Table Of ContentRobert never fails to cut through the fog of theories, presenting wisdom and guidance
in all matters P3M, and all based on knowledge and experience gained the hard
way, out there doing the job! He is the author of the most readable and digestible
books on these subjects.
Jayne Redfern, Associate Professor, University of Warwick, UK
Robert Buttrick is the most inspirational project manager that I have ever worked with.
His decades of experience shine through in the simple, clear and practical language
of his books.
Marion Thomas, Extraordinary Project Management, UK
Selecting the method or approach to apply to your project is rarely as simple
as selecting on or off on a switch. More often, a rheostat is needed to dial in the
appropriate mix needed to realize the benefits for your business. Robert’s work
provides the practitioner with the broad understanding of today’s globally recognized
standards, methods, and approaches needed to dial up success.
Charles J. Lesko, Jr. Ph.D., Professor, East Carolina University, USA
I know no one with Robert’s encyclopaedic knowledge and experience of project and
programme management. This fantastic book is an invaluable companion for anyone
working with projects and programmes.
Phillip Stanton, Partner at Firewood Ltd and PRINCE2 author, UK
Robert Buttrick’s book, The Programme and Portfolio Workout is an excellent guide
and reference for those engaged in managing projects, programmes, and portfolios.
Robert’s insights into this critical topic come from his long history of working in this
field and his extended support of developing standards on the management of
projects, programmes, and portfolios. This is a must-r ead for those engaged in this
field.
Dave Violette, MPM, PMP retired, Former Program Manager for
Supplier Automation, Duke Energy Corporation, USA
With this new distinctive intelligent product, The Programme and Portfolio Workout,
Robert brilliantly provides the two subjects to complement The Project Workout.
Together, these books form a complete operational picture for every professional
involved in project management.
Babissakana, PMP, PMO- CP, President of the Pan- African Project
Management Conference, Nigeria Former Chair of Technical
Development Group (TDG) of ISO/TC 258 Project,
Programme and Portfolio Management
A must-r ead book to provide business and programme managers, who pursue
the success of their organization, with practical ’workouts’ that seek to ensure that
everyone in their organization works towards the same strategic goals. A perfect
companion for Robert’s very successful book, The Project Workout.
Juan Verástegui M, CESEL Ingenieros - Management
System and Project Control Manager, Perú
Robert and I worked together on a series of transformation initiatives for a portfolio
of major programmes across BT Global Services which resulted in the accreditation
of these programmes at CMMI Capability Level 3 - the first achieved within BT. In this
book Robert shares with you the lessons he learned on this and other transformation
journeys.
Stephen Woods, Founder, PMO ELITE Network, UK
I have greatly benefitted from Robert’s work. He is a leader in the world of project and
programme management and a real authority on creating and running project-b ased
frameworks for managing change. I welcome the publication of The Programme and
Portfolio Workout to sit alongside the companion volume, The Project Workout, to build
on the range of practical advice and techniques available to ensure your organization
succeeds.
David Byrne, Knowledge Management Consultant and
Artist (Ad Hoc Art) Ex- Senior Business Support Manager BT, UK
Robert is a thought leader in the true sense when it comes to project, programme
and portfolio management. His experience, knowledge and ability of creating best
practices, while also being pedagogical, makes his writings, lectures and discussions
easy to digest and apply.
Klas Skogmar, Management Consultant within PPP - Sweden
If you truly understand your topic you can explain it in terms that anyone can
understand. The Project Workout has demonstrated Robert’s deep knowledge and
ability to put ’projects’ in terms that will support any practitioner, no matter what
your experience level. The Programme and Portfolio Workout is a fabulous extension
on the foundations laid by The Project Workout and a truly invaluable resource for all
practitioners.
Jo- Anne Harrison, Chair, Standards Australia Mirror Committee –
Project, Programme and Portfolio Management
The Programme and
Portfolio Workout
Implementing change is needed in every business. But how do you get started and
ensure you actually realize the benefits you need? How do you direct and manage
the tens, hundreds, or even thousands, of projects and the other pieces of work
your business is undertaking? How do you make sure everyone is working towards
the same goals? Building on five previous editions of The Project Workout, this book
focusses on programme and portfolio management. It is a valuable companion
for every business executive and programme manager as well as a comprehensive
resource for students of business, portfolio and programme management.
The Programme and Portfolio Workout provides practical advice and techniques
to direct and manage your business in a structured, yet agile, way. Aimed at both
business and programme managers, it takes you through different approaches to
portfolio, programme and project management and shows you how they can work
together. The practical approach is enhanced throughout with a series of ‘Workouts’:
exercises, techniques and checklists to help you put the book’s advice into practice.
The Workouts are supported by an on- line resource of tools.
This expanded edition contains a wealth of new material on the governance and
management of portfolio and programmes, including how to work with standards and
methods, such as GovS 002, ISO 21504, BS6079 and MSP. The companion to this book,
The Project Workout, deals with directing and managing individual projects. It uses the
same concepts and approaches so that you know, when directing your portfolio or
programme, that your project sponsors and managers are taking the same approach.
Together, these books give you what you need to ensure your organization succeeds.
Robert Buttrick has an impressive track record of introducing and practising
programme and portfolio management in major organizations. He is a contributor to
management methods, best practice, government and international standards. He is
a consultant and Visiting Teaching Fellow at the University of Warwick.
The Programme and
Portfolio Workout
Directing Business-L ed
Programmes and Portfolios
Robert Buttrick
First published 2020
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2020 Robert Buttrick
The right of Robert Buttrick to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by
him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any
form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Buttrick, Robert, author.
Title: The programme and portfolio workout : directing business-led programmes and
portfolios / Robert Buttrick.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2020. | Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020004511 (print) | LCCN 2020004512 (ebook) | ISBN 9781138721210
(paperback) | ISBN 9780367502508 (hardback) | ISBN 9781315194608 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Project management.
Classification: LCC HD69.P75 B8848 2020 (print) | LCC HD69.P75 (ebook) |
DDC 658.4/04—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020004511
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020004512
ISBN: 978-0 - 367-5 0250- 8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1 - 138-7 2121- 0 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1 - 315-1 9460- 8 (ebk)
Typeset in Myriad Pro
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
List of Workouts xiii
Foreword by Robert Heller xv
Acknowledgements xvi
About the author xvii
Introduction xviii
Part I Challenges to be faced 1
How to use Part I 2
1 Challenges we need to face 3
Problems, more problems 5
Initiatives fail, are cancelled or never get started – why? 6
2 Advice the best organizations give us 11
The study 13
The lessons and their implications 16
Organization context: we’re all different! 31
Conclusion 36
3 Portfolios, programmes and projects 39
Managing horizontally 41
An example of a simple business portfolio 43
Definitions for business portfolios, programmes and projects 46
Whose programme or project is it? 51
And it can get even more confusing! 54
4 Governance 59
What is governance? 61
Governance in context 64
Constraints on governance 67
Contents
Making governance work in practice 69
Roles and accountabilities 75
Decision making 81
Assurance 83
The many aspects of governance 86
5 Sponsorship 95
The sponsor 97
Who will you need to work with? 101
Your leadership style 103
Some tough choices 104
As a sponsor, where do I fit? 107
Part II The essence of project management 111
How to use Part II 112
6 Project management in context 113
Projects as vehicles of change 115
Positioning the project 116
Business- led and enabling projects 117
Making sure your scope meets the business need 120
7 Who does what in a project: roles 125
Who are the key people in project management? 127
Project sponsor 128
Project board 129
Project manager 130
Project team managers and team members 133
Assurance, support and coaching 134
High performing teams don’t happen by accident 137
8 The project framework 143
Managing your risks a step at a time 145
Project life cycle, gates and stages 146
An example project life cycle 150
Proposal – before the project starts 154
Initial investigation stage 156
Detailed investigation stage 158
Develop and test stage 161
Trial stage 165
Release stage 167
Post implementation review – after the project is completed 169
9 Applying the project framework 171
Using the project framework in practice 173
Building your own standard project life cycle 180
viii
Contents
10 Directing and managing a project 185
Project management and supporting processes 187
The project management processes 187
The supporting processes 190
Project frameworks or life cycles 190
Implications for a business portfolio or programme manager 193
Part III Portfolio management – dealing with
many projects and beyond 195
How to use Part III 196
11 Business portfolios 197
What’s different about business portfolio management? 199
Business portfolio management imperatives 202
Business portfolio roles and accountabilities 206
Prerequisites for effective business portfolio management 210
12 Defining your business portfolio 217
Do the right thing? 219
Strategic and business planning context 220
Choosing the business portfolio’s scope and boundaries 221
Setting your mission, vision and values 226
Understanding your current performance and prospects 229
Recognizing your constraints 229
Describing your business portfolio’s objectives 230
Now, do it all over again! 231
13 There are too many projects to do! 235
Principles for selecting projects 237
Project authorization 243
Far too many projects! 254
Putting the brakes on 255
14 Do I have the resources? 259
Conditions for total resource planning 261
White space – the freedom to change 270
How can I meet the three conditions? 271
How detailed does resource forecasting need to be? 275
Different types of resources 280
15 Selecting the right projects 283
Project selection and business planning 285
Executive decision 287
Economic or financial return 287
Scoring techniques 288
ix
