The Centre Of Excellence

A Pocket guide

Contents
2

The Centre of Excellence A Pocket guide

About this Pocket guide

Section A: Introduction
What is a Centre of Excellence?
The corporate context of programme and project management delivery
Why is it important to coordinate delivery?
The Centre of Excellence: coordinating delivery

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Section B: Managing delivery

Overview
Corporate relationships
Delivery roles
Portfolio management
Mission-Critical and High-Risk programmes and projects
Programme management
Governance roles
Project management
Risk management
Quality management
Business case management
Benefits management
Requirements management
Stakeholder management and communications
Gateway Reviews

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Section C: Organisation and standards

Overview
Organisation models
Setting up a Centre of Excellence
Governance
Management information and reporting
Processes and standards what you need to have in place

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Section D: Improving capability

Overview
What does maturity look like?
Organisational learning
Improving programme and project management capability, skills and capacity
Governance and Portfolio management
Setting targets for improved delivery
Further information

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About this Pocket guide

3

Introduction
This guide outlines the role of the Centre of Excellence (also known as a Programme
and Project Support Unit or Corporate Programme Management Office in central
government) in coordinating and supporting delivery. This function is different from a
programme or project support office because it provides the management board with a
strategic oversight of delivery.
The guide provides a quick reference to good practice and a routemap to more detailed
sources of advice and guidance. It takes account of lessons learned from OGC
Gateway reviews and other sources; it integrates with existing programme/project and
risk management guidance. It helps your organisation to achieve better, more consistent
delivery of your organisations programmes and projects.

Who should read this Pocket guide?

If you are the manager of a Centre of Excellence, this guide helps you to determine
what you and your team should do to coordinate delivery and support
programme/project teams.

If you are a programme or project manager, this guide helps you to identify the
support you can expect from your local Centre of Excellence, and the governance
arrangements which will apply.

The companion guide The Centre of Excellence: a Managers Checklist provides a

summary of the role of the Centre of Excellence and the support that managers should
expect for their delivery programmes.
The OGC GatewayTM Process: a Managers Checklist complements this Pocket guide; it
provides a set of key questions to help programme and project owners determine how
their initiatives are progressing and the potential for success.
The Successful Delivery Pocketbook also complements this Pocket guide, with more
detailed advice on delivery planning to implement policy.
This guidance should be applied flexibly depending on local circumstances.

Section A
4

Introduction

What is a Centre of Excellence?

A Centre of Excellence (COE) for programme and project management (PPM) is a coordinating function providing strategic oversight, scrutiny and challenge across the
departments portfolio of programmes and projects. A COE is the focal point for supporting
the departments individual programmes and projects, and for driving the implementation
of improvements to increase the departments capability and capacity in programme and
project delivery.
The scope of a Centre of Excellence may vary between departments. A COE can
accommodate a possible mix of roles and activities related to assurance, and activities
relating to improving programme and project management capability and capacity, as well
as monitoring and controlling the departmental portfolio.
This section sets the roles and responsibilities of the Centre of Excellence into context. It
assumes that the department has ongoing responsibility for a portfolio of programmes and
projects which support the organisations strategic objectives and desired outcomes. The
role of the COE is to support the senior management of the organisation in achieving
successful delivery of the portfolio. The activities of the COE will involve interactions
upwards to the management board, inwards to individual programmes and projects, and
outwards to external bodies, other COEs and delivery partners (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: Key interactions of a COE

The corporate context of programme and project

management delivery

Figure 2: The corporate context of programme and project management delivery

Figure 2 shows the relationship between strategic objectives and outcomes, and corporate
plans set by the Management Board, and the portfolio of programmes and their
constituent projects, upon which the COE reports to the Board. It also shows the
governance and reporting lines which will usually include a wider context still - the delivery
landscape with partners in the delivery chain. The figure shows a simplified view; a realworld view is likely to be much more complex.
Key terms

Project: particular way of managing activities to deliver specific outputs over a

specified period of time and within defined resource constraints.
Programme: management framework for coordinating related projects to deliver
outcomes and benefits.
Portfolio management: selection and co-ordination of an organisations complete set
of programmes and projects.
Centre of Excellence: coordinating function responsible for managing the
organisations portfolio.

Why is it important to coordinate delivery?

A coordinated approach to delivery brings together all of an organisations current
programmes and projects into an overall delivery portfolio, which enables the
management board to understand and manage all of its current delivery commitments. A
portfolio view helps the organisation to focus on business results through:
better selection of programmes and projects that are prioritised on the basis of their
strategic importance and are better controlled overall

more effective deployment of scarce resources: the right people with the right skills for
delivery

better results from individual projects: more consistent approach, better supported and
better managed.

What are the key things to get right?

The critical aspects are:
prioritisation making hard choices about which programmes and projects go ahead,
on the basis of strategic importance and current capability to deliver

success criteria that clearly link objectives to outcomes

clear roles and responsibilities

involvement of key stakeholders throughout

effective risk management

appropriate skills for the programme/project team (plus expert advice when needed)

effective financial control.

The Centre of Excellence: coordinating delivery

The Centre of Excellences key interactions are:

Upwards:
making sure that the management board gets a consistent and reliable report on
the main things it needs to know - delivery milestones, current risks etc - so that it
can make informed decisions about what to do

coordinating the portfolio at a strategic level

offering advice and support on challenging the business case for individual
initiatives, from start-up to close-down

responsibility for constructively challenging projects and programmes so as to

optimise overall delivery and benefits realisation possibilities

Inwards:

providing advice, support and assurance to programme and project teams

making sure that every team has access to the programme/project management
skills it needs

developing capability as required

making sure that programmes and projects are managed in line with best practice,
so that they can do things in a repeatable way, learn and improve

challenging individual programmes and projects that are not carrying out all the
activities that are associated with successful delivery.
Outwards:
coordinating OGC Gateway reviews or equivalent independent reviews

networking with peers and central bodies so as to learn from them and share
experiences

in more complex environments, liaising with external delivery partners who are
outside their control.

Portfolio management and prioritisation are critical to successful delivery (see section B:
Managing Delivery). Best practices for delivery include programme and project
management, risk and quality management, benefits management and stakeholder
management; these are outlined in section B, with recommended standards summarised
in section C: Organisation and Standards. Other necessary processes, such as
procurement and contract management, are covered in OGC guidance available on the
OGC website at www.ogc.gov.uk/
Organisations will vary in their ability to cover this wide scope initially but most will have
these functions in place as a core set. See section D: Improving Capability to assess your
organisations current capability and identify targets for improvement plans.
The Centre of Excellence should have close links with internal audit, corporate planning
and performance, and strategy units. Its structure should be tailored to the needs of your
organisation, appropriate to its current level of maturity in delivery and its governance
requirements (see sections C and D).

Section B
Managing Delivery
8

Managing Delivery

Overview
This section describes the tasks of coordinating and managing delivery. These tasks
involve two key areas of expertise: managing the portfolio, and programme/project
management (PPM). The section starts with an overview of the corporate context of the
COE, and the roles played by various business and functional managers in ensuring
successful delivery of programmes and projects.

The corporate relationships

Figure 3: Corporate relationships

Figure 3 shows the relationships between key corporate functions, the Centre of
Excellence and individual programmes. The key interactions are:
The management board sets the strategic context of the delivery portfolio and makes
decisions about the portfolio on the basis of reporting from the Centre of Excellence.

The corporate investment board scrutinises business cases for delivery programmes
throughout their lifecycle

The finance and procurement functions advise on achievability of the portfolio and
procurement approaches

The HR function provides the interface for recruitment, training and staff development
in the programme and project management specialism.

The Centre of Excellence (incorporating the Departmental Gateway Coordinator

DGC) provides the corporate context and coordinates the portfolio of programmes via
the programme office (or equivalent function) for each programme.

The Centre of Excellence also coordinates and liaises with Finance, HR, corporate risk
management, the CIO function and other parts of the organisation to ensure a joined-up
delivery support framework across the department.

Delivery Roles
The table below summarises the key delivery roles; the exact titles of the roles will vary
from organisation to organisation. An individual might have more than one role; they are
not mutually exclusive.
Perspective
Management
board

Responsibility
Setting strategic
direction

Corporate
Making investment
overview of
decisions
current delivery
portfolio

Management board members; PSA target holders

(or those responsible for equivalent strategic
priorities)
Corporate investment board members

Managing
commercial aspects

Heads of procurement or commercial directors

Managing corporate
governance

Accounting Officer
Heads of Centre of Excellence or equivalent
coordinating group
Risk Implementation Managers or equivalent

Managing risk at
the corporate level
Individual
Delivering
programmes and outcomes through
projects
programmes and
projects
Ongoing
operational
services and
benefits
realisation

Who

Continuing to
deliver outcomes
through operational
services

Programme and project owners

Senior Responsible Owners (SRO)
Their senior supplier equivalents
Programme and project board members
Programme and project owners
Business and functional managers
Their senior supplier equivalents

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Portfolio management
The key question is: What should be done with available resources? Only those
programmes and projects that contribute most strongly to the organisations business
strategy should be chosen to go forward. The management board selects programmes
and projects for inclusion in the portfolio, with advice and support from the Centre of
Excellence. Subsequently the Centre of Excellence reports on progress against plans, so
that the management board can make informed decisions about the portfolio.
The Centre of Excellence assesses new and existing programmes and projects in the light
of Board decisions, considering them in relationship to:

strategic fit how well each initiative supports corporate objectives

achievability the likelihood of achieving success with the organisations current

capability and capacity

affordability whether it can be done with available resources

compliance with the agreed scope matches the criteria for success and not drifting
from the agreed scope.
All major programmes and projects should be included in the Boards portfolio, which will
need to be revisited at regular intervals by the Board with advice from the Centre of
Excellence. Reshaping the portfolio will depend on:

current capability and capacity to deliver programmes and projects within the portfolio

strategic plans and policy imperatives

possible trade-offs in the areas of benefits, risks, achievability, and scope

current commitments externally with partners and internally to existing service levels
and operations.

Selecting programmes and projects

Step 1: Determine what needs to be done to meet the organisations strategic

outcomes and which programmes and projects are required.

Step 2: Ascertain what is already in place and where new programmes and projects
will fit in.

Step 3: Identify a set of consolidated and coordinated business related programmes

and projects this is the basis for selecting the portfolio.

Step 4: Investigate the business case for each proposed programme and project. Is it
worth doing? Determine the contribution to strategic objectives; benefits; added value.
Is it achievable and do stakeholders support it?

Step 5: Check the programme/projects fit within the portfolio and corporate priorities
even though it is worth doing, there may be higher priorities.

Step 6: Confirm that the programme or project should go ahead; if so, it will form part
of the agreed portfolio. Ensure that the delivery approach has been thought through
and that the teams competencies match the initiative.

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Step 7: Revisit individual programmes and projects at key decision points. Has the
strategy changed? Are priorities different? Are resources no longer available? What
should be done if a project is out of control? What would be the impact of redeploying
resources to support failing projects?

Ongoing management of the portfolio

Track the portfolios performance and progress against key outcomes.

Take prompt corrective action when required.

Make hard choices when needed reprioritise, defer or stop projects.

Check monthly on the mission-critical projects

Monitor the organisations total exposure to risk.

Look to the future - plan for known changes and forecast the future demands on
resources.

For advice on setting up a portfolio, see the OGC document Portfolio Management Building a portfolio management function an illustrative framework on page 6.
Figure 4 shows in outline the processes involved in establishing and managing the
organisations portfolio of programmes and projects.

Figure 4: Managing the portfolio

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Mission critical and High risk programmes and projects

All the major programmes and projects in the organisations portfolio should be
categorised as Mission Critical, Highly Desirable or Desirable, to help identify the priorities
for delivery.

Mission Critical programmes or projects are essential to the successful delivery of a

major legislative requirement, a PSA target or a major policy initiative announced and
owned by the Prime Minister or a Cabinet Minister. They are also Mission Critical if, in
the event of project failure, there are catastrophic implications for delivery of a key
public service, national security or the internal operation of a public sector operation.

Highly Desirable programmes or projects are important (but not essential) for major
initiatives as above; or they are essential to the successful delivery of a minor
legislative requirement, a high profile (but not PSA) target or other government policy
initiatives. Alternatively, if they fail, there are serious (but not catastrophic) implications
for major initiatives and/or catastrophic implications for the delivery of non-key public
services or the realisation of significant business benefits.

Desirable programmes or projects are all those that do not meet the Mission Critical
or Highly Desirable criteria, but remain important to the sponsoring department.

Additional factors to consider when planning the portfolio are:

whether the initiative is a major project: strategically important and/or major business
or technical change issues, and/or requiring significant delivery capability

whether the initiative is inherently high risk: where there is radical change, complexity
or innovation, uncertainty of outcome, large scale, and sensitivity if the project fails or
multiple partners/delivery agents are involved.

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Programme management
The aim of programmes is to achieve the desired outcome and realise the expected
benefits. Programme management coordinates, directs and implements a related set of
projects. It is not always clear whether to deliver an initiative as a programme or project;
the table below provides some pointers. Further detailed guidance on programme and
project management topics is available on the OGC website: www.ogc.gov.uk/

Programme or Project?
Programme

Project

Focus on effective achievement of outcomes

Focus on efficient delivery of outputs

Vision of intended end-state but may not have

clear path to get there

Definite start and end point; clear

path for delivery

Long timescale

Typically short timescale

Many aspects uncertain at outset

All aspects clearly defined and

understood

Large scale and/or complex and/or uncertain, with Short term and very clearly defined?
a long time frame? Should be rescoped as a set Should be managed as a project
of coordinated projects and managed as a
programme

Programme organisation and governance

One of the greatest challenges in running a programme is to reconcile project objectives
and accountability with overall programme goals and programme-level consistency and
control. Figure 5 shows the relationships between the main roles within an individual
programme the sponsoring group (commissioning the programme), the programmes
owner (leading and directing), the programme manager (leading the programme team),
the business change manager (making the change happen according to plan) and the
programme office (coordinating activities and information).
Programme organisation defines the key roles and responsibilities in a way that is clearly
understood by everyone involved, with common standards for aggregated reporting from
projects. There must be a programme-wide view of risk and issue management, benefits
realisation and stakeholder engagement.

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Figure 5: Basic programme organisation

Governance Roles
Programme governance (see Figure 6) is tailored to the requirements of a specific
programme, taking account of:

the relationship between the outcomes the programme is seeking to deliver

the existing large management architectures and accountability lines

the relationship required with project organisations there must be clear reporting
lines from the individual projects, through a project board if required

whether responsibilities need to be assigned to more than one individual (large-scale

programmes) or combined (smaller organisations and/or smaller programmes)

managing cross-organisational roles, where several organisations are working in

partnership

whether a formal programme board is needed, in which case the programme owner
would chair the board as its executive, and key stakeholders take the role of
programme board members.

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Figure 6: Governance roles

A well-managed programme has:

clearly defined outcomes, appropriate scope and understanding about what success
will mean

stakeholder commitment throughout the life of the programme

senior management commitment and leadership

governance arrangements that work - across all parties involved in delivery

active management of outcomes and risks.

It is important to note that a large project may have its own project office; the relationship
between this office and any programme office and the Centre of Excellence must be
clearly defined.

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Project management
Introduction
The organisation must adopt a good project management method to guide every project
through a controlled, well managed, visible set of activities to achieve the desired results.
Adopting the principles of good project management will help the organisation avoid the
most common project failures; these principles are:
a project is a finite process with a defined start and end

projects always need to be managed in order to be successful

for genuine commitment to the project, all parties must be clear about why the project
is needed, what it is intended to achieve, how the outcome is to be achieved, and
what their responsibilities are in that achievement.

The Centre of Excellence is responsible for ensuring that all projects in the organisation
are run according to these principles, and for embedding a project management method in
the organisation.

Dealing with high risk projects

These approaches help you to reduce risk by breaking delivery down into manageable
components or tranches:

pilots or prototypes, to test on a small scale whether the proposed option would work
in practice but large enough to mimic the real thing

modules a distinct part of the programme/ project that delivers some benefit even if
the other parts of the programme/ project are not complete (e.g. providing one
component of the planned service and adding others later)

increments delivery in phases rather than a big bang, allowing evolutionary

development and/ or implementation of the overall change (e.g. fully operational to
one region rather than nationwide).

Project management functions

As an integral part of the project management approach, a project manager will need to
address a number of project management functions to ensure the success of the project.
The sections below outline the requirements of several key PPM functions:
Risk management
Quality management
Business Case management
Benefits management
Requirements management
Stakeholder management and communications
Further details on these and other PPM topics are available on the OGC website:
www.ogc.gov.uk/

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Risk management
Programme level risk management
Typical risks at the programme level are associated with acquisition, funding,
organisational and cultural issues, projects, security, safety, quality and business
continuity.
Project and operational risks should be escalated to the programme level against set
criteria where they exceed agreed tolerances, such as an unacceptable exposure to risk, if
they fall outside certain limits, or if they could affect programme objectives.
Before initiating any programme or major project, the organisation should make a realistic
assessment of its readiness to cope with complex change. These questions provide an
indicator of the issues that should be probed:

is there a clear direction set out in the business strategy?

is there ongoing alignment to the strategy?

are roles and responsibilities understood and accepted by top management?

is there access to the right skills and capabilities?

is there learning from experience in managing change?

is there a framework for managing risk?

If these preconditions for success are not met, any programme or project is at high risk.
These questions should be revisited at each significant decision point in a programme or
major project.
Risk management at this level should be applied where:

the information about risk can influence the programme most effectively, such as
where critical decisions are to be taken

decisions being taken at the strategic level require programme risk information

programme objectives are, or will be, influenced by changes to strategic objectives

and vice versa

the business case for the programme or associated projects is being revised or
reviewed

there is a requirement for a Gateway Review.

The risk analyses will need to be conducted at two levels:

considering projects as individual elements of strategy implementation

considering all the projects that make up a programme as representing a single entity.

Where appropriate, decisions about risk at this level form an important part of the
business case.

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Project level risk management

Risks at the project level typically include personal, technical, cost, schedule, resource,
operational support, quality, and supplier failure issues. Operational issues will also need
to be considered where they are relevant to the outcomes of the project. Strategic and
programme related risks should be communicated to this level where they could affect
project objectives.
Risks relating to individual projects should be communicated to other projects and
operations where appropriate.
A mature approach to risk management will show that

Risks are identified and logged in risk registers with ownership at an appropriate level
within the organisation

Risks are analysed and monitored in terms of probability, impact and dependencies

Risks are proactively managed at the most appropriate level within the organisation
and escalation mechanisms are clear and effective

Risk reporting is open and honest to ensure that the benefits of early warning are
realised.

Quality Management
The approach to Quality management should ensure that:

Quality controls, such as walkthroughs and design reviews, are used as appropriate,
and provide early indication of non-conformity with stated quality criteria. Design
Quality Indicators are used for construction projects.

Stakeholders are engaged and committed to quality criteria and to reviewing

deliverables against them. Design Champions are appointed for construction projects.

Appropriate change control and configuration management processes are in place

and are used to maintain programme/project documentation and deliverables.

Business Case management

The approach to Business Case management should ensure that:

Robust business cases are produced for all significant programmes and projects and
cover strategic fit with the organisations objectives, achievability, affordability, value
for money and an appraisal of options.

Business cases are maintained throughout the life of programmes and projects and
are reviewed at each key decision stage.

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Benefits management
The approach to Benefits management should ensure that:

Expected benefits are identified and fully defined, including attributes, measures,
owners and risks.

Benefits realisation plans are in place and actively monitored for all programmes

Programme owners are demonstrably accountable for delivery of benefits.

Requirements management
The approach to Requirements management should ensure that:

Requirements are defined, prioritised and baselined following agreement between all
key stakeholders.

Programme outcomes/project outputs are modelled to gain clarity and are formally
verified against the agreed requirements.

There is a clear process for baselining requirements and managing changes to them.

Stakeholder management and communications

The approach to Stakeholder management should ensure that:

Programmes and projects have communications plans in place and stakeholder

management strategies have been developed and implemented.

Key stakeholders are engaged in the development of the policy and business case
and their interests are regularly assessed during the lifecycle of the
programme/project.

Gateway reviews
The OGC Gateway Process examines programmes and projects at key decision points in
their lifecycle. It looks ahead to provide assurance that they can progress successfully to
the next stage.
Programme Reviews are carried out under OGC Gateway Review 0: Strategic
Assessment. A programme will generally undergo three or more OGC Gateway Reviews
0: an early Review; one or more Reviews at key decision points during the course of the
programme, and a final Review at the conclusion of the programme.
Project Reviews are carried out under OGC Gateway Reviews 1 - 5; typically a project will
undergo all five of these Reviews during its lifecycle three before commitment to invest,
and two looking at service implementation and confirmation of the operational benefits.
Project Reviews may be repeated as necessary depending on the size, scope and
complexity of the project.
Each of these Reviews is described in the appropriate Workbook; all Workbooks are
available on the OGC website: www.ogc.gov.uk/

Section C
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Organisation and standards

Overview
This section describes different organisation models for a Centre of Excellence, with
advice on setting up a Centre of Excellence. It also includes notes on appropriate
processes and standards.

Organisation models
There are a variety of corporate management models in existence and no one size PPM
Centre of Excellence will fit all. To be effective the Centre of Excellence must align itself
with the existing model, understanding the relationship between various elements, and
position itself to maximise the benefits of shared information and influence.
Three options for organising the Centre of Excellence are widely used in the public sector.
Other variations on these models may be equally appropriate, so long as they enable a
coordinated approach to delivery across the organisation. The main options are:

a physical group, which is a discrete group comprised of individuals with the

required skills and competencies to run the Centre of Excellence

a virtual group, which has a core team but draws upon specific skills and
competencies from across the organisation to fulfil the requirements for a Centre of
Excellence

a federated group, which resembles a hub and spoke structure and can be either
physical or virtual, or a combination of both. This type of structure is usually more
suited to an organisation that has a diverse range of activities and satellite operations
such as Executive Agencies and non-departmental public bodies.

The governance arrangements described throughout this Pocket guide would be effective
with each of these models. However, the virtual model would need to accommodate a
combination of matrix management and line management. The federated model would
require a steering committee with representatives from the hub and each of the satellites
to ensure collective buy-in.

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Setting up a Centre of Excellence

The requirement
The Centre of Excellence is a co-ordinating function providing strategic oversight, scrutiny
and challenge across the organisations portfolio of programmes and projects. Success in
fulfilling this role depends upon the Centre of Excellence function being appropriately
embedded in all business areas. Figure 7 shows the main functions involved in
embedding the COE in the organisation, and the roles of the COE and the Management
Board.
Embed COE Functions

C
O
E

Adopting
Portfolio
Management

Embedding
Key
Practices

Improving
Capability &
Skills

Improvement
ImprovementPlans
Plans

B
O
A
R
D

Inform Wider Corporate Improvement

Strategic
Management

Figure 7: Embedding the COE functions and improvement plans

Good practice

Mandate from the management board: while there is no single, predetermined

structure for an effective Centre of Excellence, there should be clear responsibility and
accountability for the performance of Centre of Excellence functions.

Resources to match the Centre of Excellence functions: irrespective of the

organisational structure, there should be a named individual responsible for
overseeing the deployment of the recognised Centre of Excellence core functions and
sufficient resources to carry these functions effectively.

Communication plan: the Centre of Excellence should identify key contacts and
establish good working relationships. This will enable it to gather the necessary
information, communicate and report effectively.

Measurement for the Centre of Excellences value to the organisation: the Centre of
Excellence should develop and implement measurement processes to assess the
value to the organisation of its services, and determine what impact it is making on the
organisations delivery capability.

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Phase 1 of setting up a Centre of Excellence involves:

obtaining the capability to introduce the new function (resources could ultimately be
absorbed into operational functions) and producing recommendations for resourcing
the function over the long term across the whole organisation (and partners, where
applicable)

gaining management board control of the organisations portfolio of programmes and

projects (a baseline portfolio related to key initiatives)

developing the arrangements for reporting to the management board, to enable

effective overview and management of the portfolio

developing a formal approvals process for selecting programmes and projects for
inclusion in the portfolio, including their ongoing scrutiny

developing a quality assurance process to ensure successful delivery

adopting an internal and external Gateway process to ensure successful delivery.

Phase 2 involves:

running and improving the new systems across the whole organisation

developing a process for assessing the organisations current capability and capacity
to deliver the portfolio

developing a process for assessing the overall capability and capacity of programme
and project teams, matched to the needs of specific initiatives

developing a programme and project manager Passport Scheme to ensure the

matching of individuals skills and experience to the complexity of the project

developing a programme and project management (PPM) specialism and supporting

HR policies to improve the organisations capability and capacity, and reduce the need
for external consultants

identifying and developing training programmes that are good value for money.

Governance
The principles of governance need to be applied consistently at portfolio, programme and
project level. The main factors for effective governance are outlined below.

The management board is ultimately accountable for ensuring that programmes and
projects achieve the required outcomes.

Membership of the board includes those with a track record of successful delivery.

Levels of accountability are clearly defined and ownership agreed throughout the
delivery chain.

Programmes are initiated on a sound basis, aligned with strategic objectives, have
clearly defined outcomes, delivery strategy and governance arrangements.

Governance structures for cross-cutting initiatives take account of cultural fit and
practices across organisational boundaries.

Common standards for reporting are consistently applied with different partners,
different programmes and different projects.

The right things are measured across the work streams and managed by exception.

23

Management information and reporting

The COE should ensure that senior management are regularly informed of the progress of
programmes and projects. The reporting will typically include:

Highlight reports on major projects progress against plans.

Consolidated reporting on key programme and project risks (high level risk register
with traffic lights).

Key information about current procurements.

Highlight reports on major suppliers performance.

Balanced Scorecard reports (showing progress against key targets and providing
commentary).

Current match of capability against commitments.

Recommended data set for programme and project reporting

Static information
Programme/project title
Names of key personnel, for example,
SRO, Project Manager
PSA or corporate objective this is
contributing to
Priority level, for example Mission
Critical, Highly Desirable, Desirable
Overall level of risk
Key milestones with indicative dates
Key partners involved in delivery chain
Dependencies between this and other
programmes/projects
Original budget or overall value in
terms of whole life costs
Impact of not delivering the programme
/ project

Regularly updated information

Lifecycle stage, for example, start-up,

initiation, development, etc or Gate 0,
1, 2, etc
Assessment of current status and likely
success, using Red/Amber/Green or
similar indicator, including for example,
progress against planned milestones,
assessment of on time, within budget,
to specification performance

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Processes and standards: what you need to have in place

You need to have processes and standards for:

strategy formulation and management: a clear statement of strategic direction to

which every programme and project contributes without this you cannot define
project scope and will be unable to meet business need

business case development: structured thinking and decision-making to justify

investment against strategic fit, achievability, affordability, and a wide range of options
and commercial aspects. If there is no business case or it is inadequate, you will not
be able to judge whether the project is worth doing and can be delivered

requirements development: a thorough investigation of the business need, including

the needs of key stakeholders and end-users, translated into a specification that can
be met by suppliers. Inadequate requirements development leads to the wrong project
deliverables

programme management: managing stakeholder needs and the delivery of a coordinated set of projects, which ensures that the right governance arrangements are
in place and critical relationships between projects are managed

project management: providing a framework for decision making and reporting on

project progress to ensure that the project meets the specification, is on time and
within budget

procurement: enables acquisition within EU procurement rules; if not done well, value
for money will not be achieved and the organisation may be in breach of EU rules

contract and supplier management: provides the foundation for operational service
delivery and relationships with suppliers; weak contract management and/or the
wrong supplier relationship is a persistent theme in NAO investigations

risk management: enables all the major risks to be identified and managed; without
effective risk management the project cannot be controlled

benefits management: provides a framework for realising the benefits on which the
investment was justified; without active management, benefits cannot be achieved
and value for money is lost

performance management: sets targets for performance and continuous

improvement; it is essential as the means of measuring performance against targets
and taking action to improve.

How to use best practice

Best practice is described in generic terms, so that people can adapt it to their own
circumstances. Adopt the principles as a corporate standard, tailoring them to fit with what
already works in your organisation. In particular, you will need to determine common
standards for reporting on risk and performance. Apply these standards consistently to
individual programmes and projects. Make sure there is a way of capturing lessons
learned so that success can be repeated and you can steadily improve your organisations
programme/project management.

25

Learning lessons and improving

A mature approach to continuous process improvement has:

process development and improvement activities that are coordinated effectively

across the organisation

processes that are in place to release and embed methods, techniques and tools into
standard but continuously improving processes

lessons learnt processes that are in place within the organisation for collection of
lessons and dissemination of best practice.

Section D
26

Improving Capability

Overview
This section outlines the characteristics of a mature Centre of Excellence and provides
some criteria for developing targets for improvement plans.

What does maturity look like?

A mature Centre of Excellence forms part of the organisations strategic core and provides
oversight, scrutiny and challenge across the organisations delivery portfolio of
programmes and projects. It is led by a senior manager. The Centre of Excellence is
organisationally close to the management board and supports business management and
the delivery of key targets.
The following are essential characteristics of a mature Centre of Excellence:

the Centre of Excellence drives the scrutiny and challenge of the organisations
portfolio

the head of the Centre of Excellence has sufficient credibility, authority, capacity and
skills to influence and drive change across the organisation

the Centre of Excellence provides expert support and advice to programmes and
projects, e.g. coaching and mentoring of programme/project owners and programme
managers, facilitation of programme initiation workshops, advice on application of best
practice

the Centre of Excellence has a robust reporting process that provides the
management board with timely and accurate information on its portfolio and overall
improvement progress

the Centre of Excellence, in conjunction with internal audit and internal review
functions, has a strategy and programme of work to provide an assurance framework
(including Gateway Reviews and internal audit reviews) for the organisations
programmes and projects

the Centre of Excellence has effective mechanisms in place to assess the value of its
work and to determine priorities for improvement plans

the Centre of Excellence coordinates and improves the management of Risk across
the organisation

the Centre of Excellence undertakes work to support PPM skills/resource planning.

the Centre of Excellence challenges projects and programmes that are not performing
the activities that normally lead to successful delivery.

The following pages highlight essential characteristics of a mature Centre of Excellence.

Recommended good practice is summarised in each of these sections, as a basis for
assessing evidence that the Centre of Excellence is working well.

27

Organisational learning
The requirement
Management boards will want to ensure that programme and project management (PPM)
approaches are repeatable and applied appropriately. If every project is managed
differently it is difficult to transfer lessons learnt to other projects. If the approach to PPM
cannot be repeated it cannot be improved.

Good practice

Monitoring use of corporate guidance and standards: the Centre of Excellence

develops, disseminates and promotes appropriate corporate PPM standards, methods,
techniques and tools. These should build on existing good practice used within the
organisation and with partners. The Centre of Excellence monitors the application of
PPM good practice across the organisation to identify weaknesses and take corrective
action as appropriate.

Analysing feedback from reviews: the Centre of Excellence evaluates reports from
major reviews such as OGC Gateway Review reports, Post Implementation Reports
and Post-Evaluation Reports, as well as other review documentation and
recommendations. It establishes the root causes of persistent problems or process
issues and triggers action for improvement.

Providing appropriate skills and resources: the Centre of Excellence has the
knowledge and expertise to be of direct assistance to programmes and projects and to
help them understand and make use of best practice.

Capturing and reporting on key PPM developments: the Centre of Excellence is a

champion for continuous improvement and is aware of emerging good practice in
PPM.

Driving improvement: the Centre of Excellence ensures that the results of its analyses
and monitoring work feed into the promulgation of lessons learned and the
improvement of guidance and standards.

28

Improving programme and project management capability,

skills and capacity
The requirement
The Centre of Excellence should support and be involved with collection of information on
the organisations PPM capability and capacity. Results should be fed into corporate
planning, training, development and recruitment activities to ensure sufficient capacity and
capability in PPM resources.

Good practice

Assessing and monitoring availability and capacity of PPM: skill levels are defined
within a number of standards and are typically assessed through NVQ-type
assessments. The Centre of Excellence understands the implications this has for the
organisations capacity to deliver change.

Defining requirements to meet the delivery challenge: capacity considerations are

centred around the number of people available to carry out a specific role or task,
such as the number of programme managers available at a specific point in time. Gap
analysis is used to indicate the shortfalls in specific areas with respect to particular
skills and competencies. The management board takes the availability of appropriate
levels of PPM skills into account when managing its portfolio.

Balancing supply and demand for Gateway reviewers or equivalents; planning for
medium risk reviews (central civil government): this is a key prerequisite to the
delegation of medium risk OGC Gateway Reviews and provides a reliable indicator of
the extent of PPM skills within the organisation.

Defining a process for selection and appointment of key PPM roles: key PPM staff
have the appropriate level of expertise matched to the complexity of the
programme/project and skills mix of others in the PPM team.

Strategy for developing/acquiring skills and competencies: up-to-date information

about current capacity and forecast need for PPM skills is used to inform the strategy
for resourcing the Centre of Excellence. The strategy achieves an appropriate balance
in growing internal skills and competencies and acquiring specific skills and
competencies from the marketplace.

A mature approach to programme and project management

Programmes are owned at the correct level with skills and experience matched to the
scale and complexity of the programme.

A programme owner is appointed for each programme with overall accountability for
ensuring that the programme delivers its expected outcomes.

Interdependencies between programmes and projects are measured and managed

within and between organisations.

Projects have outputs with clearly defined success criteria that are linked to business
objectives.

29

Governance and Portfolio management

The requirement
Governance is the process of controlling programmes and projects through a coordinated
framework of reporting and management action. Portfolio management is the corporate
process for co-ordinating programmes and projects; it is the responsibility of the
management board. The Centre of Excellence should be empowered by the board to
actively support them in managing their delivery portfolio.

Good practice

Defined and operational governance standards: these include reporting and

information requirements, financial management standards and processes, roles and
responsibilities, accountability / escalation routes and procedures for programme and
project start-up.

Information to support board-level scrutiny of programmes and projects: a reporting

process provides the management board with timely and accurate information on the
portfolio and overall improvement in progress.

Portfolio scope: the Centre of Excellence, in conjunction with the department's

management board, formally agrees the scope of the programmes and projects that
are of interest to the management board. The agreement should be based on a clearly
defined initial scope and a realistic timetable showing when the scope will be
extended to cover all programmes and projects (regardless of type) for which the
organisation is accountable.

Tracking progress against key targets and outcomes: there is timely and accurate
input to management board meetings in the form of status reports, risks,
dependencies, issues for action, lessons learned analyses, what if analyses and
forward looks to facilitate decision making.

Constructive challenge of programmes and projects: potential changes to the portfolio

are scrutinised; possible over-commitment is identified early and mitigation or
contingency arrangements considered.

Scrutiny of programme and project achievement: this forms the basis of

recommendations and advice on problem areas requiring management attention.

Monitoring and controlling programme and project performance: appropriate

measures of success are defined and captured, with corrective action as required.

Gateway (or equivalent) reviews: these are fully established for all categories of
programmes and projects.

30

Setting targets for improved delivery

Performance targets set the context for improvement plans. The management board
should set targets for programme and project delivery, based on the organisations current
track record for success and the areas where it needs to improve. Performance measures
for delivery should be linked to a wider set of measures that are important to the
organisation, relating to key outcomes such as PSA targets.
In setting targets for improving programme/project delivery, the management board needs
to understand:

the current commitment (that is, all the current and proposed programmes and
projects for which the board is accountable)

how many projects really are essential

the organisations current track record for delivery (that is, how well or badly it
manages programmes and projects)

priorities for improving that track record.

The objectives in setting performance targets should be to:

improve the success rate of individual programmes and projects (the right projects
managed in the right way that is, delivering value; on time and within budget)

follow standard practices for managing programmes and projects (consistent ways of
doing things, tackling the persistent problems, learning from experience and
improving)

remove commitments that are beyond the organisations current capability and
capacity

ensure that only those programmes or projects with a clear linkage to strategic
objectives are approved.

Further Information
For further information contact OGC Service Desk on 0845 000 4999

About OGC
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