P3O

P3O Frequently Asked Questions

Downloads

Benefits of P3O (PDF)

Official OGC Brochure for P3O (PDF)

KPMG NZ Project Management Survey

ESI International - The Global State of the PMO

 

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

 

Where can I get more information?

The official P3O website and OGC website contains further information and you will also find information on P3O and other Best Practice products at the official APMG website.