Portfolio, Programme and Project
Management Maturity Assessments

What do you need, and what's likely to work?

The Situation

Many organisations have focussed on project manager competency development as the route to increased organisation project delivery success. From our experience of working with public and private sector clients of all sizes and types, we are convinced that a much broader approach is required. Organisational maturity in project delivery is determined by such diverse factors as carefully crafted policies, standards, processes and supporting technology, supporting organisational functions such as PMOs, effective governance, and integration of the project delivery engine with other management systems and procedures.

The issue for most organisations is not so much in understanding the problems arising from current approaches, but in determining the right mix of changes likely to deliver the most benefit in realistic timeframes. Applying a standard maturity model is likely to confuse the situation if the assessor makes the mistake of assuming that 'one size fits all', meaning that every organisation needs to be at Level 5 or that improvement must be across all aspects of project delivery.

Our Approach

Improving delivery management maturity improves an organisation’s effectiveness at executing projects. We work with our clients to assess their current level of maturity, develop an achievable improvement plan, and help keep the momentum going by supporting the execution and measurement of the recommended improvements. We achieve results for our clients through a four-phased approach:

P3M Maturity Assessment

We begin by assessing the client's current portfolio, programme and project delivery capability and maturity level. We use industry-recognised maturity models, and the latest academic research which has highlighted the differing needs of organisations in a diverse range of industries. We then work with the client to determine their desired future level, and the targeted areas in which changes should be focused in order to move forward. Typically, these changes target areas known to be problematic. The appropriate target level of maturity varies for each organization based on their specific goals, strategies, resource capabilities, scope, and needs.

Improvement Plan

Results from the Assessment are used to develop specific recommendations and a sequenced roadmap that provides realistic milestones for short and long-term process improvement activities. A good plan covers not only the project management activities being carried out at the individual project level, but also those activities within an organisation that build and maintain a programme and project infrastructure of effective project approaches and management practices. We work with client staff to ensure that the plan also addresses change enablers that will help overcome any cultural barriers.

Ongoing Support to Deploy The Plan

We provide guidance and implementation support to quickly deploy the improvement recommendations. Working in partnership with the client team, we leverage our collective assets and experience to expedite the organization’s maturity advancement.

P3M Maturity Re-assessment

A key element of our approach is a re-assessment of maturity once improvements have been embedded, in order to confirm tangible benefits have been achieved. To accomplish this, we conduct an abbreviated follow-up maturity assessment and compares the newer findings with the baseline maturity level. The re-assessment results are reviewed against the original improvement plan. New and/or supplemental recommendations are provided to reflect current business priorities and areas of focus for further progress.

To find out more about how we can help you improve organisational control of your portfolios, programmes and projects, contact us today.