Managing your change portfolio the MoP™ way.

A large number of project managers that we talk to experience that:

• Their unit or organization is carrying out too many projects and most if not all projects are considered the same high priority.
  
• The resources, skills, equipment and tools required for the totality of the organization’s current and planned projects are not clearly understood, managed and controlled.
  
• Projects compete among themselves for scarce resources.

There is often no way of knowing whether the benefits that are promised when justifying a project are actually harvested.

If the statements above are true (and we get the impression that they often are), the likelihood that an organization’s totality of projects effectively contributes to its success and wellbeing would be pretty slim.

The real problem is that a large number of organizations do not know whether this is happening, they do not know how to know that it is happening, and they do not know how to deal with it when it does happen.

Many organizations focus on the performance of individual projects, or at best on the performance of individual programmes and projects, rather than on the performance of the sum-total of all their change initiatives (ie, the portfolio). This “tunnel vision” makes it difficult to properly evaluate the cumulative effect that all change initiatives have on the organization, to understand the cumulative needs of the portfolio, to judge whether the organization as a whole has the need, capability and capacity to benefit from all change initiatives, to determine the most appropriate timing of each change initiative in the context of the entire portfolio and to coordinate the implementation of change so as to safeguard the integrity of business operations.

Portfolio Management and MoP™

There are three fundamental levels of management involved in managing change within an organization:

• Portfolio Management
• Programme Management
• Project Management

The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) has recently published the MoP™ Guide to accompany the already existing guidance for Programme Management (MSP™ – Managing Successful Programmes) and Project Management (PRINCE2®). These three guides can be combined or used independently of each other.
Within the MoP™ Guide  Portfolio Management is defined as:
“a co-ordinated collection of strategic processes and decisions that together enable the most effective balance of organizational change and Business As Usual.”

Portfolio Management is concerned with:

Ensuring the programmes and projects undertaken are the right ones in the context of the organization’s strategic objectives;

• Successful delivery at a collective level;
• That benefits realization is maximised; and
• That lessons learned are identified, disseminated and applied in the future.

The MoP™ Foundation Certificate Course

Similarly to all other OGC Guides, MoP™ is supported by an accreditation scheme managed by APMG; the first level of accreditation available is the Foundation Certificate.
The objective of this course is to enable delegates to understand Portfolio Management as described in the official OGC MoP™ Guide, so that they can then apply it is practice.
The course is of three day duration and is made up of a balanced blend of presentations, supported by PowerPoint slides, as well as group exercises, individual activities and discussion sessions. Delegates should also set aside some time for self-study and exercises during the evenings. A copy of the Executive Guide to Portfolio Management, also published by OGC, will be provided as pre-course reading.
Participants are provided with an annotated hard copy of the slides together with any exercises, examples and templates discussed or developed during the workshop, as well as a copy of the official MoP™ Guide.    
The MoP™ Foundation Exam takes place on the last afternoon of the course; it takes 40 minutes and consists of 50 multiple-choice questions. Required pass mark is 50%.
Passing the MoP™ Foundation Exam will be a pre-requisite for sitting the MoP™ Practitioner Exam, as and when this becomes available.

Target Audience

Anyone with an interest, and/or role, in planning, delivering and contributing to, programmes and projects, and organizational strategy from inception to delivery.  This includes:

• Members of Management Boards and Directors of Change;
• Senior Responsible Owners (SROs);
• Portfolio, Programme, Project, Business Change and Benefits Managers;
• Business Relationship Managers, Customer Relationship Managers, Service Delivery Managers;
• Enterprise Programme Office or Project Support Office managers and officers
• Business Case writers and Project appraisers;
• Those in other functions/departments with a role in delivering strategic objectives.

Course Content

Running the Business vs Changing the Business

Gaining an understanding of the relationships between day-to-day business operations, performance management and managing a portfolio of change, and of how the quality of change impacts the quality of business outcomes and the benefits of change.

MoP™ structure, principles, practices and benefits
A first look at the structure, principles, practices of Portfolio Management, the business problems it is designed to address and the benefits that can be derived from its implementation

Strategic and Organizational Context
The business activities that Portfolio Management needs to be integrated with, and how to ensure that the change portfolio is aligned with the organization’s strategy and strategic plans.

Portfolio definition cycle
The activities required to understand, prioritise, balance and plan a change portfolio that is aligned with the organization’s strategic plans

Portfolio delivery cycle
The activities required to ensure that the change portfolio is delivered in accordance with expectations, that the benefits are realized and that Business-as-Usual is safeguarded

Roles & Responsibilities
The different roles involved in governing and managing the portfolio, with their responsibilities

Implementing MoP™
Different approaches available to implement MoP™ within an organization, starting from an assessment of the pre-existing situation

The portfolio management framework
The central repository containing a description of the agreed portfolio management practices adopted by the organization and its governance arrangements.

Energized change culture
An investigation of what it takes for an organization to be willing and capable of undergoing change