & Programme
case construction Management
• Agreeing criteria for identifying programmes and projects
within the organisation and distinguishing them from
`business as usual` and/or operational services
What are the prerequisites of PPfM?
PPfM is not dependant on the use of any specific methodologies, but the extent to which the
strategic level process of PPfM matures is dependant on how well an Authority develops and
matures the supporting capabilities and infrastructure.
Each level of maturity therefore has its own set prerequisites, and that higher level of maturity will
only be achieved if lower maturity behaviours and characteristics are achieved. You can view
each maturity level as pre-conditions for the next level.
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However, in order to begin implementing PPfM practices the following preconditions are seen as
supportive and highly influential to the successful implementation at any level. Against these pre-
conditions are notes of Cambridgeshire’s own experiential learning
Pre Conditions Experiential Learning

Top management commitment to, and Use the benefits section in the framework as a
understanding of, the value of Project communication aid to increase awareness and buy-in
Portfolio Management for a PPfM function
Willingness for the organisation to Cascade communication more widely. Involve and
(potentially) implement new processes engage with all relevant stakeholders. Be careful not to
to support and enable effective abandon existing good practice. Look to use this to
Portfolio Management. complement new processes and methods and be willing
to compromise to gain support for the changes.
The cultural aspects of the Business as usual and project activity impact every
organisation’s acceptance to embrace aspect of the organisation’s workload and therefore
change is being addressed implementing a PPfM function will need to be managed
sensitively. Look to align the implementation of PPfM to
other aspects of organisation wide changes and culture
change programmes so that it is shown to support the
wider drive for efficiency rather than a ‘policing’ activity
or function.
Adequate resources, including people, When the value of PPfM is understood, commitment to
funding and tools are provided to providing a range of resources must be agreed as part
establish and perform the activities of establishing a dedicated corporate PPfM function,
within the PPfM function. and team to oversee the implementation of PPfM into a
business as usual activity and practice.
The principles of Project Management The process for selecting, prioritising and maintaining
are widely understood and practiced to the right projects is dependant on good, timely and
a consistent standard. consistent information. Adopting a standard approach
for collecting and presenting information relating to
project achievability, affordability, outcomes and
strategic alignment need to be integrated into the
Authority’s own project and programme management
standards.
Where is PPfM positioned?
PPfM is both a support function and decision making process which requires people to carry out
necessary activities. However, it also draws on other inputs, outputs and activities across other
functions and it’s this bringing together that becomes the object of the PPfM framework that
positions PPfM as an organisational practice and way of working.
PPfM, as it has already been mentioned, extends beyond those core strategic PPfM processes for
selecting, prioritising and maintaining a portfolio of strategic projects. This framework defines the
inputs to these core processes as the underpinning capabilities and infrastructure that also span
other management functions and processes
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The multidimensional view of the PPfM framework is illustrated by a number of overarching high-
level processes that interact across 4 management functions
• Corporate Strategic Management
• Portfolio Management
• Programme / Project Management
• Service (operational) Management
The diagram illustrates how the strategic PPfM processes of the Portfolio Management function
cuts across the other management functions and 3
delivery stages of implementing change (pre-delivery, The experiential learning from the
delivery, and post delivery) PPfM project has shown that even in
the early stages of establishing a
These high level processes are relatively generic, and from project portfolio management
this perspective the process may not look much different approach, these processes become
from one Authority to another. However, sub level recognisable and start to take shape
and operate at low maturity levels
processes are more likely to reflect local preferences and
using a mixture of formal and
are not generic enough for this framework informal formal methods, techniques
and tools.
Cross functional PPfM process
Pre Delivery Delivery Post Delivery

Management
Corporate
ManagementProgramme Management Strategic
Establish Corporate Strategy / Priorities Review Strategy & priorities
Establish
Corporate
budget
Portfolio
Monitor & Review Portfolio
Approve
Collect Assess & Identify /Agree
Analyse Project /
Information Prioritise Corrective Measur es
Change
Track Benefit
Project /
Create Programme Corrective Action

Project
Definition / Initiate Project Manage Delivery
Business case
Manage
Benefit Delivery
Establish
Service
resource
Create Project
utilisation
investment Design new capability
request Establish service Manage new capability
Outcomes
improvement
1
Project Portfolio Management (PPfM)
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PPfM is a practice that affects the organisation on many levels. The traditional view that PPfM is
a series of corporate level processes for aligning organisational objectives and projects to
produce identified business outcomes, is limiting from a Local Authority perspective. A more
rounded PPfM approach incorporates a range of capabilities, processes and methods operating
effectively at all levels.
• The Corporate level defines the strategic direction and priorities of the Authority
• The Portfolio level ensures that projects and programs are aligned with the Authority’s
strategic priorities, have the capacity and capability to meet the strategic objectives without
compromising operational service levels and ensure programmes & projects are meeting
or exceeding planned contribution to the overall objectives
• The Project & Programme level focuses on defining and delivering benefits and managing
the Authority’s resources and risks.
• The Operational level provides innovation and the transformation of strategic plans into
realisable and measurable service improvements and efficiency gains.
The following illustrates the functional levels and where portfolio management is positioned in
relation to other functions.
Where is PPfM positioned?
•CPA
External •Priority Outcomes
•Community partnerships
drivers •e-Gov
The PPfM function is performed by a Vision •Gershon
person or department for and on behalf Strategic Planning
of a senior / strategic management team. Legislation
This functions ensure Strategic Objectives Changes Compliance
•Develops capability, capacity and skills Corporate Priorities
•Embeds practices and processes
Policy
•Defines governance Strategic Management Government priorities
•Informs decision makers
•Bridges gap between strategy and
projects
•Provides objective prioritisation Portfolio Management
assessment of investment requests Provides a picture of the authorities investment and
commitment of resources to delivering its strategic
objectives.
Programme Management
Project Management
•Strategic Projects •Enhancement / maintenance projects •In-flight projects
Service Management (operational) Service Plans

•Service Incremental improvement •New project ideas (Innovation)
1
Project Portfolio Management (PPfM)
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The Portfolio Management Level within Cambridgeshire combines tasks and activities performed
by 3 Business Development Boards, each with the responsibility for making investment decisions
on projects and programmes in their respective areas, and the Corporate Project Office who
provide appropriate and accurate information on proposals and project/ programme progress.
More details on how this model is applied in Cambridgeshire is found in the Case study
What are the Portfolio Management processes?
At the heart of Project Portfolio Management (PPfM) function there is a defined set of processes
for collating and analysing a range of business information, and assessing the relative value of
each change programme or project in meeting corporate strategy and business outcomes.
The value measure used for prioritising projects and programmes will typically include
• The costs that will be incurred.
• Expected benefits
• The alignment of those benefits with corporate strategy and performance measures
• The level of risk inherent to achieving the benefits and outcomes.
In assessing the priorities, the process will assimilate information about the capacity and
capability of the organisation to determine what is achievable within these constraints.
The evaluation technique
The important step towards realising that goal is to develop a used to determine value is
method for providing a relative measure of each project and likely to be a fairly simple
implementing some repeatable processes for prioritising and logic (gut feel almost) when
initiating projects and programmes, which may start for example by first implementing PPfM,
an evaluation of the strategic fit between projects, programmes and which can be refined into
organisational goals or desired outcomes. something less rudimentary
as the PPfM function
The end product of the Portfolio Management level process is to matures.
establish the Authority’s optimum portfolio of programmes and
projects that will deliver business benefits appropriate to the needs and priorities of the Authority.
This objective, unbiased decision-making process is not achieved at a programme or project level
and it ensures funding, resources and benefits are targeted at the priorities of the Authority, rather
than individual services.
The process model in this framework reflects the approach Cambridgeshire County Council is
implementing and although reference to programme management is made, it does not suggest
this function is a pre-requisite for PPfM. The core outputs from programme management
processes could similarly relate to those from projects, such as project briefs, project definitions
and project business cases, which provide the necessary information on which to make
investment and selection decisions.
The 7 Portfolio Management processes defined below are:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Collect Analysis Assess Authorise Monitor & Agree Track

Informatio & Review Corrective Benefits
n Prioritise Action
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Corporate Level PPfM process – page 1
1- Collect Information 2- Analyse
Each programme and proposed project that may contribute to the overall change agenda needs to be Information analysis produces and presents findings on the unapproved, approved and in-flight projects
examined and evaluated to enable informed decisions to be made. Before this can happen a process of to support the decision makers in deciding which projects provide the most balanced and blended
information gathering and analysis needs to be completed. The information collected will be used to support portfolio. Using the information collated earlier, the analysis process provides assurance that the right
portfolio selection, planning and performance tracking. There is no single definitive list of information that is projects are selected and that the organisation chooses a portfolio that is achievable: It will aim to answer
collected for each project, and the type of information each organisation collects may vary to suit individual the following questions.
requirements, but it will generally fall into these broad areas:
• Are we doing the right programmes and projects, and at the right time?
• Benefit/ Value • Are there sufficient resources with the right capabilities?
• Cost • Is there sufficient time?
• Achievability • Is there sufficient budget?
o Capacity. Skills etc • Are the benefits linked to the desired business outcomes?
• Complexity
• Project Profile Note – the more information that is collected and analysed the more likely you will need automated tool
to do the job. This process comprises the following sub processes
This process will also develop and maintain a register of resources that match the core skills sets required • 2.1 Balancing
Click here for summary of the
by the organisation for delivering programmes and projects. This register will contain details of the resource • 2.2 Strategic Alignment sub processes
pool, which a project manager can search to identify appropriate resources for their projects. It also • 2.3 Benefit
provides the basis for further analysis when looking at the organisation’s ability to match supply with • 2.4 Capability
demand, and where potential resource conflicts exist
4- Authorise Project 3- Assess & Prioritise process

Once the project portfolio has been assessed and prioritised, the authorise process will confirm decisions With the analysis complete, assessing the portfolio provides the opportunity to evaluate the relative
based on sound judgement and a rationalised approach to selecting the optimised portfolio. This process is strength and fit of the projects within the portfolio, to re-evaluate or realign proposals and then prioritise
not just about giving the green light to projects, as it may decide to halt, de-scope or cancel projects in the change programme, based on the organisations ability to deliver, whilst at the same time, maintaining
favour of improved proposals, new initiatives or changes in organisational strategy and priorities. the overall balance and ensuring not all eggs are in one basket. The assessment will help answer
Authorisation is the investment decision-making process for committing, distributing and managing the questions such as:
project portfolio funds and resources. • What alignment issues are there and can these be corrected?
• Is there sufficient resources, and of the right quality to meet demand and how can we overcome any
From the strategic and business planning process new programmes and project are defined and compete constraints?
for a place in the portfolio. This top down process will require a number of approval gates to commit • Do we have the right mix and balance of projects to achieve our objectives?
resources and/or funding in order to define the programme and constituent projects. This early definition • Are there any significant risks and complexities that are unacceptable?
stage work will produce sufficient information in an outline benefit and business case to facilitate the • Are new projects required to reduce or manage these risks?
portfolio management decision-making process. • What is the best sequence of projects to reduce risk, deliver returns and benefit and optimise the
use of resource pool.
The authorisation process and its governance arrangements will also include and consider projects and As project and programme management cannot answer these questions, portfolio management provides
programmes proposals created outside the top down planning cycle, through innovation or policy directives. this unique view in support of the organisation wide change agenda. The objective of this process is not
When an organisation first establishes portfolio management, an inventory of projects currently in progress to simply identify all the projects that will deliver the most benefit and demonstrate the strongest strategic
will also come under review as new programmes and projects compete for funding and resourcing within fit. The objective of this process is to prioritise and find the right balance that is achievable and delivers
the portfolio. The review may conclude that existing projects are not strategically aligned or provide limited the desired value. The outputs of the analysis are used in the assessment to explore issues and options
value in comparison to other programmes and projects. This is where the authorising process may decide for fine tuning and optimising the portfolio. The portfolio can be structured by rankings, ratings,
to halt, de-scope or cancel projects and redistribute budget and resources into more value-added weightings and measures to aid the decision making process, and place all the relevant information into
programmes and projects. Authorisation is an iterative process supported by the output from the analysis context. At the mature stage of Portfolio Management, tools can be used to complete scenario tests and
and assessment processes, and is the process by which formal approval to initiate a programme or project “what if” analysis. However, rudimentary, but effective methods, tools and techniques can be used in the
is given. The scope and the proposed investment is formally authorised to enable the governance Page 26 of 59 early stages to help an organisation establish and embed the principles of portfolio management within
arrangements
©Cambridgeshireto beCounty
implemented and the management of the programme to begin.
Council its decision-making process.
In summary, evaluation needs to weigh up the benefits to be achieved in relation1.0
Version: to the costs in
delivering them, their alignment with the corporate policy and objectives and the level of risk the
programme or project will carry.
Corporate Level PPfM process – page 2
5- Monitor & Review 6- Agree Corrective Action

. This process provides a helicopter view of the organisation’s delivery and investment commitment and Corrective action is the process through which portfolio management identifies or recommends any
is designed to maintain the optimum portfolio of projects. This process will monitor and review all necessary intervention strategies or measures in response to an unexpected shortfall in the desired level of
programmes and projects up to the point they produce the outcomes or capability they were designed to programme or project benefit. This could result in re-scoping a programme or initiating a new project that
deliver. Once a project has delivered its outcome, it is likely to remain within the portfolio, but as part of will cause the portfolio to be re-evaluated in light of the proposed changes. Alternatively, corrective action
may be a matter of reviewing the business as usual process, or the way in which a new system is being
the continued tracking process for the realisation of the overall programme benefit, which may be profiled
managed, and the actions may be relatively minor.
over many months or years. The tracking of the overall benefit and return on the investment is a separate
portfolio management process as this will span a period beyond the life of a project and perhaps
programme.
All programmes and projects should be scrutinised and challenged at appropriate stages or gates. The
7 - Track Benefits
monitoring and review process should be completed as an iterative process to ensure that any variances
and gaps that appear in project schedules, funding estimates, capacity and resource utilisation, Whether a project is a constituent part of a programme or just a standalone project, it should remain part of
outcomes and benefits are reviewed. Where variances or gaps are reported or evidenced, this will trigger the overall portfolio beyond the original implementation period and for the duration of the investment period
portfolio management to provide analysis and assess the impact on the portfolio and replan if necessary until all the benefits or outcomes of the project or programme have been delivered and realised. The
for investment decision makers to make stop, start or hold decisions if necessary. Adhoc reviews will be investment period may be a number of years and will almost certainly extend beyond the life of a project
initiated where circumstances change that may have an impact or influence on the balance or viability of and in some cases a programme. For this reason the tracking of benefits should be seen as a portfolio
management function that can be transferred from project and programme management to another
the portfolio. Whilst changes in strategy will cause a review of the existing portfolio, good practice
management group for the continuity of benefits measurement and tracking. This process will provide
suggests portfolio management should also initiate a review of corporate strategy as a means of
information to investment or senior management teams on the performance and success of the original
providing corporate level assurance the existing vision and strategic direction is in line with current
investment. Smart use of categories will enable these investments and benefits to be filtered out into one or
thinking. more portfolio’s depending on how the organisation wishes to view its performance. The use of dashboards
provides an effective means of presenting and reporting benefits, which will be tracked against the
Once authorisation has been given to initiate a programme or project through the portfolio management measures and performance indicators established and agreed in the Programme and Project Benefits
process, any changes to the original costs, benefits, timescales, sequencing and resourcing will need to Realisation Plan and Business Case.
be updated in the business case. The revised business case will be the reviewed through this process
and validated against the authorised business case to ensure no unacceptable variances have occurred.
Periodic reviews will consider progress against:

• Key output and milestones
• Risks
• Budgets
• Resource utilisation and capacity plans
• Changes in dependencies across project or programmes
• Expected benefits
• Project outputs post implementation
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Corporate Level PPfM process – page 3 2.2 Strategic Alignment
For successful change to occur it is essential that an organisation identifies and selects those projects and programmes that will
contribute most in helping achieve its overall aims. To do this, it will be necessary to integrate the cyclical business planning process
2.1 Balancing into the overall change management function of the business, so that co-ordinated change programmes are established that embody
corporate values and are aligned with corporate priorities, objectives and business plans. The outputs from business planning
Programme management tends to provide static and one-dimensional view of provide targeted improvements that programme and project management then translate into a vision for change. These are shaped
the respective programmes it manages, and as a consequence, performance into individual or multiple programmes and projects that define the outputs and outcomes needed, and demonstrate how they support
tracking and reporting of the organisation’s portfolio is often constrained by this the business priorities/ objectives. The strategic alignment process will determine the relative strength each project/ programme has
narrow focus. A portfolio management perspective extends this view across against the organisational priorities/objectives and the targeted improvements set in the business plans.
organisational boundaries and programmes and establishes a process through
which projects can be categorised to provide multi-dimensional views of the
overall portfolio. For instance, the organisation may decide it requires a good 2.3 Benefits
balance of projects within the portfolio that deliver short-term efficiency savings.
An organisation in its early stages of implementing Project, Programme and Portfolio Management (PPfM) is unlikely to use complex
As these projects may cut across multiple programmes and business areas a
financial models for measuring project and programme value and expected benefits. The purpose of this process is to provide a
consolidated view of progress and status may not be available without investing
relative measure so that one projects benefit can be compared to another. This does not have to be a complex process, so long as it
significant time and effort in consolidating the information, which could be out of
achieves a level of consistency, accuracy and provides some measure of comparative value. Value metrics for each programme will
date by the time it is produced. Applying a category for e.g. ‘short term
be collected as part of the information gathering process. The value metrics could be financial, where this is difficult to quantify in
efficiency saving’ to any project delivering this type of benefit will facilitate a
monetary terms for ‘soft’ benefits such as ‘Improved Customer Service,’ a scoring model applied consistently will provide a fair
real-time consolidated ‘portfolio view’ of all those projects sharing this category
means to evaluate the relative strength of one project against another. In the case of both financial and non-financial comparisons,
irrespective of which programme or business area it resides in. Further
the whole life investment costs will need to be taken into account for a true evaluation of the benefit to cost ratio.
analysis can determine how much investment is tied up in these projects, what
the overall return or net efficiency saving is and the level of risk that is spread
across the efficiency portfolio. This is just one dimension of how the portfolio
can be viewed and tracked allowing proactive management of the portfolio. 2.4 Capability
Capability in this context is defined as having sufficient capacity in the right skills, budget, and time to deliver the project within the
Categories need to be thought through carefully before collecting data. This will constraints of complexity and risk that are inherent to the programme or project. This process aims to answer whether sufficient
enable projects to be blended into various portfolios depending on how the resources exist, and how they are allocated.
organisation decides to diversify its portfolio and how it apportions and
manages both investment and risk across the change programme. This way, Capacity - This process takes the information collected earlier to provide a gap analysis between the resources that are available
changes that may impact a portfolio can be tracked, and appropriate corrective within the organisations resource pool and those that required from the resource pool to deliver the projects. Capacity should also
action taken if necessary to maintain or correct the balance. include other resources such as building facilities and hardware that are often shared. Deficiencies and conflicts can be resolved by
either rescheduling projects, procuring additional resources or changing scope but any of these may invalidate the business case, so
these will need to be re-examined.
Categories can also be used to manage the portfolio in different ways. For
instance, programmes and projects that are not transformational, but are policy Time - When projects are planned at the project and programme level, conflicts are not always identified and the projects are not
or asset maintenance driven are more focused on delivering an outcome rather always sequenced to maximise the realisation of benefits. With the information collected earlier, portfolio analysis will determine
than a benefit to be realised over an extended period time. Programmes such whether existing programme and project schedules are in the most logical sequence, and whether rescheduling projects can
as these may require a portfolio view, but the approach to managing and maximise value and resolve any current or potential resource conflicts.
tracking the benefits will be different.
Budget - This process provides a picture of the total cost of each programme based on actual or best estimate project costs
contained in programme business case. The purpose of this analysis is to ensure the organisation has sufficient funding for its
Cautionary note - It may be tempting to define a large number of categories optimal portfolio. Committed or spent funds should be identified in the information collection process where programmes or projects
but it would be advisable to restrict them to those that describe how the are already in progress. This will be a factor during the analysis and assessment process later when decisions are formed on which
organisation wishes to manage or view its portfolio. Keep it simple and relevant projects will be selected for the portfolio. Project cost information also enables portfolio management to evaluate the cost benefit
to the organisational priorities. Paralysis by analysis should be avoided; too analysis of each project.
much information will detract from what is important. Ask - What information do
we want? Why do we want it? How do we want to view it? Complexity / Risks - Based on the information collected earlier, this process will provide analysis on the size of complexity and risk
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the portfolio. Whilst benefit is part of the value equation, risk is also a factor and may be the key differentiator
©Cambridgeshire County Council between two programmes or projects that are of equal or similar benefit. The organisational capability to deliver a project and
maintain a business as usual operation need to be understood before the selection process can begin. Version: 1.0
SECTION 3 – MATURITY ASSESSMENT MODEL
Introduction
We have found the practice of PPfM to be in its early stages across a range of Local Authorities
and those within or known to the project reference group are still performing in the early maturity
stages of this framework. It is envisaged this framework and maturity model will develop as
experience increases.
The maturity model complements the processes defined and described earlier, and provides a
generic framework for any Authority to plan, develop and establish a PPfM function.
The Maturity Assessment Model is a hybrid of our own experiential learning and other maturity
models. It combines practical experiences in project, programme & portfolio management within a
Local Authority setting, and advice and guidance from government and academic research that is
available in the public domain.
It is expected that this model will be refined and amended as PPfM practice evolves, establishes
and embeds itself as a familiar organisational practice.
The model does not prescribe a set sequence for developing each component of a PPfM function.
Instead it aims to defined general levels by which an organisation can measure and evaluate its
current level of capability along the maturity continuum. This will enable any Local Authority to set
goals and milestones for improvement and close gaps between where they perceive themselves
to be, and where they aim to get. Full maturity is a future aspiration of many Authorities. In time as
the level of maturity across Local Authorities develops, the higher levels may be lowered and new
high levels identified as more is learned about the subject.
With the assumption that many Authorities require only a basic level of understanding in these
early stages, a key principle of this framework is to provide simple and easy to use guidance. The
reference group consulted in developing this framework suggested the value of such a model
would not come from a plethora of Case Studies and theory, but guidance on some of the
transitional issues, supporting tools and illustrative behaviours or characteristics expected at each
level of maturity.
Authorities who find themselves operating in early maturity levels may still produce good results
and well-run projects. An advantage of establishing more mature levels is that it promotes
consistency with an assurance that the right projects are delivering the right results again and
again and producing more predictable outcomes across a diverse organisation. Embedding the
corporate level PPfM processes, the supporting capabilities and infrastructure provides a
framework for Authorities to achieve their priority objectives and deliver repeatable results through
repeatable processes and practices, and negates the common risks that causes business change
to fail.
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What is the maturity assessment model?
The maturity assessment model evolves around the transitional states of 6 core capabilities.
Capability Area
Benefits Management aims to make sure that desired business change
or policy outcomes have been clearly defined, are measurable, and
provide a compelling case for investment. This ultimately helps to
ensure that the change or policy outcomes are actually achieved. Any
Benefit Management change project or programme requires a constant focus on the
intended benefits (measurable improvements) if it is to deliver value
and remain aligned with business goals. Delivering value begins with
defining the expected high-level outcomes before a programme is
approved and continues through the identification, profiling, tracking
and embedding of benefits.
Risk management at the project level focuses on keeping unwanted
outcomes that would adversely affect the project outputs to the
minimum. Programmes risks are generally associated with broader
Risk Management funding, organisational and cultural issues. Risk management at the
programme level is primarily concerned with the overall direction of the
programme and the management of interdependencies between the
related projects. Risk Management at the portfolio level provides a
aggregated level of risk that evaluates the impact re-prioritisation
decisions or significant changes to projects and programmes may have
on achieving strategic outcomes
This activity embodies the strategic level PPfM decision processes for
selecting, prioritising and maintaining the optimum level of projects. It
Investment & Performance determines the appropriate governance arrangements for each
management investment request. It ensures alignment between each investment
request and the performance framework of the organisation and
monitors performance of the change programmes to ensure the
collective benefits will meet the strategic objectives.
Strategic management is the Authority’s methodology of setting and
maintaining its strategic direction, aligning strategies, performance and
Strategic management business results. It is also the decision-making process for responding
to changing circumstances and the challenges of the organisation.
Capacity & Capability management in this framework is the business
activity that manages the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of the
resources, and ensures there are sufficient resources of the right
quality to meet the needs of the Authority’s change agenda without
compromising standards of operational service. It brings together
people, processes, organisation and technologies to support the
Capacity and capability objectives of the organisation. Resources generally relate to people in
management this framework but equally an Authority requires effective capacity
management practices for buildings, finance and IT equipment.
Capability refers to the ability to perform through the use of the
Authority’s skills, knowledge, understanding, and physical tools
Project management is the function through which change is planned,
monitored, controlled and delivered. Programme management is the
Project & programme method through which the Authority defines a vision of change and co-
management ordinates a portfolio of related projects and activities to achieve
identified outcomes and business benefits
It provides a framework for an Authority to assess and plan developing the capabilities it needs to
establish its own PPfM function.
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There are two maturity models against which you can both assess your own Authority’s position
and track its progress
• A quick assessment will help establish an overall maturity level for each capability, which
may indicate which area you want to analyse a bit further.
• A detailed assessment will help develop a better profile of the characteristics and
capabilities that need to be developed
It is unlikely any Authority will develop to a mature state without a sustained development. You
might find that in some areas you are in the later stages and in other areas, early stages. The
purpose is to provide an assessment of where you are and where you need to get to, to help plan
your journey and progress.
Benefits of the maturity assessment model
For any Authority wishing to develop and improve their processes, capabilities and infrastructure
for PPfM, this model provides.
• A framework to provide the basic and essential ingredients for establishing PPfM within a
Local Authority.
• An understanding of the key practices that need to be fully embedded and developed
within the organisation to achieve continuous improvement in PPfM.
• Simple but effective guidance for establishing PPfM process improvements and
developing an understanding of the capabilities required for establishing and running an
optimum set of projects.
• A tool to assess, evaluate and improve the maturity of the authority’s PPfM capabilities
and processes.
• A method for identifying and planning priority development needs and establishing
measures and milestones for target improvements.
• A foundation for integrating and/ or building a set of appropriate tools to support each
process in PPfM.
• A mechanism to help identify risks and issues that need to managed as part of
establishing the PPfM function.
• A tool to support the corporate competency and organisational development framework.
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The tool is not intended as a
• Benchmarking tool for comparing and contrasting the PPfM functions of different
Authorities
• Measure of success or failure in an individual PPfM function
• Highly comprehensive & scientific model for project portfolio management
• A competency framework. However, it should help an Authority identify the knowledge,

understanding, practical and thinking skills that are required to develop capacity and
capability.
Provide a definition of each component
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The maturity model is simple to use and each capability is illustrated this way
Example
1 2 3 4 5
Immature Maturing Matured
Characteristics
Describes the characteristics when Describes the characteristics and behaviours during the developmental stages of the PPfM function. This Describes the characteristics when
operating at the basic level model breaks the ‘Maturing’ stage into 3 interim stages as some characteristics may develop faster or more the PPfM function has matured
slowly than others.”
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Quick Maturity Assessment
Core Capability LOW Maturity Transitional State HIGH
1 2 3 4 5
Projects generally There is a standard The Authority has The benefits realisation The whole benefit management
describe some business approach across the established a consistent and management process process is embedded across all
benefit, but there is no Authority for developing approach for benefit is well established across the Authority’s change
formal or standardised business cases and realisation planning and all change programmes programmes and the benefit
benefit management defining business benefits, measurement. However, and both project outputs measurement of individual
practice, and ownership of but no formal benefit these are mainly focused and programme benefits programmes and projects are
Benefits Management benefits. tracking and management on the output of individual are actively managed and clearly aligned to the corporate
process. Ownership of projects rather than owned, and the Authority performance framework and
benefits is best described aggregated and measured is developing some priority outcomes.
as sporadic programme benefits. linkage between outcomes
Programme sponsors are and the corporate
signed up to owning performance framework.
benefits
There is an adhoc and Generally projects are Project and Programme Programme risk registers Stage gates used to proactively
inconsistent approach to managing risks well, but risks are well managed used as an everyday assess and manage investment
managing risks. Risk are decision-making is project and consistent. Inter working tool to ensure risk and make decisions on
Risk Management often identified, but focused and considers the dependencies across decisions taken consider impact on the wider Authority
effective management of impact on individual projects are better defined the impact on the portfolio. Diversifies exposure to
the risks is inconsistent project outcomes without and enable project prospective value of risk by selecting diverse
across the Authority the wider impact decisions to considering a individual programmes technologies and programmes
larger impact.
All or nothing approach to Project budget devolved to The Authority has The Authority has The organisation has effective
funding. Approved funding project as one pot and developed investment established documented and robust governance for
is devolved to budget managed by project board management processes policies; procedures and managing change. Investment
Investment & centres and is spent with in controlled stages but and practices for governance for project boards manage investment on a
Performance little or no accountability generally project will programme level programme investments pay as you go basis subject to
management outside the budget owner continue to progress and governance although and developed investment successful programme stage
deliver regardless of its decisions to halt project board structure to oversee gate reviews and agreed
continuing performance. and programme programme investments performance measures.
progression based on
future performance are
unlikely.
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Quick Maturity Assessment cont
LOW Maturity Transitional State HIGH
Core Capability
1 2 3 4 5
There is no recognisable There is some attempt to Large change projects and The Authority as a Community and Corporate
Strategic Management process for defining and align projects with programmes are generally well whole has a defined strategy plans are fully
translating the Authority’s corporate objectives but defined and demonstrate alignment and managed process integrated into the
strategic objectives and this work ‘bottom up’ with strategic outcomes/ objectives for translating policy strategic planning process
policies into defined change and the Authorities change agenda and key corporate for defining the Authority’s
projects. Some projects can priorities into well change programmes and
evidence how they Strategic projects are easily defined change project, with clear
support the Authority’s identified. programmes and alignment to the strategic
strategic outcomes or projects outcomes with sequential
service plans, but this is schedules for all
best described as programmes/ projects
inconsistent and informal.
Individual project identify Resources are identified The Authority has developed a Real-time utilisation of The Authority has
Capacity & Capability and source own resources and allocated at resource pool, which can be used the Authority’s resource established effective
Management using internal external mix. programme level to better by project managers to identify staff pool is monitored to capacity and capability
Authority generally has a manage potential risks of with the appropriate skill sets, or the plan, manage and meet strategies and processes
high risk of overcommiting over committing skills required for specific roles to its resourcing needs for obtaining, allocating
key resources. resources. fulfil the needs of the project. across the Authority. and adjusting resource
levels in line with medium
and long terms investment
plans.
There is no consistent A consistent approach for The organisation has embedded a Programme A standard programme
Project & Programme approach to managing project management is corporate standard for project Management is being management approach is
Management change projects, the developing within the management, which all change used in parts of the embedded across the
Management Authority uses various tried organisation based on projects use consistently. organisation to define organisation, through
and tested methods internal and external change programmes which change
good practice and the constituent programmes are defined
projects that will deliver and managed to deliver
the change the Authority’s vision for
change.
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Detailed Maturity Assessment
Benefits Management
1 2 3 4 5

Illustrative Characteristics at each Transitional stage
There is no formal process or The Authority has developed a The Authority has developed a All projects are supported by a All business cases identify whole
consistent approach for creating standard approach to creating standard approach to creating business case that is appropriate life costs, risks and timescales.
the justification for each project. business cases. Practice is business cases that is being widely to the level of investment request. Measured against the expect
improving used across the Authority benefits.
It is likely be difficult to evaluate the All Business Case are assessed
financial or strategic reasoning for Business cases generally contain Business Case provides a range of for the potential cost, financial The Business Case describes the
most projects some evaluation of possible costed options for meeting the viability, risk, and operational value of the investment to the
options for achieving the business business need and demonstrates impact Authority.
Benefits are described in a very outcomes. sound financial reasoning.
inconsistent manner. Programme level business cases Benefits are defined in a consistent
Most projects provide a Business The Business Case describes the provide a summation of the project way, and relate to specific and
Benefits are generally described Case founded on some financial benefits as business outcomes business case and benefits. measurable business outcomes
too high level or subjective to be reasoning rather than project outputs e.g a business.
tracked and measured new system that will enable the Benefits are defined/ categorise in
May be some qualitative/ anecdotal public to make internet payments’ a standardised way, to enable The Authority has a process for
Benefits tend to be subjective evidence of what success or failure comparative analysis & improved managing benefits realisation
rather than objective. will look like Benefits becoming smarter reporting during and beyond the life of a
quantitative and objective project, are monitoring and tracking
No ownership/ accountability of Benefits are written as more The Authority has established an and results against projected
benefits realisation or business qualitative than quantitative Hard benefits are described in approach for quantifying soft performance.
cases statements, with difficulty in financial terms, soft benefits are benefits in a consistent way
establishing measures for tracking not quantified in financial or non- Benefits Management is a joint
There is generally no clear view of their realisation financial terms. Benefits are written as measurable activity between project and
what success will look like for each outcomes e.g reduce rework by operational management
project, or is only supported by High profile projects have Benefits demonstrate strategic 10% and realisable saving of
anecdotal evidence accountability and responsibility for alignment £50,000 Benefits realisation is firmly
business case development. established as the responsibility of
Success is considered or All business cases have a senior Unrealistic benefits are challenged a Senior Manager or Board
described in terms of the project sponsor and resolved.
outputs such as ‘implementation of Benefits measurements and
a new system’ Measurements agreed with key There are clear linkages between realisation is integrated into
stakeholders project/ programme benefits and Performance Management
strategic outcomes. framework of the Authority
Benefits of programmes and The business case is maintained

projects are regularly tracked and reviewed regularly to ensure it
remain s aligned with anticipated
outcomes, costs and schedules
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Risk Management
1 2 3 4 5

There is an adhoc and inconsistent Generally projects are managing Project and Programme risks are Project and Programme risk Stage gates used to proactively
approach to managing projects risks well, but decision-making is captured in a corporate or registers used as an everyday assess and manage investment
risks. project focused and considers the programme risk register that working tool to ensure decisions risk and make decisions on impact
impact on individual project enables risks to be aggregated into taken consider the impact on the on the wider Authority portfolio.
Project risk management is outcomes without the wider impact a single portfolio or programme risk prospective value of individual
inconsistent with corporate risk profile project programmes. The Authority diversifies exposure
management Projects generally follow the to risk by selecting a range of
corporate risk model. Inter dependencies across projects Risk Assessments involve people technologies and programmes.
Risk are often identified, but there and programmes are established with a range of knowledge
is no proactive management of the Mitigating actions are described informing decision makers of the including business/ technical The Authority proactively manages
risks across the Authority but no specific risk / contingency wider implications of decision. experts the aggregated risk of its strategic
plans for high risks. projects on achieving its strategic
In the main project risks are All projects follow the corporate Risk criteria are established to objectives and focuses on critical
identified and assessed H/M/L Evidence of consistent analysis of risk model consistently evaluate achievability of identified show stoppers
based on an individuals risks in terms of impact on project business outcomes.
assessment of the likely probability schedule, cost and quality of Proactive management is more The strategic projects /
deliverable to determine the common place Risk owners with appropriate programmes undertakes
Risks are generally managed in a probability, impact and proximity responsibility are assigned to each quantitative (financial) analysis of
reactive way (timing) of the identified risks Risk assessments are carried out risk with documented risk plans both the threat itself and the likely
before each project stage. proportional to the significance of cost of mitigating measures in
Project risks captured in disparate Proactive management of risks is risk. order to inform subsequent
spreadsheets and difficult to patchy The effort in managing a risk is decisions.
assimilate appropriate to its significance and Regular risk reviews occur.
Risks prioritised and managed priority Risk criteria are fully embedded
Assess Risk Management process depending on severity and impact The Authority is able to view the into project prioritisation process
and implement corporate standard. Effective contingency plans are level of exposure to risk types
Involve corporate risk management Project risks logs are more developed for critical show across its projects and Risk Management is operating and
accessible, enabling others to self stopping risks programmes. effective at all levels (Strategic,
help and consider risks outside Programme, Project and
immediate project Each significant risk is proactively Operational)
managed by an assigned risk
Develop a framework for owners and reviewed regularly The Authority is able to view its risk
responding to significant risks exposure across the overall project
portfolio and strategic objectives
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Investment & Performance management
1 2 3 4 5

No disciplined processes or Investment management Individual directorates or offices Management structures and Financial control and investment
controls of project budgets and awareness is increasing across have established a senior level governance are established to management of the Authority’s
spending. the Authority structure with responsibility for oversee strategic projects and projects have shifted from a project
approving all new projects. provide decision-making on centric process to a corporate centric
The Authority does not have an There may be some evidence of approving project selection, process.
overview of how many projects it individual directorates or offices Documented policies, procedures priorities, resource allocation and
has in progress establishing a structure to oversee and governance for investment performance monitoring. Investment boards manage
and co-ordinate its main projects. projects not yet fully embedded. investment on a pay as you go basis
Projects are not seen as an Investment management boards subject to successful programme or
investment providing measurable The Authority has started to outline Authority has established a have start, stop and hold decision- project stage gate reviews and
improvement a framework and process for selection criterion that determines making responsibilities for its continued performance.
improving investment decision- the relative fit between the project strategic projects.
No investment boards or making, project selection and and the Authority’s strategic The Authority’s performance
management groups oversee and accountabilities determined. objectives. Authority has established and management framework is fully
control project spending. practices more robust project integrated with the investment
An inventory of all projects and Business cases are integral to the selection criteria considering risk, management process.
Inadequate processes to resolve programmes exists and provides a investment decision. benefits, achievability, affordability,
troubled projects. corporate view of all current alignment factors Investment decisions take into
commitments Project selection is mainly account the Authority’s entire
All or nothing approach to funding influenced by magnitude of benefit Projects or Programmes are portfolio of projects and programmes.
projects. Budgets are devolved to The Authority still has an adhoc and strategic fit. structured by a combination of
project and spent regardless of approach to which project are rankings, ratings using weightings Investment decisions consider the
project performance funded and which aren’t projects There is evidence of projects not and measures to place all relevant collective benefits of project and
aligned to the mission, strategies, information into context to inform programmes not individual projects.
Project and investments requests Initial investment decisions are and corporate goals being and improve the decision making
are factored into general budget largely made in isolation to the rejected. process. Investment decisions take a
rounds, and not as competing bigger picture, but Projects/ balanced perspective of risk, benefit,
investment requests based on Programme Boards consider A measure of the relative Authority has a process for alignment and achievability
defined selection criteria. alignment pf the project with the importance or strategic fit of each reviewing and assessing projects
Authority’s strategic priorities project proposal must be and programmes to compare The Authority has a formal review
Some project approvals may be established before approval is actual results with expectations process to ensure corrective actions
perceived on who ‘shouts’ loudest. given. are taken where actual results are
not in line with expected
performance.
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Investment & Performance management (continued)
2 3 4 5
1
It is difficult to establish how most In many areas business cases are The Authority has established and Investment proposals are The organisation has effective and
investment requests contribute to appraised independently of each agreed criteria for assessing approved subject to a sound robust governance for managing
the strategic objectives other, and real priorities are not progress and alignment of projects business justification that change.
established. and programmes demonstrates measurable cost
It is difficult to establish the benefits and alignment with A process exists for Project and
rationale for which projects are Project budget devolved to project Investment proposals are approved corporate objectives. Programmes to provide Interim
funded or approved. at initiation and managed by subject to a sound business performance results.
project board in controlled stages justification that demonstrates Business Cases are mandatory
Investment requests are supported but generally project will continue delivery of benefits and alignment for all investment proposals Authority is proactive in conducting
by a proposal or service to progress and deliver regardless with corporate objectives. strategic reviews to ensure its
improvement initiative but not of its continuing performance. All Business Case are appraised projects and programmes remain
evaluated on cost benefit analysis. The Authority has started to for the potential cost, financial consistent and up to date with
Initial governance arrangements develop its investment viability, risk, and operational strategy.
Investment decisions are not are established management processes and impact
corporately made. practices at programme level Real-time management information of
Time recording introduced as a although decisions to halt/stop Projects and Programmes are project and programme performance
mechanism for collecting projects and programme categorised to provide logical is available to ensure proactive
information progression based on future groupings of projects and multi- management of the Authority’s total
performance are unlikely. dimensional views giving better investment
management information that
Governance arrangements for improves decision-making to Investment decisions are based on
projects and programmes are achieve a better balance of well-defined and robust selection
developing projects criteria which measure and assess
the comparative value of programmes
A mechanism for determining the The Authority has a repeatable and projects for whole life costs, risk,
appropriate governance and consistent process/ method achievability and strategic alignment.
arrangements is developing by which all strategic project and
programme requests are The investment boards have
authorised. established a process to monitor
changes to risks and to assess
The Authority has established intended benefits and outcomes to
documented policies, ensure they are still on course.
procedures and governance for
project and programme Roll out and develop co-ordinated
investments and has developed projects and programmes linked to
an investment board structure to local/ regional/ NEED TO CHECK
oversee programme investments THIS PHRASE
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Strategic Management
1 2 3 4 5

The Authority does not have a The Authority has established a There is a clear business strategy The Authority has developed well- IT performance, succession
structured framework or process strategic management team and vision for the future founded strategies from careful planning and IT strategy are
for defining and implementing responsible and accountable for analysis of the business and its integrated into the overall strategic
change within the organisation the Authority’s strategic direction The Authority has defined strategic citizens and considers new and planning process to ensure these
themes and the areas of business changing directions are mutually supportive and
The Authority does not have a The Authority has established activity in which it needs to engage aligned.
process for defining and managing some key service priorities, but to meet the challenges posed by The strategic themes are divided
its projects in accordance with its overall the wider strategic threats, opportunities and into defined programmes and Strategic management is a
strategic direction and outcomes. outcomes and objectives of the weaknesses. projects capable of delivering the continuous activity in which senior
Authority are unclear and not strategy. managers engage to ensure
Project are not defined and communicated. Awareness of the Authority’s projects and programs are aligned
planned proactively to support strategies and priorities is The Authority considers the wider
corporate objectives The link between the corporate improving implications of strategic decisions Strategic management is
priorities and service priorities is across the organisation and its embedded as a dynamic process
The process of translating policy, unclear The Authority identifies and defines partners that aligns the Authority’s strategy,
corporate and service objectives candidate projects and performance and business results
into defined programmes are best Priorities are externally focused programmes that will deliver its Strategies and the internal and
described as informal and do not articulate the internal strategic goals and outcomes external priorities are well The strategic governance
priorities for the health, articulated with high awareness. framework includes collaborative
sustainability and efficiency of the The Authority’s priorities for strategic partnerships
Authority. external and internal priorities are The Authority has identified the
better defined golden threads through which Golden Threads ensure that
Projects are implemented more as departmental and service plans are departmental and service plans are
a result of bottom up planning than aligned with the priorities of the aligned with the priorities of the
top down council and its partner agencies. council and its partner agencies,
and that all employees have a clear
understanding of how they are
contributing to the councils'
success and key objectives.
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Capacity & Capability Management
1 2 3 4 5

The Authority is unable identify There is some awareness of good Projects are generally good at The Authority has established a The Authority is able to identify
its resources with the project skills but no inventory of the identifying resource needs and resource pool which identifies the resource utilisation of its resource
appropriate skills for successful people and skills within the Authority allocation decisions are generally people with the appropriate skills pool to plan and profile utilisation to
project delivery. approved outside of each project and experience for managing a manage projects more effectively
Resource decisions are mainly made and consider the potential impact on range of projects and deliver benefits more timely.
The Authority isn’t able to gauge at project level with no assessment other projects or programmes
or assess if it can fulfil current or on the impact on other projects or Resources conflicts are smoothed All resources decision and
planned project commitments business as usual activity. Project Boards and Project out and managed before being resource allocations are made
with the resources it has. Sponsors have clearly defined roles approved and allocated to giving regard to the impact on other
The Authority is starting to develop and responsibilities that are projects. projects programmes and benefit
The Authority cannot gauge the and improve project management understood and practised. delivery and the Authority’s ability
level of resources and skills it practice Stage Plans are prepared to maintain its operational service
requires to fulfil current and The Authority has developed a consistently across all projects standards.
future project commitments The role of project board and project database of key project resources which identify the level and
sponsor is practiced in some areas. and is able to identify current number of resources required The impact of strategic planning
Resource conflicts are utilisation. and its implementation on future
commonplace when managing Training and development tends to be Performance and availability of capacity demands and capability
projects and programmes more universal than specific in Skills assessments are completed resources is assessed against requirements is understood and
creating the skills, competencies and to identify overall capacity and organisational needs managed.
Projects and programmes are standards required for good capability within the Authority.
not managed or delivered consistent practice in selecting, Refresh polices and sequential The Authority has effective demand
consistently with the skills prioritising and running projects The Authority has established a planning maintains a constant management strategies in place,
appropriate for the type of method for measuring proficiency level of capacity and capability and can influence the balance
projects The Authority starts to develop a levels of project resources and between demand and availability
profile of the key resources and skills evaluating the criticality of its Skills assessments are translated through reprioritisation, sequential
There are no standardised and required to manage and deliver its projects into organisation development and cross project and programme
repeatable process for defining, change projects plans planning.
initiating, prioritising, selecting Projects are being managed with
and managing projects Best practise is actively identified the degree of skill and competence Skills within the resource pool are The Authority can demonstrate
within the organisation appropriate for each type of project matched according to the optimum usage of its resources.
The Authority does not proficiency required for each level
prescribe or mandate the use of The Authority is starting to set up of project Fully effective process for
specific tools or techniques to formal internal groups to share best obtaining, allocating and adjusting
support the project delivery and practise Lessons learned and formal resource levels are in place.
management process networks are established to
improve capability
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Project & Programme Management
1 2 3 4 5
There is little or no consistency in A corporate approach for project The Authority has established a The Authority has fully embedded The Authority is continually
the Authority’s approach to project management is developing within common framework and standard a corporate standard for project developing and improving the
management and the success the Authority based on internal and for managing its projects management, which all change standard of project management
factors of one project are difficult to external good practice projects use consistently. through a process of establishing
replicate. Programme Management is being best practise, internal/ external
Policies and governance used in parts of the organisation for The principles and practices of networks, and lessons learned
No particular project management arrangements are being defining and shaping change programme management are now
standard is applied within the established for co-ordinating programmes and identifying the being used to some extent in A standard programme
organisation. projects and programmes. constituent projects that will deliver delivering strategic change. management approach is
the change embedded across the organisation,
It isn’t uncommon for projects not Project Boards are established to Programme plans integrate and through which all strategic change
to have any senior business oversee the implementation of The Authority has established a synchronise the timetable for programmes are defined and
ownership or direction significant change projects governance framework for the projects with the benefit realisation managed to deliver the Authority’s
initiation all projects and plan. vision for change.
The are no governance Although plans are relatively high programmes
arrangements or policies for level, plans generally define stages The Authority has effective Projects are controlled and
initiating, selecting, running and and the key decision points. No project is initiated or approved governance for managing projects managed through the development
closing projects and programmes without Senior Sponsor ownership that span internal and external and approval of costed stage
All projects articulate their for the business case, providing boundaries plans.
Project management expertise is objectives direction to the project, and the
not matched to the demands of the realisation of projected benefits. Governance arrangements apply to Individual project plans reflect
project. Project resources are identified all project activity across the decision made at the programme
during Initiation as standard Plans are developed in sufficient Authority level on the sequencing of the
Projects plans are created in practice detail with clear timeline plans, projects designed to deliver and
isolation, and in some cases there milestones and work packages Programme Management is maximise benefit, capacity and
are no formal documented plans All projects have a project plan but defined established to translate strategic achievability.
these may vary in quality and detail aims into co-ordinated projects that
will bring into effect the necessary Governance for all projects/ and
business change programmes is appropriate to the
level of investment and scope.
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Project & Programme Management (continued)
1 2 3 4 5

Poor estimating techniques are Estimation is based on personal Detailed plans are approved before Quality management is embedded Programme monitoring and
used for planning and costing. judgement but with some each new stage is started. into the Authority’s project reporting focuses on project
experience management approach to ensure performance and checks the
Cost and schedule estimates are Project plans provide the level of the outputs mirror the expected impact of any variances on the
best described as guesswork. There is some evidence of good detail that is pertinent to the type of quality benefits realisation profile.
quality assurance in practice or project being planned
There are few verification and being developed. There is an agreed process for Programme monitoring and Verifications and validation is
validation activities. managing change within projects reporting tends to focus more on assured through internal and
Some form of regular project the progress of its constituent external programme and project
Project reporting is sporadic and reporting is demonstrated but there All significant projects have quality projects, not benefits delivery as a reviews.
non standard is a general weakness in plans and stakeholders observe measure of the programmes
consistent measurement of and monitor quality of deliverables performance
The quality expectations of the progress and of reporting progress
stakeholders are not defined against plan. Estimation is based on sound
analysis of risk, scope, quality and
Quality expectations of costing.
stakeholders is gauged, and
generally well defined especially Project reporting provides a
for significant projects measure of actual performance
versus planned.
Critical friends provide some
informal verification and validation
activities of quality assurance
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SECTION 4 – PPfM Experience in Cambridgeshire County Council
Background
After Cambridgeshire County Council set out its vision and priorities for 2004-5, it underwent a
major reshaping programme to meet these challenges. In line with the Council’s vision and
priorities, a new organisation was put in place from April 2005 tightly focused on service delivery
and meeting its customers’ needs.
One of the drivers for organisational change was the Improving Business Support initiative set up
during 2004 with the purpose of bringing a consistent and structured approach to the numerous
projects undertaken at any one time across the Council.
Under this initiative a Corporate Project Office (CPO) was established in April 2004 to bring
consistency in project management and delivery, and ensure that scarce resources were
allocated effectively and efficiently across the portfolio of projects and the Authority had the
capacity to deliver.
The CPO established itself as a Centre of Expertise for project & programme management that:
• offered expert support and guidance in delivering projects on time and to budget
• made best-practice project management skills available to all.
• offered the chance to share knowledge and learning with other project managers across
the Council.
• created new opportunities for personal and professional development through training.
The CPO is now established as a corporate service that is available and accessible to all
Cambridgeshire County Council (CCC) programmes and projects, providing skills in programme
and project management, establishing robust programme and project governance, quality
assurance, monitoring and control, mentoring and support services.
The Challenges
There are a number of issues and challenges the Authority and the CPO are facing
What Problemare We
Trying to Solve?
Ahighly capable organisation working in a complex environment,
but there is always roomfor improvement
• Capable staff overloaded

• Trying to do too much (initiative overload )
• Some fragmented, unaligned initiatives

• Challenges of buy -in and engagement
• Complexities associated with deriving benefits
• Improving performance management
Co r p o r a t e P r o j e c t Of f i c e
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Response to Challenges
Since April 2004, the CPO has established itself as a corporate service and helped develop and
embed an infrastructure and many of the core capabilities required for a PPfM approach. There
is now. Here are some of the highlights
Key Milestones in establishing PPfM in Cambridgeshire Ref material PPfM Component

The Corporate Project Office established as an Authority wide service
and Centre of excellence for project, programme and portfolio COEInformationPack
Organisation
management. The OGC provides a good model for this. v3_1.pdf
(Source OGC Successful delivery Toolkit)

Developed a basic methodology for programme and project
management, underpinned by MSP and PRINCE2, and a clear strategy Methodology
and plan for training staff.
Implemented a pilot to embed the methodology across all identified
business support programmes and projects. Refined and enhanced into Competency
an organisational standard based on best practice.
Built programme and project capability across the organisation through Programme &
promoting best practice, project management network, training, Project
mentoring Management
Established a governance structure of three Business Development
Area boards and thirteen programmes with responsibility for prioritising "Governance
significant programmes and projects within the portfolio, approving funds Structure].ppt" Organisation
and resources, initiating, stopping and closing projects / programmes. (Source material
These are supported by the CPO who provide advice, guidance and CCC)
information on project and programme status
Full roll out of standard programme and project methodology and
process across 3 Business development areas. Process
BDA%27s[1].ppt
(Source material
CCC)
Developed and embedded project/ programme Governance across three
Business Development Area Boards. Governance arrangements define:
"Business Governance
Development Governance_Ext_ v1.0.doc"
• How accountability is assigned
• How decisions are made (Source material Investment &
• How projects & programmes are identified, defined, prioritised, CCC Draft
Performance
approved, funded, resourced, managed and closed Governance)
Management
Established the Business Case as the corporate vehicle for gaining
management commitment and approval of all project and programme Benefits
investment requests. The CPO provides project management support in Management
the development of the Business Cases through 1-1 mentoring.
Developed a Typology tool to identify the appropriate level of
governance for projects
"Typology draft Tools
(Source material CCC) 0.7.xls"
Established a mandate for developing the sustainable capacity and

capabilities that Cambridgeshire County Council requires for the Capacity and
successful delivery of business developments. C&Cmandate.doc Capability
(Source material CCC) Management
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Summary
It is still early days but there is evidence of more rational decision-making as a result of
developing some PPfM tools and techniques. More accessible, timely and accurate information is
also improving the quality of decision-making. It is still early days, but the following are evidence
that progress is being made.
• Projects stopped before they started

• Projects rescoped or redirected
• Comprehensive Performance Assessment feedback
• Anecdotal evidence from staff
Objective measurement is not always easy and the limits to developing decision-making criteria
need to be established. The end goal for PPfM governance needs to be a balance between
structure and culture so human factors remain part of the decision-making processes
Governance - a Balance of
Structure and Culture?
• Hard
• Rule-based • Soft
• Quantitative/binary • Gut-based
• Thinking • Qualitative
• Formality and • Feeling
bureaucracy • Innovation and
creativity (anti-
bureaucratic)
Corporate Project Office
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Experiential learning assessment tool
The experiential learning assessment was completed using a set of questions on which to reflect, review
and plan the Authority’s progress against developing key PPfM practices. This tool was developed by
Cambridgeshire, and can be used or modified by any Authority that wishes to use experiential learning as
an approach.
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Reflect Back (6-24mnths) Actions Taken Review Actions Forward Plans
IN REPONSE CONSIDER IN REPONSE CONSIDER IN REPONSE CONSIDER IN REPONSE CONSIDER
Reflecting back consider the What actions have been Have the actions made any What further strategies and
Capability Area issues that were identified and implemented (based on the positive or negative impact. plans are the Authority
problems the Authority needed Authority’s strengths and What level of improvement is implementing or considering to
to address, but also identify weaknesses) visible in this specific capability become more effective in this
any examples ‘good practice’ area area.
How would the standard of What methods or approach What benefits are being seen What further developments
Project Management project management be best have been implemented to from these actions? and strategies have been
described in the Authority? improve project management identified to improve all
standards and capabilities? aspects of project
management?
How would the standard of What methods or approach What benefits are being seen What further developments
Programme programme management be have been implemented to from these actions? and strategies have been
Management best described in the improve programme identified to improve all
(If applicable) Authority? management standards and aspects of programme
capabilities? management?
What was the method or What improvements has the Does the Authority have How might the Authority
approach for scheduling and Authority taken to better overall visibility of its project change its approach for
sequencing projects manage cross project and programme scheduling and sequencing
Project Scheduling deliverables and benefits and dependencies, risks, benefits commitments? projects to deliver further
how were cross project delivery, resource conflicts, improvement and visibility
dependencies recognised and financial management through
managed. co-ordinated project plans
/schedules.
Resource Planning – What would be the best way to What has the Authority done to Describe to what extent What strategy and plans has
(Capacity and describe the Authority’s improve the way it utilises, improved resource planning the Authority developed to
Capability) approach and method of manages and develops its key has improved project delivery further improve resource
managing, developing and resources to match supply and and the Authority’s capacity utilisation and the capacity and
utilising its resources across its demand? and capability to deliver capabilities required for
span of project activity. strategic projects. selecting and running multiple
change projects.
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problems the Authority needed Authority’s strengths and What level of improvement is implementing or considering to
to address, but also identify weaknesses) visible in this specific capability become more effective in this
any examples ‘good practice’ area area.
How effective was project or What measures were taken to To what extent has the quality What further improvement
programme information in improve the collection, of information improved the could be made, and what
enabling clear direction, capture, presentation, direction, decision making and priorities lie next?
Project Reporting informed decision-making and analysis of information to monitoring of projects?
monitoring of projects ensure management boards
(Consider, risk, progress, were more effective in
schedule, cost, benefits, direction and decision making
visibility, accuracy, reliability).
What issues or gaps have been What approach has the Which gaps have been closed How does the Authority intend
identified in the overall Authority used to improve its and how? to further improve its overall
Decision Making decision-making process decision making process and What improvements have been decision-making process?
spanning project or programme how? made? How will the Authority close
selection, delivery, benefits What still needs to be done to remaining gaps?
relations and lifecycle improve its decision-making.
reporting? Is the process responsive and
flexible?
By what process did the How does the organisation What evidence suggests How does the Authority plan
Project Selection & organisation assess, evaluate assess, evaluate and present selection methods are to improve the effectiveness
Prioritisation and communicate project communicate priorities? prioritising projects more of selecting the most
priorities? effectively? And is there a advantageous projects or
better awareness of the programmes in the future?
Authority’s priorities?
How was the relative What methods, if any, have Has an agreed set of criteria How does the Authority plan
Project Selection & importance of one project or been implemented to improve been established that uses a to improve the effectiveness
Prioritisation programme compared to project selection criteria? combination of - strategic fit, of selecting the most
another? risk, affordability, benefit, advantageous projects or
achievability as a relative programmes in the future?
measure of project weighting or
value?
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Reflecting back consider the What actions have been Have the actions made any What further strategies and plans
Capability Area issues that were identified and implemented (based on the positive or negative impact. are the Authority implementing or
problems the Authority needed to Authority’s strengths and What level of improvement is considering to become more
address, but also identify any weaknesses) visible in this specific capability effective in this area.
examples ‘good practice’ area
Strategic Fit How would you describe the What initiatives / actions have Is it the case that all change How can the translation between
process for aligning projects with been introduced to improved projects are now strategically high level business plans and project
corporate strategy, objectives the strategic fit of the aligned? What further outputs be developed to improve
and priorities Authority’s projects and challenges does the Authority investment decision-making?
programmes face in aligning priorities with What approach does the Authority
project delivery plan to use for assessing alignment
of its projects and programmes with
corporate plans, strategy, priorities
etc.
Risk Management What risk management How has the Authority Are responsibilities for What are the priorities to further
framework existed to identify, improved its process for managing and reporting risk improve the process by which the
assess, manage and report managing risk including the explicit? Authority manages the impact of
project level and cross project business wide perspective? What is the current level of risk risks across its projects and
dependencies management? programmes?
Are risks assessed beyond the
project level?
Tools Which tools and techniques did How has the Authority Is there any evidence of How does the Authority feel it will
the Authority use during its improved its decision making improved decision making further develop and improve in the
investment decision making process to improve the through the use of tools or following areas:
process spanning project or methods by which it selects, techniques? • Using tools etc:
programme selection, runs and reports project • Visibility of investments,
management and reporting. programme and manages • Aligning investments to
risk, benefits, resources and priorities
strategic fit • Benefits realisation
• Managing risks
• Comparing relative values
of projects
• Establishing business cases
• Resource planning
• Selecting and deselecting
projects.
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problems the Authority Authority’s strengths and What level of improvement is implementing or considering to
needed to address, but also weaknesses) visible in this specific become more effective in this
identify any examples ‘good capability area area.
practice’
Communciations & How would you describe the Describe any deficiencies in Is stakeholder analysis used What are the main issues that
Stakeholder Management effectiveness of stakeholder the process for managing effectively? still need be resolved to ensure
(internal, suppliers, management both internal stakeholders and any actions Are stakeholders engaged effective stakeholder
partners, etc) and external? that have been implemented sufficiently to overcome engagement?
to make this function more resistance How will the Authority overcome
efficient Do business cases take these?
account of the views of
internal and external
stakeholders?
Benefits Management How were project / What were the weaknesses in Is benefit management and How will this process and
programme benefits this process and have any the realisation process a capability mature?
described, defined, measured improvement measures been higher profile function now?
and tracked. To what extent implemented especially to How has the process
were measures linked to improve alignment of benefits matured?
business outcomes? to the performance Is there a more robust
management framework mechanism for considering
within the Authority? the relative measure and
alignment of benefit in the
selection process?
Financial & Investment How effective were the Describe any changes in How has the investment How would the Authority like to
Management governance arrangements for these arrangements to make decision-making process change its governance
approving and managing overall project and investment matured? arrangements to become better
investment requests? governance more effective? Are decision points built into at managing the delivery of
governance framework? benefit and managing its project
What evidence exists of better investments and why?
or more informed financial
decision-making?
Are there any key problems or
issues still to be resolved?
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problems the Authority Authority’s strengths and What level of improvement is implementing or considering
needed to address, but also weaknesses) visible in this specific to become more effective in
identify any examples ‘good capability area this area.
practice’
Business Cases To what extent did project / What has the Authority done How are business cases used How will the Authority develop
programme business cases to establish business cases at in the decision making its mechanism to ensure
support the decision making the heart of the investment process? investment decisions are
process for deciding which decision making process and Are business cases actively driven by business cases and
projects were selected? ensuring projects continue to managed? that projects remain viable?
remain viable? Do they provide the level of
justification to support
decision making?
Organisation What was the organisational How has this structure had to Is this structure working How will the structure need to
structure for getting projects change and adapt to enable effectively? change to overcome any
approved, and managing the improvements in the Has decision making outstanding issues or meet
decision making process governance arrangements for improved? further improvements in
throughout delivery and selecting and running more Is decision making being selecting and maintaining a
benefits realisation? effective projects and made at the appropriate diverse range of projects?
programmes? levels?
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LESSONS LEARNED FROM CAMBRIDGESHIRE
Benefits Management Risk Management

• Establish a process for benefit definition in the early stages and factor this in to
timescales • Move away from managing and reporting project risks in isolation
• Build in scrutiny and challenge of the benefits into the project approval process • Running project and programme risk management alongside
• Challenge the thinking that this is just another level of bureaucracy strategic risk management helps to gain senior management and
• Avoid the temptation to develop a cottage industry of benefit measures and Member visibility and scrutiny
measurement systems. Instead, focus on something simple that will signal progress • Portfolio Management encourages clarity about corporate priorities in
towards the actual outcomes that have been identified. In the early stages this may be all four quadrants of the balanced scorecard: this means that risks
anecdotal or qualitative evidence based assessment. can be understood and managed against those priorities. For
• Unless the Authority already has a comprehensive performance management framework effective risk management, it helps to be clear about what the
that is aligned to the strategic objectives, establish as early as possible a universal organisation is setting out to achieve and why it matters.
understanding and agreement of what the Authority’s priorities are with each Office/ • Use risk management to assess the significance of an undertaking:
Directorate. These priorities should encompass external as well as internal priorities this helps to ensure that the kind of effort in the business case is
• The time and effort spent on establishing benefits should be not be wasted by failing to appropriate to the risk and significance of the project itself
build in a mechanism for monitoring and tracking their realisation.
• Establishing ownership of the benefits is one part of the requirement; responsibilities for
monitoring and tracking the benefits need to be agreed as early as possible. This may sit
within Performance Management or a Corporate Project Office for instance.
• People don’t always see the importance of a business case, and sometimes view it as a
means to an end to get a project approved. Establish a standardised approach for the
Business Case as a means for justifying the investment and as a tool for regular reviews
of the continuing viability of the project.
• Whilst we often think about supporting people writing business cases we need to
recognise that it is a very skilled task and the most influential document a project will
produce. Good project management doesn’t guarantee a good business case.
Developing capabilities in project management should include developing business case
skills. In addition, a centralised support service for writing business cases could be
considered.
Develop a benefits framework that is flexible and appropriate to each level of investment
request, ranging from the high-risk strategic business case for delivering major change to
the low risk project that delivers smaller incremental improvement.
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Investment & Performance Management Investment & Strategic Management
• Project selection and prioritising can be achieved at a basic level using elementary • Don’t assume that because the priorities are defined, they are understood in
analysis to measure the strategic fit of each project. There are still limitations with this depth across the organisation
approach because it isn’t very analytical, and tends to rely more on “gut instinct” than • There are many public-facing documents that convey value statements and
one might expect. In particular, some of the barriers to achievability aren’t made very priorities concerned with securing the health and sustainability of individual
explicit. The analysis of whether the organisation has enough skill and resource to do a citizens and communities. Rather less tends to be focused on securing the
particular project is less factual and more anecdotal, but the basic principles of PPfM can health and sustainability of the organisation itself
be applied to good effect without any complex or formal quantitative analysis. This • Project Portfolio Management requires a holistic view where strategic
approach does require a broad understanding of what the strategic priorities are to management defines and articulates the Authority’s priorities for securing
provide the appropriate challenge. the health and sustainability of its citizens, communities and organisation.
• It is important to establish an investment management structure to provide the • Without considering the internal focus it is difficult to evaluate the value and
challenge, leadership and decision-making. This will help to combat any weak strategic importance of those projects and programmes that provide
investment management practice that might have lingered in an environment of devolved sustainability of the Authority.
budgets, strong management boundaries and the misconception that once approved, the • Using a balanced scorecard approach, which includes dimensions such as
budget belongs to the budget holder to do with as they wish. Citizen, Finance, Learning & Growth and Internal Business Process can be
• Effective governance and an investment management process can provide scrutiny considered. Using such a method illustrates more effectively the strategic
of each project proposal regardless of the funding status. This wider scrutiny can relevance of each priority, and provides a tool to assess the strategic fit of
evaluate and approve each project proposal based on the strength of business case and each project and programme in the portfolio.
not simply the existence of a budget • Priorities need to be articulated in a meaningful way. High-level statements
• The CPA provides useful leverage to overcome some of the cultural barriers, as are difficult for people to translate into a form so they understand what it
Authorities need to demonstrate that human and financial resources are targeted at means and what is expected of them. This helps the Authority to tie more
priorities. The transparency required to achieve this cannot be evidenced without some closely the process of strategic planning, business planning and personal
form of management structure that can either directly or indirectly influence how budget objectives to better visualise how successful outcomes can be achieved
or resource is utilised. • Strategic planning is fundamental to the maturing process of project portfolio
• Although in the early stages of maturity, the model and governance used by management. Incentives for high innovation and economise of scale are
Cambridgeshire has been effective in a number of ways: the three Business less likely where the driver for change is bottom up and where budgets are
Development Boards have had a strong influence, using service budgets to support managed within silos.
better strategic objectives. Each Board is responsible for specific strategic programmes • Engaging early with the Authority’s Performance and Policy team helps to
and is headed by a Deputy Chief Executive who can form a clearer picture of how money map out cross cutting themes and priorities between internal and
and resources are being directed in pursuit of strategic objectives partnership strategic priorities. There is a complex process concerning how
• Investment Boards can effectively control budgets without necessarily becoming externally funded or shared priorities fit within the overall governance that
budget centres themselves by using sound governance. needs to be addressed.
• Moving from 1 year to 3-year business planning cycles has helped the practice of
investment management. This has developed a more strategic focus, and the
transparency of how a budget is directed to projects and programmes is made clearer.
•
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Capacity & capability Management Project & Programme Management
• Capacity management works effectively as an informal process • Identify and integrate existing good practice into a project management standard
in the early stages of maturity • Standardise your practice and methodology across the Authority as far as possible to breakdown
• With greater visibility across larger cross-functional groups on the language barriers.
programme and business development boards, resource • Developing a corporate project office as a centre of excellence for project and programme
dependencies get picked up. management has removed any preconceived ideas or legacy influence
• Anecdotal evidence supports the improvement in capacity • Avoid being overly bureaucratic. A one-size heavy weight method isn’t appropriate for all
management: employee say it feels better, and although they projects. Devise a suitable approach for low/ medium/ high risk projects
may still be asked to do too many things at once, there are now • Cambridgeshire have developed a typology of different types or categories of projects to tailor
fewer things being asked of them, and it has become slightly approaches.
more reasonable. They also report that with more formal • Consult internal and external experts to develop better estimates
governance structures, they have an escalation path if work is • Project management can be seen purely a discipline around a particular profession like
unachievable. construction, rather than a way of managing change. Setting up and establishing internal forums
• The early stages of maturity in Capability management has and networks for Project Management within Cambridgeshire, has helped to break down some of
thrown up issues about what the scarce resources are the functional boundaries and change perceptions by getting people to think more broadly about
• To develop further capacity for project sponsorship, the open project management
leadership behaviours required for effective sponsorship need • Look at exploiting any existing tools to start some quantitative time recording measures that can
to be encouraged and supported. support planning and project estimating.
• With the advent of 3-year business planning and looking at • Develop better estimation techniques as a foundation to more informed decision-making and
longer-term change programmes, the capabilities and skills planning.
needed have become clearer. How resources are used is also • Try to analyse and understand the culture within the Authority and the receptiveness to change
key to CPA. Project and programme management skills and and avoid being too rigid on the process at the expense of delivery.
awareness have developed well in the early stages, but in
• Work towards making more detailed estimates of the effort required to produce/deliver the
hindsight more attention might have been given earlier to
individual components or perform the lowest level tasks.
sponsorship skills.
• Using programme management early as a container for a group of projects provides senior
• It has been much more difficult in a large Authority to gain
management a higher-level picture and starts to focus them on the more strategic issues rather
clarity about scarce resource groups although it is easier to
than getting bogged down by the detail of individual projects.
identify the capabilities and skills that will need to be developed.
To try and get the model right the initial focus will be on a very • Programme management has been a successful vehicle for getting senior managers to think
few scarce resource groups, the ones that will be a barrier to more openly and publicly about how to deliver strategic objectives. However it is necessary to be
development. In doing this tricky issues start to emerge about considerate of differences between the different styles of programme and the need to be flexible
whether it would be better to source skills externally. This starts with any methodology.
to stray into areas about working with the private sector, • Without a broader approach to strategic management and planning, it may be difficult to extend
outsourcing and so on. These are quite complex and programme management beyond a container for projects and be able to define programmes that
sophisticated issues that will take some time to resolve. more clearly support strategic objectives.
• Programme sponsorship is as necessary as project sponsorship.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the following organisations for their input and contributions to the
development of this Framework
• London Borough of Greenwich

• Shepway District Council
• Newcastle City Council
• Surrey County Council
• Manchester City Council
• London Borough of Lambeth (eCapacity Building Programme)
• The Audit Commission
• The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM)
• St Edmundsbury Borough Council
• The Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA)
• The Office of Government Commerce (OGC)
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Project Portfolio Management

Framework – Cambridgeshire County Council

Programme, Project and Change Management

Capacity Building Programme

Cambridgeshire County Council Efficiency Programme

SECTION 1 - ABOUT THE FRAMEWORK......................................................7

What is the PPfM Framework?.............................................................................................................7

How will the Framework help?.............................................................................................................8

High Level PPfM Framework..............................................................................................................10

ILLUSTRATIVE HIGH LEVEL PPFM FRAMEWORK....................................11

SECTION 2 –PPFM OVERVIEW....................................................................12

What are the benefits and drivers of PPfM?......................................................................................12

What are the Organisational Barriers for PPfM?.............................................................................20

What are the prerequisites of PPfM?..................................................................................................21

Where is PPfM positioned?..................................................................................................................22

What are the Portfolio Management processes?................................................................................25

Corporate Level PPfM process – page 1.............................................................................................26

WITH THE ANALYSIS COMPLETE, ASSESSING THE PORTFOLIO

Corporate Level PPfM process – page 3.............................................................................................28

SECTION 3 – MATURITY ASSESSMENT MODEL.......................................29

What is the maturity assessment model?............................................................................................30

Benefits of the maturity assessment model ........................................................................................31

The tool is not intended as a ................................................................................................................32

Quick Maturity Assessment ................................................................................................................34

Detailed Maturity Assessment.............................................................................................................36

SECTION 4 – PPFM EXPERIENCE IN CAMBRIDGESHIRE COUNTY

Experiential learning assessment tool.................................................................................................47

LESSONS LEARNED FROM CAMBRIDGESHIRE .....................................................................53

• Are we doing the right projects right?

What is Project Portfolio Management?

What is the PPfM Framework?

How will the Framework help?

• Promoting the benefits of PPfM within their Authority

The framework comprises 5 sections – here is a brief synopsis of each section

1 About the framework

Maturity Assessment Model

4 PPfM Experience in Cambridgeshire County Council

This section provides a vignette of PPfM implementation in Cambridgeshire County

The experiential learning assessment was completed using a set of questions on

1. Strategic PPfM Process

The following table describes the elements in more detail.

Capabilities are a set of behavioural characteristics observed or

Building blocks are the individual components that underpin each

Corporate Track &

During the Project

Organisation Methodology Tools Governance Processes Competency

At the end of this section you will be able to:

What are the benefits and drivers of PPfM?

The project focus to deliver on time, budget and to quality although

1. Increase visibility of the Authority’s demands – risks, issues, resourcing, budgeting

1. Linkage with CPA

KLOE Nr. Corporate Governance KLOE Relevance to PPfM

Local Needs  Corporate Priorities  Programmes

Portfolio management provides a demonstration of the link between

8 Common causes of Relevance to PPfM

Lack of effective project team Effective PPfM is founded on standardising and

Areas of project & change delivery PPfM capability to be developed

Area of Challenge PPfM Capability area

• Resistance from programme and project teams to adopt a

What are the prerequisites of PPfM?

Pre Conditions Experiential Learning

Where is PPfM positioned?

Cross functional PPfM process

Pre Delivery Delivery Post Delivery