Top tips for building P3M capability
One of the most crucial success factors for your organisation is the ability to effectively manage portfolios, programmes and projects – collectively known as P3M. Without a structured and strategic approach to P3M, organisations risk lagging behind their competitors and failing to achieve their goals. So, what should you do?
It is never too late! And there are lots of ways that you can build a robust P3M capability. Let's dive into some of the deliberate steps you need to take:
1. Appoint a Head of Profession
Strong P3M capability needs dedicated leadership. A Head of Profession will ensure there’s a focal point for the profession and someone who has clear accountability for developing capability, ensuring adequate capacity and supporting the resourcing of critical roles. This is often an additional responsibility to someone’s substantive role.
2. Ensure you have a Project Capability Framework
The Project Capability Framework is an essential component for developing a robust and sustainable P3M profession. It sets out the roles, required competencies and development routes, and provides a career framework for your employees. It ensures a consistent approach for everyone in the profession, as well as professionals from other professions who are working in a project environment.
The Project Capability Framework enables consistency for:
Career planning
Skills assessment
Resourcing
Workforce planning
Organisational design
Organisational development
Embedding a well-defined Project Capability Framework is the first step towards building a professional project organisation, enhancing efficiency, reducing risk, and maximising return on investment in your projects and programmes.
3. Provide project focused leadership training
Good leadership is at the heart of successful project delivery. There’s a considerable amount of training available for P3M professionals. However, training for P3M leaders is not so common. It’s often overlooked or wrapped together with generic leadership training. Having a dedicated and consistent programme for project leaders and project sponsors is essential for organisations that manage major projects. It will establish a cadre of professional P3M leaders, improve consistency, enable knowledge sharing and improve delivery confidence.
4. Gain board level commitment to P3M
Ensure your board appreciates the importance of developing your organisation’s P3M capability. Every organisation's vision, strategy, policies and plans will likely be delivered through some form of projects and programmes. Having a workforce who are capable of successfully delivering your projects and programmes is therefore, inextricably linked to the success of your organisation. Ensuring your board appreciates this is key to accessing the necessary resources to develop your P3M capability. If your board recognises the importance of P3M and signals their support, then this will make it a more attractive career path which can significantly improve attraction and retention.
Building a strong P3M capability is not a luxury – it’s a necessity for any organisation that wants to succeed. Those who take these steps will enhance their operational efficiency and drive long-term strategic success. Now’s the time to invest and position your organisation for a future of sustained achievement.
Let us dive deeper. Join our masterclass to learn more about building capability to enable organisational success. Leading Successful Projects: Developing people and skills that deliver, sign up now!