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Blog posted by: John Edmonds, PPM Portfolio Development Manager – AXELOS, 19 August 2021.

Organizations that want to improve the performance of change initiatives – and get more from projects, programmes and portfolios – need to know what problems they’re trying to solve.

Training and upskilling your people could well be part of the solution, but any new approach needs to happen while also assessing where the organization is now and what types of change will create the most value.

For example, current projects or programmes may not align with or enable the organization’s strategy. Therefore, you might need to ask questions at portfolio level about how projects are chosen.

Equally, issues may reside in how an organization initiates and runs its projects and programmes. For example, typical areas of project failure – according to the UK’s National Audit Office and Cabinet Office – are caused by the way a project begins and the level of leadership involvement.

To improve projects and programmes, it’s necessary to have a systematic method to assess and diagnose the maturity of your organization’s capabilities and instil an approach for continual improvement.

One such method is P3M3® - the Portfolio, Programme and Project Management Maturity Model.

How does P3M3 work? 

P3M3 is a best practice approach that helps portfolio, programme and project managers – along with other senior leaders – understand how well their organization’s change initiatives are providing a return on investment, delivering value and justifying a business case.

The P3M3 assessment, which evaluates an organization’s maturity level, is based on numerous factors that have an impact on project or programme success:

1. Organizational Governance: how initiatives align with the company’s strategy and business plan. 
2. Management Control: how initiatives’ internal controls enable the objectives of change – such as delivering a new product – within tolerances and deliver value to the organization.
3. Benefits management: how an organization defines and manages the desired value from change initiatives.
4. Risk management: how an organization manages both threats and opportunities.
5. Stakeholder management: how an organization engages with stakeholders to help achieve the project or programme objectives.
6. Financial management: how an organization funds change initiatives.
7. Resource management: how initiatives acquire and use all resources other than finance.

Benefits of a P3M3 assessment 

This assessment model will help professionals and their organizations to understand:

How well are you performing? What are your strengths and weaknesses?

How to improve the outcomes of changes and, therefore, your maturity as an organization

How to introduce a method for continual improvement across the organization

How to enhance quality and increase stakeholder satisfaction.

By completing a P3M3 assessment, the knowledge gained will support all change initiatives at both strategic and operational levels in an organization.

For more information on the P3M3 Maturity Model please visit bestpractice.axelos.com/p3m3.