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MSP® Survival Guide for Senior Responsible Owners Rod Sowden

BEST

MANAGEMENT PRACTICE PRODUCT

Whether you spell it programme or program, the one thing you can be sure of is that it will be big, complex, risky and expensive. As a senior responsible owner or sponsor the buck stops with you for ensuring that your programme meets its objectives and delivers the outcomes and projected benefits that have been promised.

This survival guide demystifies the complex relationships within a programme and helps you to become a successful SRO. From understanding the type of programme you’re working on to governing it effectively, this book explains where you fit in and what the team needs from you. It provides you with guidance, tips and advice to help you make the right decisions at the right time across the programme lifecycle and applies the MSP® concepts to real-life scenarios.

Armed with this reference guide as your mentor, you can feel confident that you will be able not only to survive but thrive in any programme

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ISBN 978-0-11-331480-5

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MSP® Survival Guide for Senior Responsible Owners

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Contents

List of figures v

List of tables vi

Foreword vii

Preface viii

Acknowledgements ix

The Survival Guide series x

1 Overview 1

1.1 What is programme management? 3

1.2 Have you actually got a programme? 5

1.3 The programme management principles 5

1.4 So what does all this mean to you as the SRO? 6

1.5 Benefits of using MSP 7

1.6 The governance themes 8

1.7 The programme lifecycle 8

PART 1 THE GOVERNANCE THEMES

2 Programme organization 13

2.1 Magnificent Seven tips 16

2.2 What do you need to know? 17

2.3 Your role in programme organization 19

3 Visions and blueprints 21



3.3 Your role in visions and blueprints 29

4 Benefits management 31



4.3 Your role in benefits management 37

5 Leadership and stakeholder engagement 39



5.3 Your role in stakeholder communications 43

6 Risk and issue management 45



6.3 Your role in risk and issue management 52

7 Planning and control 55



7.3 Your role in planning and control 59


iv | MSP Survival Guide for Senior Responsible Owners

8 The business case 61



8.3 Your role in the business case 66

9 Quality and assurance management 67



9.3 Your role in quality and assurance management 72

PART 2 THE TRANSFORMATIONAL FLOW

10 Identifying a Programme 75

10.1 What does MSP have to say? 77

10.2 Recommended actions 77

11 Defining a Programme 79



12 Managing the Tranches 87



13 Delivering the Capability 93



14 Realizing the Benefits 97



15 Closing a Programme 103



PART 3 THE MSP QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

16 Introduction to MSP 109

16.1 Types of programme 111

16.2 Impacts of programmes 112

16.3 The MSP framework 114

17 Governance themes 119

17.1 Programme organization 123

17.2 Visions and blueprints 126

17.3 Benefits management 128

17.4 Leadership and stakeholder engagement 131

17.5 Risk and issue management 135

17.6 Planning and control 139

17.7 The business case 142

17.8 Quality and assurance management 145

Appendix A: Information summary 149

End note: Putting it all together 153

Index 155


List of figures

Figure 1.1 Organizational elements of programme management 3

Figure 1.2 Programme delivery responsibilities 4

Figure 1.3 Sequential view of transformational flow 9

Figure 2.1 Programme governance layers 17

Figure 2.2 Programme roles 18

Figure 3.1 Vision, blueprint and benefits 25

Figure 3.2 Example of a rich picture 26

Figure 4.1 Programme intermediate states 35

Figure 6.1 Threat, event and effect flow 49

Figure 6.2 Threat, event and effect profile 50

Figure 6.3 Tracking aggregated risks 52

Figure 7.1 The relationship between vision, blueprint, benefits and projects 57

Figure 8.1 Balance of costs and benefits 65

Figure 8.2 Development of the business case 65

Figure 9.1 The three dimensions of quality management in MSP 70

Figure 16.1 MSP framework and concepts 115

Figure 16.2 Overview of the transformational flow 117

Figure 17.1 Typical theme lifecycle 121

Figure 17.2 MSP design documents 127

Figure 17.3 Contributions to the programme plan 140

Figure 17.4 Scope of quality in a programme 146


List of tables

Table 6.1 Common causes of programme failure 51

Table 10.1 Recommended actions for the SRO in Identifying a Programme 78

Table 11.1 Recommended actions for the SRO in Defining the Future Organization 82

Table 11.2 Recommended actions for the SRO in Designing the Programme Delivery 84

Table 12.1 Recommended actions for the SRO in Managing the Tranches 90

Table 13.1 Recommended actions for the SRO in Delivering the Capability 96

Table 14.1 Recommended actions for the SRO in Realizing the Benefits 100

Table 15.1 Recommended actions for the SRO in Closing a Programme 106

Table 16.1 MSP programme types 111

Table 16.2 Impacts of programme types 113

Table 16.3 Programme impact examples in the private and public sectors 114

Table 17.1 Questions the SRO should be asking and the relevant MSP documents 122

Table 17.2 Areas of focus for the key roles in programme organization 125

Table 17.3 Areas of focus for the key roles in blueprint design and delivery 129

Table 17.4 Differences between outputs, capabilities, outcomes and benefits 130

Table 17.5 Areas of focus for the key roles in benefits management 132

Table 17.6 Areas of focus for the key roles in leadership and stakeholder engagement 134

Table 17.7 Risk management perspectives 136

Table 17.8 Areas of focus for the key roles in risk and issue management 138

Table 17.9 Areas of focus for the key roles in planning and control 141

Table 17.10 Costs to include in the business case 143

Table 17.11 Areas of focus for the key roles in the business case 144

Table 17.12 Areas of focus for the key roles in quality and assurance management 148

Table A.1 Information baselines 151


Foreword

Programme and project delivery is about change. For the public sector it’s about getting things done through a diverse and exciting range of programmes and projects that will help transform society and the way that government works. These can range from new hospitals or rail networks to innovative IT systems and transformational change. In the commercial sector the objectives may be different but the challenges are the same. If you are reading this publication, you will need no reminding that delivering the benefits of a very large and complex project on time and on budget is neither simple nor straightforward. Successive studies in the UK by the National Audit Office and the Major Projects Authority have identified that project leadership is a crucial factor in the success rate of the government’s major projects.

Simply put, great project leaders deliver great projects. The emergence of the senior responsible owner (SRO) role over the last 15 years has been a significant step forward. SROs are akin to the chief executive officers of temporary organizations that have been formed specifically to run a programme; they are not there simply to act as large-scale project managers. They should have a very clear sense of ownership and high levels of accountability. Being an SRO is tough; it often comes on top of a senior, business-critical role and brings the challenge of balancing the day-to-day pressures of that job with the need to develop and use different skills to be a successful SRO.

In government we have made good progress in the last year. Building on our world-class Major Projects Leadership Academy, we have identified SROs for all of our major programmes and projects, and letters clearly outlining their responsibilities and their accountability to Parliament are being published. This represents a very high level of personal accountability for project delivery and has certainly focused minds. A number of commercial organizations are also pursuing similar agendas.

But there is more to be done to understand what the SRO role means in different contexts and how to help them to become more effective. This publication is specifically targeted at SROs and I am sure it will make a valuable contribution in helping them to achieve consistently higher levels of performance in their role, regardless of whether they are in the commercial or public sector.

Tim Banfield Director, Strategy Major Projects Authority


Preface

You hadn’t expected the call in the first place: the CEO wanted to discuss an urgent matter so you dropped everything and got around to their office. The opportunity came as a surprise. You are well along the career ladder and reaching the top, but being asked to sponsor a programme came out of the blue.

You have been asked to direct a major programme. You have delivered plenty of major changes in the past, but not with the formality of a programme structure. It sounds a bit intimidating, and all the geeky terminology and process stuff is giving you second thoughts – even the term ‘senior responsible owner’ (SRO) has a formidable ring about it.

If this sounds like your situation, then this guide is aimed directly at you. It has been written by people who have a wealth of experience in leading programmes, with extensive input from experienced SROs. The aim is to provide you with an accessible, useful and practical guide to the role of an SRO, based on the framework described in Managing Successful Programmes (MSP®).

You will be faced with many dilemmas that will be unique to your scenario and organization and will test your commitment and beliefs. We can’t provide a formula for this, but we have tried to provide a guide that is based on our experience of working with programmes over the last 20 years. The advice is built around MSP; there are other approaches to programme management but the principles of good programme leadership and the general principles of

programme management are universal, so if you are using a different method it should work equally well for you.

We have written this guide without the shackles of formality which were applied to the development of the MSP framework itself, and we have focused on the things that will make a difference to you. So, armed with this advice, we think that it’s time to drop the CEO an email and say that you are up for the challenge!


Acknowledgements

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Rod Sowden

Rod Sowden of Aspire Europe Ltd is lead author of Managing Successful Programmes (MSP) and co-lead author of the latest version of P3M3®. He was a pioneer of the use of MSP at the BBC before he founded Aspire Europe in 2004, a company dedicated to improving organizations’ transformational programme performance.

Rod has been a passionate thought leader on MSP for more than 15 years and the work of Aspire Europe is universally recognized. He has extensive experience in improving programme management performance, and is active in leading, assuring and rescuing programmes. For more information on Aspire Europe, visit www.aspireeurope.com

Nick Carter

Nick Carter is an experienced senior manager with a proven track record of working at board and divisional-director levels in central government agencies. He has considerable experience in strategic and operational management roles with substantial service delivery, supply chain management, financial management and staff management responsibilities.

Nick has led a number of major programmes and projects and is an experienced and successful SRO and programme director with particular expertise in delivering technology-enabled change. He was

an accredited UK government high-risk Gateway review team leader and led reviews of high-profile and politically sensitive government projects and programmes. He now works with Aspire Europe and delivers training, assurance and consultancy to organizations focused on transformational business change.

REVIEWERS

The authors and publisher would like to express grateful thanks for the valuable comments, ideas and suggestions received from the following reviewers: Grant Avery, Outcome Insights, New Zealand; Carole Burgoyne, Plymouth City Council, Plymouth; Robert Cole, Centre for Change Management, Bath; Donnie MacNichol, Team Animation Ltd, Cobham; Liz Pattison, Arup, London; Ian Santry, Home Office, London; Alan Summerfield, Aspire Europe Ltd, Bristol; David Trussler, Right Result Right Way Ltd, Winchester; Ricky Utting, New Zealand Treasury, Wellington & Wairarapa; David Wright, QVC Solutions PTY Ltd, Brisbane.

Thanks are also due to the Aspire Europe team who provided essential support, namely Tom Farrow, Ellie Hudson, Sam Jenkins, Claire Rookes and Alice Sowden.


The Survival Guide series

This survival guide is part of a series that has been written for people with key roles in a programme. Each title provides specific, practical advice on how to be effective in a way that the more formal MSP manual (Managing Successful Programmes) cannot.

MSP is one of the most widely adopted frameworks for programme management, helping to ensure the successful delivery of transformational change. For a comprehensive understanding of the key roles in MSP, you should also read:

■ MSP Survival Guide for Business Change Managers for larger sections on benefits management, stakeholder engagement and communication, risk management, and blueprinting

■ MSP Survival Guide for Programme Managers which includes planning and control, risk management, the business case, and quality and assurance.

AN MSP GUIDE FOR SROs

There are many reasons why programmes fail, but failure to grasp the scale of the change being delivered and weak leadership of the programme teams are often contributing factors.

MSP Survival Guide for Senior Responsible Owners has been written specifically for you (the SRO) and your responsibilities within the programme. Because you are unlikely to have time to read the MSP guide or to go on courses, we have covered the main things that you will need to know in a format that can be easily referenced. In the governance theme

chapters in Part 1, for example, we have identified seven tips (the ‘Magnificent Seven’) to help trigger ideas, which we back up with more detail and pointers on where to find more information.

So whether you are new to programme management or new to programme sponsorship, you will find something of use in this guide. We also believe that experienced SROs in both the public and private sectors will gain benefit from this title, since we have consulted widely to gather information that will help even the most experienced of you out there.

The structure of the guide is as follows:

■ Overview (Chapter 1) provides a summary of what the SRO needs to know.

■ Part 1 (Chapters 2–9) explains how the governance themes affect you as the SRO. Each chapter includes seven tips on what to look out for (the Magnificent Seven) and your relationship with the other main roles.

■ Part 2 (Chapters 10–15) examines the processes of the transformational flow. To help focus your mind on your role, some of the activities in the transformational flow have been adjusted to give you clear and concise advice on where to put your energy.

■ Part 3 (Chapters 16–17) is a quick reference guide to MSP. It contains key extracts from the core MSP guide that are relevant for the SRO.

■ Appendix A provides a useful summary of the information baselines.


Overview153427_MSP Survival Guide SRO.indb 1 09/02/2016 16:16

| 3

1 Overview

1.1 WHAT IS PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT?

Managing Successful Programmes (MSP) defines programme management as ‘the action of carrying out the coordinated organization, direction and implementation of a dossier of projects and transformational activities (i.e. the programme) to achieve outcomes and realize benefits of strategic importance to the business’.

The programme manager role is primarily about delivering the means to change, whereas the business change manager (BCM) focuses on making the changes operational to realize the benefits.

Programme management aligns three critical organizational elements (see Figure 1.1):

■ Corporate strategy ■ Delivery mechanisms for change (projects) ■ Business as usual and operations environment.

It manages the tension between these elements to deliver transformational change that meets the needs of the organization and its stakeholders.

Within the programme there are three core roles that reflect the three organizational elements:

■ Corporate strategy is represented by the senior responsible owner (SRO).

■ Definition of the business capability, maintenance of operational performance and subsequent delivery of benefits is the responsibility of the BCM.

■ Delivery of the new capability, mainly from projects, is the responsibility of the programme manager.

Your role as the SRO is to balance the three organizational elements and the tension between them, and provide leadership and direction to the programme manager and BCM, as well as all those working on the programme and the key stakeholders, and lead them through delivering change to achieve the strategic benefits required by the organization.

The programme governance structure and the aims and objectives of the programme will be at the forefront of your thinking. There will be many twists and turns, setbacks and problems to be overcome, risks to be managed, and decisions to be made. You set the direction for the programme manager and

Operations

StrategyStrategy

Projects

Figure 1.1 Organizational elements of programme management


4 | MSP Survival Guide for Senior Responsible Owners

BCM, and provide leadership and energy to create the new capabilities, deliver the change and realize the benefits.

Programmes normally serve to deliver corporate objectives, as shown in the list below:

■ The corporate objectives drive the development of the programme vision.

■ The vision is expanded into a blueprint for the future organization.

■ The blueprint defines what the projects need to create.

■ The projects deliver outputs which create capabilities.

■ The capabilities are transitioned into outcomes. ■ The outcomes enable the realization of benefits. ■ The benefits contribute to the achievement of

the corporate objectives.

Figure 1.2 is critical to understanding the model and how the roles work. The boxes on the left show what the programme manager delivers to the programme, while the boxes on the right show what the BCM delivers. The roles are fundamentally different in their focus. Once the programme manager has delivered the outputs and created the capability, the BCM takes that forward to deliver the outcomes and benefits. But it is important to understand this is not a simple demarcation. There is a lot of overlap. Your focus is on the strategic objectives and achievement of the vision set for the programme.

One of your key challenges will be to maintain the balance between investing in building the new capability and the ability of the organization to cope with the rate of change and ability to release the benefits on schedule.

Outputs

Blueprint

Vision

Strategicobjective

Capability

Outcomes

Benefits

Objectiveachieved

SROresponsibilities

Programmemanager

responsibilities

BCMresponsibilities

Informs the mandate

Developed into

Defines the

Delivers

Realizes

Transitions into

Creates

Figure 1.2 Programme delivery responsibilities


Overview | 5

1.2 HAVE YOU ACTUALLY GOT A PROGRAMME?

In many large organizations, a programme is often one element of a hierarchy in how organizations control and manage their change initiatives. These comprise:

■ Portfolio ■ Programmes ■ Projects.

The standard definitions from the AXELOS common glossary are:

■ A portfolio is ‘the totality of an organization’s investment (or segment thereof) in the changes required to achieve its strategic objectives’ and portfolio management is ‘a coordinated collection of strategic processes and decisions that together enable the most effective balance of organizational change and business as usual’. If your programme has no end date or looks to be continual, you may well have a portfolio.

■ A programme is defined as ‘a temporary, flexible organization created to coordinate, direct and oversee the implementation of a set of related projects and activities in order to deliver outcomes and benefits related to the organization’s strategic objectives. A programme is likely to have a life that spans several years.’ Programmes deal with outcomes; projects deal with outputs.

■ A project is ‘a temporary organization, usually existing for a much shorter duration, which will deliver one or more outputs in accordance with an agreed business case’. A particular project may or may not be part of a programme.

Programme management and project management are complementary approaches rather than

alternatives. During a programme lifecycle, projects are initiated, run and closed. Programmes provide an umbrella under which these projects can be coordinated. It is common to find people using the term ‘programme’ to describe a portfolio; the difference is that a programme has an end date whereas a portfolio is continuous.

1.3 THE PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES

MSP highlights seven principles that characterize successful programmes. As an antidote to the number of papers and reports highlighting why programmes fail, the principles of MSP focus on the characteristics of success. Since they were first formulated in 2007 they have proven to be robust and reliable reference points, providing you with a checklist that you can use to help maintain your focus.

The principles are self-validating, universal and empowering. They apply to all aspects of the delivery of the programme:

■ Remaining aligned with corporate strategy A programme is typically a large investment that should make a significant contribution towards achieving corporate performance targets. A well-managed programme maintains good links with a sometimes volatile corporate strategy.

■ Leading change Seeing through change in a programme is a leadership challenge. In addition to the need to manage a large number of complex tasks, people need to be led. It is impossible to move to a better future without clear leadership.

■ Envisioning and communicating a better future A programme is relevant where there is a need to achieve transformational change, where



there is some marked step change or break with the present required in the future capability. In order to achieve such a beneficial future state, the leaders of a programme must first describe a clear vision of that future.

■ Focusing on the benefits and threats to them Best-practice programme management aligns everything towards satisfying strategic objectives by realizing the end benefits. Thus the programme’s boundary, including the projects and activities that become part of the programme, are determined to enable the realization of these end benefits. The ultimate success of a programme is judged by its ability to realize these benefits and their continuing relevance to the strategic context. If the benefits are of strategic value, then effective risk management is crucial.

■ Adding value A programme only remains valid if it adds value to the sum of its constituent projects and major activities. If it is found to add nothing then it is better to close the programme and allow the projects to proceed independently, coordinated by corporate portfolio management.

■ Designing and delivering a coherent capability The programme will deliver a business architecture or final capability. This should have such internal coherence that all quality requirements are optimized, being released into operational use according to a schedule delivering maximum incremental capability with minimal adverse operational impact.

■ Learning from experience A programme is a learning organization in that it reflects upon and improves its own performance during its life. Good governance requires approaches to managing the different themes that are regularly adjusted and adapted on the basis of experience and results so far. For example, part of good

benefits realization management means that stakeholders are identifying new opportunities to realize benefits as their awareness and experience increase.

1.4 SO WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN TO YOU AS THE SRO?

Well, firstly it means that your life is about to become more challenging, and you are likely to wear different hats in your organization and have competing priorities. You probably have one of the following roles:

■ Leader of a directorate or major function within your organization – you might be the finance director, strategy director, or perhaps a regional director. You will have staff and financial responsibilities. In other words, you will have a ‘day job’.

■ You may be involved in your organization’s corporate governance – you may be on the board, or a senior manager just below board level. You may chair or contribute to committees on policy, operations, etc. Your organization may have a change portfolio and a portfolio board that you are a member of.

And you are now the SRO for a programme. So the big question to ask yourself is how you are going to fit this in, as you will need to find the time to undertake this role as well. How much time will depend on the programme and will vary from week to week, but you should plan for an average of half a day each week over the life of the programme – and that assumes you have a great team working for you. With a weaker team, or if the programme is in difficulties, you will need to invest more of your own time.


Overview | 7

Whatever your day job and corporate responsibilities, you now have the additional role of leading what MSP calls a ‘temporary, flexible organization’. You are effectively the CEO of that temporary organization – with the responsibility and accountability this brings. The MSP guidance can really help you to make a success of this, as it has been developed over time by experts in the light of hard-won experience.

You are personally accountable for the success of this programme and there will be nowhere to hide now, so learn from the experience of others who have done it before.

The other thing for you to consider is the level of maturity within your organization: how much experience and support will be available to help you? The more mature the organization the greater the levels of support and structure you can expect. If, however, this is early days for programme management, a lot more of the success will be down to you as an individual. There is more on this in Chapter 9, which covers quality and assurance.

1.5 BENEFITS OF USING MSP

Why not ‘stand on the shoulders of giants’ – people who have been there, done it, and lived to tell the story?

So why should you consider using MSP as your programme management framework?

Before you answer that, ask yourself how you intend to direct and control this work. How will you make sure everything is covered, that the tasks are being approached in the right way? How will you keep things on track, know what’s happening and convince your boss and key stakeholders that you are going to deliver the results they require from you? After all, you are the SRO, it’s your

programme, and your reputation and future may depend on how you succeed or fail in this task. You shouldn’t leave something that important to chance!

MSP has been developed by experts to support programmes of all shapes and sizes, across public and private sectors, in small and large organizations. It has a proven track record and applied sensibly can help you avoid a lot of pain. The key advantages of using MSP include:

■ It is flexible and adaptable MSP is not a methodology that you implement: it needs to be adapted and applied carefully and thoughtfully. It may be that not all the elements of MSP will be needed in your organization and it can be blended to fit with other frameworks. If you are using PMI, APM (Association for Project Management) or PRINCE2® (PRojects IN Controlled Environments) for your project management delivery, each will happily work with MSP.

■ It is proven and established MSP has been around for more than 12 years now; it has been proven globally in the public and private sectors. Many of the problems identified from failed programmes would have been avoided if MSP had been applied. MSP is in a cycle of continual improvement and draws on knowledge and experiences as it evolves in one of the most rapidly changing industries.

■ It is free to use without licensing constraints Although AXELOS Ltd owns the intellectual property, there are very few constraints on its use or adoption. Compare this to the expensive programme management methods offered by the big consultancies and you can quickly see why so many organizations are using it.



■ There is supporting infrastructure If you choose to use MSP, there is now a mature support market to help you. AXELOS sets and administers standards for the accredited training organizations (ATOs) who can train your staff and accredit their knowledge with globally accepted qualifications. There are accredited consultancy organizations (ACOs) that have consultants who have been accredited to give you impartial and high-quality advice and support to enable implementation. The best ones will be able to offer toolkits to help with implementation and get your organization up and running quickly and effectively.

■ It is part of the portfolio of best-practice guidance There is a long-term commitment to the best-practice product set which provides you with sustainability. These products are becoming more and more consistent and are part of a cycle of improvements that will bring them more closely together.

Hopefully, these five reasons will provide you with the justification to use MSP for your programme.

1.6 THE GOVERNANCE THEMES

The themes are a set of references that explain how the key elements of the programme should be delivered during its lifecycle. They cover subjects that will need to be constantly managed, and are summarized in Chapter 17 (MSP Quick Reference Guide). How the governance themes specifically affect you as the SRO, including your relationship with the other key roles, is dealt with in Chapters 2–9.

1.7 THE PROGRAMME LIFECYCLE

In MSP the term ‘transformational flow’ is used to describe the programme lifecycle. This is where all the action happens; the governance themes are active in all the processes of the transformational flow and all the concepts covered in the governance themes come to life (see section 16.3.2 for a summary of the transformational flow).

Figure 1.3 provides a different view of the transformational flow, focusing on the sequential nature of the processes. To help focus your mind on the role of the SRO, some of the activities have been adjusted to help give you clear and concise advice on where to put your energy. Managing the Tranches recurs depending on the number of tranches you decide to have. Realizing the Benefits runs concurrently throughout the lifecycle and is the main area of focus of the BCM, who manages all the activities in this process. The other processes are largely the domain of the programme manager.


Overview | 9

Takes the ideaand turns it into

a concept

Detailedspecification of

what will bedelivered

Balancing rateof change andalignment to

strategy

Benefits achievedwith supportstructures in

place

Identifying aProgramme

Defining aProgramme

Deliveringthe

Capability

Realizingthe

Benefits

Managing theTranches

Closing aProgramme

Pre-transition:performancetracking and

change preparation

Delivering thechange andachievingoutcomes

Post-transition:re-establishing

modus operandi andreleasing benefits

Delivery andmanagement

of projects

Figure 1.3 Sequential view of transformational flow


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