P3O Information

P3O is about Portfolio, Program and Project Offices.  An effective P3O will  provide organisations with decision enabling information as well as support structures for delivering change.  The recently issued guidance on the topic explains how benefits are achieved from efficient P3O offices, how to establish them, tools that will be useful and the ongoing operation.  Further information is given below. 

Adaptive Frameworks can provide consultancy on all aspects of governance including the establishment or re-design of a Portfolio, Program or Project Office.  We also provide baseline Maturity Assessments to enable progress and improvements to be measured.

Download P3O FAQ and further information

Download a P3O Course outline

Training courses are offered across Australia on an in-house basis and examinations to Foundation and Practitioner level can be administered if required.. 

Public courses will be offered in Melbourne and Perth during  March 2010.

Enquiries and Bookings to enquire about bookings and prices.

Course Dates for the public course dates

What is P3O?

The P3O name refers to three levels of governance structures or offices – Portfolio, Program and Project.  P30 is new guidance constructed by the Office of Government Commerce (UK) which pools together all current information on support offices for projects, programs and portfolios.  There are many kinds of support offices ranging from simple Project Offices through to complex offices managing a multi-national organisation’s delivery of change initiatives. The aim is to provide a single point of reference for setting up and running effective delivery support in any kind of organisation in an environment aligned with best practice approaches.

What is a P3O office?

A P3O model provides a decision enabling/delivery support structure for all change within an organisation. It takes into account ongoing business operations as well as the delivery of new or changed capability.
This may be provided through a single permanent office, which may exist under many different names including:
•    Portfolio Office
•    Enterprise Program Office
•    Centre of Excellence
•    Corporate Programme Office.
It may also be provided through a series of offices  such as programme and project offices both permanent and temporary linked together in some way.  Services may be provided centrally or locally.
In other words, there is no “one size fits all” approach.

What does a P3O office do?

A P3O office will provide support to the highest levels of management in making strategic decisions.  Examples of the types of activities undertaken are:
•    Complete and accurate Information will be gathered from across the organisation and presented in a consistent and useful way to decision makers.
•    The optimum mix of programs and projects will be undertaken and tracked for strategic alignment.
•    Projects and programs across the organisation will work to consistent standards and will be provided with support to achieve this where necessary.
•    Performance management will be aligned with portfolio, programme and project success.
P30 will provide a career stream in its own right and experienced staff will have credibility within the organisation.

Is this just more bureaucracy?

Not at all, P3O will save the organisation money by ensuring its services add value and by providing measures to establish and track this.

What is covered in the guidance?

The P3O guidance tackles the elements of designing and implementing an appropriate P3O organisation comprehensively.  There is no other guidance which addresses these issues.
There is not a lot of ‘This is how to…’ detail for the practitioner. This is because every organisation is different and it is not possible to be prescriptive.  However, there is a lot of ‘This is what you could do…’ and guidance on the types of questions that need to be addressed and how to approach the task of setting up a P3O which will improve the overall maturity and capability of different organisations.

How can P3O help?

P3O will provide a backbone for integrated governance and escalation within an organisation.

Is P3O a final solution?

No, as with all of the best practice guides there will be many iterations as part of a process of continuous improvement based on feedback and the changing world in which we live.  However, this guidance provides the foundations upon which to clarify and build our thinking on governance and the provision of information to support decision making at the highest level in an organisation.

What is the P3O certification?

The APMG have established accreditation for P3O at two levels.  There is a Foundation Examination which tests familiarity with the guidance.  This will enable the professional development of persons who choose P3O as a career.  The Practitioner level course is aimed at managers of PMOs, consultants offering advice on corporate governance arrangements and those requiring a deeper understanding of the appropriate P3O structures and implementation paths.

Adaptive Frameworks

Adaptive Frameworks were the first Australian best practice consultancy to be accredited in Australia for its understanding of P3O.  We are able to provide training courses leading to the P3O certification examination as well as advice to organisations in all aspects of governance, program management and project management in the best practice frameworks.

P3O In-house Training

Adaptive Frameworks provide in-house training to certification level or to address specific organisational needs.

As one of the basic tenets of P3O is that there is no "one-size-fits-all" solution, by having an Adaptive Frameworks consultant deliver training in P3O, the group will be able to explore the most suitable models and how they might be tailored for a particular situation.  The group can work on realistic implementation plans consistent with the objectives of the organisation and draft other foundation documents such as a Business Case, justifying the expenditure in a P3O and outlining the returns expected.  The course will add value to the organisation as well as the individuals who achieve certification in P3O at its conclusion.

The P3O training is of 2 days duration and includes:

• P3O Overview
• Why Have a P3O?
• P3O Models
• P3O Roles
• Tools & techniques
• P3O Implementation

 

Download a flyer on our P3O course

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