Faced with a challenging transformation programme in tough economic times, the piloting of OGC's integrated project, programme and portfolio control framework is resulting in greater agility and control at BT.

Our world has changed. Today's unpredictable environment is demanding that organisations deliver their strategy with greater agility and control than ever before. This means that today's leaders can no longer be content when projects and programmes are only delivering the changes promised. They must also ensure that the changes are prioritised and balanced with operational activity to best achieve the organisation's objectives; and, when this balance is lost, the misalignment is quickly addressed.

Few organisations recognise this more than BT. Having driven through a massive portfolio of change over the last five years, BT recognise that they can still improve their ability to prioritise change and improve the integration of programme-based delivery with 'business as usual' operations. The current economic backcloth simply heightens the imperative to get on with this capability enhancement now; simply put, the time taken to get from 'concept to reality' in this regard will be a critical determinant of BT's long-term success.

Rising to the challenge

BT is rising to this challenge and seeking to simplify the way it works. Central to this simplification is a multi-million pound transformation initiative, composed of a broad portfolio of programmes and projects.

Recognising BT's wide-spread challenges around programme control and execution, under the leadership of Mike Stone (President Service Design, BT Global Services), this initiative has sought to improve its delivery capability. An early stride towards this has been the appointment of Moorhouse, the APM Project Management Company of the Year. Moorhouse has been brought on board to both bolster the delivery capability of the portfolio and to develop and embed a new best practice delivery approach.

This delivery approach is being developed and embedded by a dedicated project called the Programme Assistance and Capability Enhancement (PACE) Project. The project's three objectives are: to develop a delivery framework containing best practice guidance, templates and examples; to develop the capability of the individuals and teams working on the initiative in line with the framework's prescribed approach; and to embed the control mechanism required to ensure compliance against this approach.

P3O at the heart of best practice delivery

The delivery framework PACE is developing seeks to define and embed all the components that the ongoing transformation initiative will need to be successful. This includes programme and project management, management of the technical aspects of specific programme types, and management of the 'business as usual' activity associated with the programmes. These components are held together by an over-arching portfolio management approach.

From previous experience of portfolio management, however, Moorhouse has recognised that these components alone are not enough. Portfolio management can only work when the right governance, support mechanisms and management information are in place. To provide these underpinning criteria, the final piece of the jigsaw is OGC's Project, Programme and Portfolio Office (P3O) Control Framework.

High Level PACE Delivery Framework Structure Underpinned by P3O

BT is sponsoring the first private sector pilot of P3O in conjunction with Sue Vowler, lead author of the guidance. It is recognised within BT that the tailored adoption of a P3O Model can deliver significant benefit, in particular helping to:

Focus effort	Focus attention on the things which matter most to the business.
Balance the portfolio	Ensure BT has the right balance of change and business as usual activity within its portfolio and that the portfolio itself has the right mix of programmes.
Improve decision making	Provide a mechanism to ensure decisions are made at the correct level based on timely, accurate and consistent information and in the context of business as usual activity.
Drive consistency	Establish a solid foundation to deliver BT's transformational objectives in an efficient and consistent manner.
Increase visibility	Provide visibility of what the organisation does, why and how the work is carried out - reducing conflict and duplication of effort and encouraging cross-functional working.
Encourage flexibility	Allow senior management to consider alternative strategic options in light of funding constraints, value for money, deliverability and affordability.

Implementation Approach

At the core of the P3O model are 3 complementary functions: strategic planning, delivery support and capability development.

P3O Model

Whilst there is a temptation to rollout these functions in a big bang, Moorhouse's experience is that portfolio management approaches are most successful when their implementation allows them to be iteratively adapted to fit the organisation. Simply implementing a P3O 'off the shelf' will not necessarily deliver the enhanced visibility, assurance and programme delivery support which lies at the heart of its benefits. The organisational fit of the framework will make the difference.

This approach of evolution not revolution is particularly important to BT's transformation. Business drivers require the transformation programmes to be delivered to exact timescales and a number of individuals working within the programmes initially questioned the short term value of P3O. Recognising this need to implement change at a manageable rate, and deliver value from an early stage, the PACE Project is rolling-out the delivery framework and P3O model in a phased approach.

Phase 1: Bedding in the basics
The first phase of roll-out was aimed at bedding in the basics. The PACE Project established and communicated the vision for delivery capability improvement. The PACE team built a robust business case and value proposition, and proactively communicated with key stakeholders. In support of this, the project developed a brand that could be recognised as commensurate with change.

The PACE Project then engaged the transformation programmes to determine their current delivery capability against a number of core dimensions, and agree targeted improvement areas. The dimensions were built up from both the OGC P3M3 maturity model, (in collaboration with the OGC and Sue Vowler) and a BT-customised competency model.

Finally, the PACE Project supported the BT transformation initiative in setting up a 'hub and spoke' P3O model. This consisted of a programme office per programme and a portfolio office overlaying them with a number of key delivery functions in place. The programme offices were populated with Moorhouse individuals, supporting BT colleagues, in collaborative programme teams, working to a consistent approach. Together, these collaborative teams also began to solidify an improved delivery approach, whilst dealing with the pressures of programme delivery.

Phase 2: Raising the bar
During the second phase, the PACE Project detailed the design principles and roll-out approach for the full Delivery Framework. They engaged Sue Vowler and key stakeholders across BT in order to minimise re-work where best practice materials already existed.

At the same time, the PACE Project targeted early support interventions, helping the portfolio and programme office define and strengthen key strategic planning and delivery support functions including business case, benefits management and resource management.

Phase 3: Aiming for best practice
The PACE Project is now in the process of rolling out and embedding the full delivery Framework through a modularised approach. The team is working closely with the programmes, providing assistance and developing the materials to support a best practice programme control and delivery framework. This collaborative approach ensures that the materials developed are pragmatic and the programmes are bought in.

Early Success
Whilst the development of delivery capability is still underway, the improvements made are already improving agility and control, helping to ensure that the BT transformation initiative is considered a success. In the eyes of one Senior Client: 'The combined Moorhouse/BT team has delivered more in three months than has been achieved in the previous three years'.

In the eyes of Moorhouse, five key principles will continue to be central to this success:

Understanding the landscape	Ensuring P30 is implemented as part of a holistic delivery framework.
Staging the approach	taking time to evolve the P30 model to ensure maturity and organisational fit.
Ensuring senior ownership not sponsorship	Encouraging those senior and responsible to actively own capability improvement.
Supporting best practice approaches with best practice people	Using PPM experts on the ground to fast-track implementation.
Gaining perspective without becoming detached	Positioning the team sufficiently apart from day to day delviery that it is not caught up in the fire-fighting, but sufficiently involved to avoid being perceived as working in an 'ivory tower'.