P3O

P3O stands for Portfolio, Programme and projects offices. P3o is universally applicable guidance published by the Office of Government Commerce, a department in the UK Government, to help organisations build the necessary support structures that enable the successfully delivery of their portfolios of change programmes and projects. P3O describes the factors that influence designing and buildings the right structures in order to optimize:

1. Senior management decision making: P3O informs senior management on decisions that include strategic alignement, prioritization, risk management and use of resources.
2. Business outcomes and benefits : P3O ensures the identification and realization of business outcomes and benefits via programmes and projects.
3. Delivery of project outputs: P3O plays an integral part in delivering project within time, cost and quality constraints.

By bringing together a set of roles, processes, functions, services and techniques, P3O facilitates effective Portfolio, Programme and projects management through its enablement, challenge and support structures. These structures bridge the gap between the strategy, the policy makers and the delivery arm of the organization.

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The P3O manual has supporting accreditation standards in place for foundation and practitioners that can be met via an examination.

P3O guidance covers:

1. Introduction
2. Why have a P3O?
3. Designing a P3O model?
4. How to implement or re-energise a P3O?
5. How to operate a P3O - tools and techniques
6. Appendix A: Roles and responsibilities
7. Appendix B: Business case example
8. Appendix C: Model tailoring-case studies
9. Appendix D: Examples of tools and techniques
10. Appendix E: P3M3 summary
11. Appendix F: Functions and services

The guidance aligns itself to other OGC guidance such as, PRINCE2, Managing Successful Programmes (MSP), and also Management of Portfolios (MoP)

External links

• P3O Website

References