For the programme to be successful then a dedicated, strong PMO was a key element.
The Project One team consisted of the overall Programme Director, Business Change Lead, and a team of five skilled, knowledgeable resources to staff a dedicated PMO for the programme.
A clear goal from the outset was to use the current toolset available where possible and to ensure that the Governance and Control framework implemented could be reused for other large, complex programmes that the customer would undertake, now or in the future.
The Project One team started by mobilising all the PMO fundamentals such as clear, trackable Risks & Issues and key Governance Boards. Many of these we did using ‘tried & tested’ templates we had successfully used previously.
It was crucial to embed full business ownership from the outset to avoid being seen as just a systems delivery, the programme needed to be at the centre of the customer’s change agenda. Strong governance was enacted with an Executive Steering Group (ESG) that included six of the senior leadership team who helped to remove blockers and get priority calls made.
What the PMO team did
The early establishment of a ‘Design Authority’ was an example of a key success factor. Having a forum where the customer’s Technology and Business communities worked through the solution, particularly when it came to making decisions about ‘out-of-the-box’ vs. customisations. The PMO managed the agenda, ensured the inputs were all clear and consistent, and documented key decisions and approvals. The PMO Team also set about enhancing the existing tooling that the customer had. There was a level of tracking and reporting through the existing corporate tool that our Team updated and made available for the rest of the customer’s programmes, so they could also benefit from the enhancements.
The programme has three key partners delivering and testing the core of the solution; therefore, it was important to have a standardised way of them providing and sharing updates. The PMO worked diligently with these partners to take their feedback on what was important for them and built this into the controls, ensuring buy-in from the outset. As the programme has progressed, we have successfully migrated to Jira and again our PMO played a key role in getting that up and running and used efficiently for a large programme.