PPM and Business as Usual
Portfolio, programme and project definitions, their management objectives, and the relationship between change and business as usual.
How to prepare for P3O Foundation
Secure the PPM and office boundaries first, then connect business justification with model selection, implementation, operations, tools and roles.
Core concepts
Concept 1
A portfolio selects and balances an organization's investment in change; a programme coordinates related change for outcomes and benefits; a project delivers defined outputs.
Exam cue: First decide whether the issue concerns total investment, related change, one delivery effort or continuing operations.
Concept 2
Business as usual runs continuing operations while portfolio, programme and project management organize change.
Exam cue: Separate governing and supporting change from owning the change decision.
Concept 3
A P3O model connects information and support across these levels without replacing accountable portfolio, programme or project managers.
Risk pitfalls and guardrails
Treating a portfolio as a large programme.
Guardrail: Do not select a fashionable office structure or tool before establishing the stakeholder problem and service need.
Assuming a P3O owns every portfolio, programme or project decision.
Guardrail: Do not select a fashionable office structure or tool before establishing the stakeholder problem and service need.
Memory anchors
Portfolio
The total or segmented investment in change used to pursue strategic objectives.
Programme
A temporary, flexible structure coordinating related change to realize outcomes and benefits.
Business as usual
The continuing operational work that runs the organization while change is introduced.
Checkpoint rule
Do the check-up only after you can summarize each concept in one sentence and identify one dangerous pitfall from memory.
Knowledge Check (after reading)
Short check-up to confirm understanding of this module.
Check-up Questions
Which description best distinguishes a portfolio from a programme?
A board must decide which change initiatives to fund within a fixed budget. Which management perspective is primary?
Several related projects will introduce a new operating model and must realize shared benefits. What structure best coordinates them?
Answer all questions to submit.
Next step personalized recommendations
Continue learning
Move forward only after this module is stable.
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