CHAPTER 2

Principles

 

2 Principles

Organizations use programme management in a variety of situations and to pursue different organizational objectives: innovation and growth; organizational realignment; and the effective and efficient delivery of change. MSP provides a principles-based framework that can be applied in all of these different circumstances. Principles are guiding obligations that apply continually from the first identification of programmes through to their closure. Principles are built into programme governance through the themes (Chapters 3–10) and enacted through the processes in the programme lifecycle (Chapters 11–18).

Programmes aligned with MSP are directed by the following principles:

• Lead with purpose

• Collaborate across boundaries

• Deal with ambiguity

• Align with priorities

• Deploy diverse skills

• Realize measurable benefits

• Bring pace and value.

These principles are:

• Universal They apply to every programme.

• Self-validating They have been demonstrated by practical use.

• Empowering They enable practitioners to reinforce the most critical factors for programme success.

The principles are illustrated in Figure 2.1.

2.1 Lead with purpose

Programmes are purposeful endeavours focused on planned change within one or more organizations. The ability for people involved in leading programmes to envision and communicate the desired outcomes of benefit, and to reinforce those desired outcomes over many years, is critical to success. The principle of leading with purpose applies to the whole programme team across the programme lifecycle. Leading with purpose keeps stakeholders and decision-makers focused on what is most important. This principle reinforces the need for the programme vision to be clear and the relationships with other projects and programmes within the organizational portfolio to be defined and agreed.

The lead with purpose principle is achieved by:

• providing clarity of purpose for stakeholders (organization theme)

• maintaining a compelling vision and design of the target operating model (design theme)

• justifying and communicating the financial viability over time in the business case (justification theme)

• planning delivery in the most appropriate way to achieve the future state and associated outcomes of benefit (structure theme)

• supporting the curation and organization of knowledge (knowledge theme)

• designing the three lines of defence to support leadership decision-making (assurance theme)

• gathering, analysing, and presenting decision-ready information and communicating the rationale that underpins decisions (decisions theme).

2.2 Collaborate across boundaries

Programmes inevitably affect many organizational units. For example, the organizational units may be in different legal entities such as multiple investors coming together to create significant new infrastructure; or they may be different parts of a public-sector body working together to transform and implement new policy. Alternatively, the organizational units may be within a single organization that has multiple business units and functions which are involved and affected. Successful programmes collaborate across these organizational boundaries in order to facilitate effective cross-organizational governance where it does not already exist.

The collaborate across boundaries principle is achieved by:

• maintaining mechanisms for organizational units and stakeholders to interact (organization theme)

• articulating benefits and designing a clear target operating model (design theme)

• implementing governance for financial decision-making related to investments, priorities for cash, and/or the risk profile of achieving outcomes (justification theme)

• maintaining clarity about the number and types of resource needed and how they will be sourced (structure theme)

• providing everyone in the programme with access to knowledge and information (knowledge theme)

• developing a unified view of assurance for the programme (assurance theme)

• ensuring approaches used to make decisions in the light of new information can work across multi-organizational governance (decisions theme).

2.3 Deal with ambiguity

Leading change using programme management is a future-focused activity. It is typified by uncertainty caused by the inability to know for sure what will happen next. Knowing what we do not know, i.e. knowing what is ambiguous in the external or internal context, enables us to frame risks. Risks can be positive opportunities or negative threats. Risks may be related to inherent uncertainty about what outcomes will be of greatest value to the organization and/or about what path will deliver those outcomes of benefit. All are important in shaping the decisions that are taken throughout the programme lifecycle. Dealing with ambiguity is not a principle to reduce risk as much as possible; rather it is a principle that embraces the volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous nature of programmes and focuses attention on the need to make ‘eyes-open’ choices.

The deal with ambiguity principle is achieved by:

• defining the appetite for risk and facilitating transparency, information-sharing, and evidence-based decision-making (organization theme)

• providing a clear view of current thinking and the risks perceived (design theme)

• reflecting uncertainty of estimates and specific risks in the business case (justification theme)

• providing manageable tranches of delivery that contribute to clear intermediate landing points (structure theme)

• making knowledge as clear and accessible as possible (knowledge theme)

• adopting a risk-based approach to assurance that focuses resources on the areas where greater certainty would be valuable (assurance theme)

• explicitly considering the upside and downside impacts of decisions (decisions theme).

2.4 Align with priorities

The programme environment does not stand still and it is normal for organizational priorities to change frequently during the life of any programme. Successful programmes adapt to emerging information and work to continually improve the quality of decision-making in a dynamic environment. This ensures that the programme aligns with the organizational objectives and strategy of the investing organization(s) over time and does not avoid addressing any conflicting objectives. Sometimes, new information will remove the justification for the programme. In these situations programmes are closed in a controlled way. More often, new information results in changed priorities which leads to the realignment of programme plans and the reassignment of the limited resources available to deliver work.

The align with priorities principle is achieved by:

• adapting structures, roles, and responsibilities over time to provide oversight and alignment with business operations (organization theme)

• revisiting the benefits, target operating model, and associated risks over time (design theme)

• reflecting new information in the business case (e.g. performance to date, potential changes in direction, changes to the size and phasing of costs and benefits, and changes to the risk profile) (justification theme)

• adjusting the content of tranches to reflect new information (structure theme)

• supporting stakeholders to acquire the knowledge and information they need to understand priorities (knowledge theme)

• prioritizing assurance observations and action plans to reflect risks (assurance theme)

• reporting both historic performance and emerging trends (decisions theme).

2.5 Deploy diverse skills

The work done within a programme spans numerous skills and disciplines. Internal knowledge and experience are typically complemented with external skills provided by consultants and prime and second-tier contracting staff. The blend of internal and external skills then shapes and delivers the required outputs and outcomes of benefit. Different skills are needed at different times and successful programme management deploys the right mix of skills and contracting routes to meet the changing needs of the work. Knowing when additional organizational capabilities and/or resource capacity is needed is key. Additionally, balancing the demand for external specialists with the needs of overstretched employees who are learning new ways of working is a critical factor in delivering change. It is also vital to not rely solely on external support, thereby missing the opportunity for the investing organization(s) to build needed skills for the future.

The deploy diverse skills principle is achieved by:

• providing oversight of the development of the required organizational capabilities and resource capacity (organization theme)

• providing clarity on the skills necessary for the target operating model to work as designed (design theme)

• providing visibility in the budget of the incremental costs of deploying specialized skills from inside or outside the organization (justification theme)

• planning delivery using the most appropriate mix of resources to achieve the outcomes of benefit (structure theme)

• supporting all stakeholders and team members to gain access to the knowledge and information they need to do their work (knowledge theme)

• allocating the right resources to assurance activities, balancing independence, specialist knowledge, and cost (assurance theme)

• analysing data to forecast the impact on the capacity and capability of the investing organization(s) to deliver the planned outcomes of benefit (decisions theme).

2.6 Realize measurable benefits

Creating outcomes that lead to defined and measurable financial and non-financial benefits is at the heart of programme management. The programme designs and delivers coherent organizational capabilities. These are transitioned and adopted into routine operations so that the desired outcomes become embedded and the realization of benefits can be observed and measured. Planned yet undesirable outcomes, measured by dis-benefits, are a reality in many programmes and are proactively managed alongside the desirable outcomes of benefit. Because programme management spans organizational units and time, it is positioned to be able to drive the phasing and overall realization of measurable benefits.

The realize measurable benefits principle is achieved by:

• ensuring that stakeholders are engaged and that there is two-way communication about the outcomes of benefit (organization theme)

• designing the benefits map and benefit profiles (design theme)

• ensuring benefits are measurable, either with a direct route to cash, through the use of cash proxies, or by using a non-financial measure (justification theme)

• ensuring outcomes of benefit are embedded in line with intermediate landing points (structure theme)

• ensuring that stakeholders can access details of the benefits and understand how they are measured (knowledge theme)

• focusing assurance on the risks affecting outcomes of benefit over time (assurance theme)

• keeping the decision-making focus at programme level, i.e. on the realization of the outcomes of benefit (decisions theme).

2.7 Bring pace and value

The investment an organization makes in using the programme management approach must be justified. MSP is designed to bring value to programme work through the coordinated and continual focus on the interplay between principles, themes, and processes in delivering outcomes of benefit. MSP brings structure and transparency to the management of investments in incremental change and applies rigour to the coordination of constituent projects and other work. Part of MSP’s value is associated with establishing an appropriate pace of change. Not to be confused with velocity, pace is focused on the timing of certain aspects of the work and their alignment with other key events or objectives. Establishing the right pace will enable the organization to achieve the desired future outcomes alongside the BAU activities required to deliver value.

The bring pace and value principle is achieved by:

• focusing on establishing governance that empowers decision-making as close to the day-to-day work as possible (organization theme)

• keeping the vision, benefits, and target operating model clear and aligned with priorities (design theme)

• expressing the design and structure of the programme in financial terms to make clear how the phasing of expenditure and benefits realization supports the pace of delivery (justification theme)

• planning the delivery of capabilities at the best pace to achieve the outcomes of benefit in line with the business case (structure theme)

• encouraging the learning of lessons and a culture of continual improvement (knowledge theme)

• planning assurance that is timely and appropriate (assurance theme)

• working within clear delegated limits of authority and only escalating decisions when needed (decisions theme).