Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Introduction 4
The delivery landscape 6
Delivery framework 8
Key roles 9
The key issues 10
Delivery planning 11
Delivery planning steps 12
Information needed for delivery planning 20
Techniques to help with delivery planning 22
Implementing plans 35
Programme and project delivery 36
Decision points 38
Decisions in the wider corporate context 41
Managing change 42
Operational services 43
Managing operational services 44
Achieving outcomes/realising benefits 45
Managing service contracts 46
Corporate standards 47
What should be in place to enable you to deliver? 48
Processes and standards 49
Further information 50
Introduction
The challenge to all public sector organisations is to find the most efficient
way to successfully deliver their services. Most organisations depend on
third parties to deliver their outcomes, often through complex networks of
delivery agents. To help their organisations to improve, senior managers
need to understand their leadership role in delivery, to strengthen the
linkage from policy through to the front line and to be more effective in
their delivery planning.
This Pocketbook explains senior managers’ roles in planning and managing
successful delivery. It also describes the steps to initiate effective
programmes and projects, together with an outline of the information
needed to support informed decision making. The Pocketbook includes
advice on achieving planned outcomes and benefits realisation after
implementing new ways of working. It uses proven best practice
techniques, taking account of lessons learned from OGC GatewayTM reviews
and other sources; it integrates with existing programme/project and risk
management guidance.
KEY TERMS
Policy: the translation of government’s political priorities and
principles into programmes and courses of action to deliver desired
changes [NAO definition]
Outcome: the result of implementing policy
Benefit: a measurable improvement
Project: particular way of managing activities to deliver specific
outputs over a specified period of time and within defined
resource constraints
Programme: management framework for co-ordinating related
projects to deliver outcomes and benefits
Portfolio management: selection and coordinated management of
an organisations programmes and projects
Centre of Excellence: the coordinating function in an organisation
that provides strategic oversite, scrutiny and challenge across its
portfolio of programmes and projects.
The delivery landscape
Source: NAO
Delivery framework
The table below summarises the linkages between policy, delivery and the
front line. In practice, the linkages may be complex - especially in the
delivery chain, where multiple partners may be collaborating on cross-
cutting initiatives. Whatever the relationships between the parties, there
should be a clear linkage between the policy formulation, its intended
outcomes, delivery to the citizen and evaluation of outcomes.
*Note: throughout the Pocketbook the term “department” is used to mean any public sector body
Key roles
10
11
12
This section of the Pocketbook describes the steps you should take to
decide on the best way forward to achieve the outcome you want. For
convenience, the steps are described in a sequence; in practice, you will
revisit some of the steps as your available choices become clear. The steps
and their interdependencies are summarised overleaf. The Delivery Unit’s
guidance on delivery planning and trajectories provides detailed advice on
delivery planning.
Your objectives in delivery planning are to:
initiate a programme or project to achieve the outcomes you want; this
may be delivery of a policy requirement or implementation of a major
change to the business and might involve a number of organisations
collaborating to deliver the outcome
make sure that it can be delivered as part of the current and planned
commitments of all the organisations involved
find the most efficient delivery channel.
The figure below summarises what you need to consider for programme
and project initiation - what you want to achieve (model of causation), what
is likely to achieve that outcome (model of what works) and who will
deliver it on your behalf (map of delivery agents). You also need to consider
the context of your organisation’s current work and plans.
13
20
Use the outlines below as a starting point for your own delivery planning
documentation. You will need this information for programme/
project initiation.
22
The techniques on the following pages help you to identify the really
important issues and questions that you should ask before committing to
a definite way forward.
Business analysis
Business analysis helps you to gain a full understanding of the current and
future business of your organisation, the way in which its business has been
- and could be - conducted and of the imperatives and constraints acting
upon it for delivery planning. These are the key questions to ask.
What are the biggest constraints and how could they be removed?
How could technology be used to change the way we do things?
What tasks could we get our customers to do?
What tasks could we get our partners and suppliers to do?
What alternatives are there to the current delivery channel?
Benefits cascade
A benefits cascade shows the links between your highest level vision and
objectives down to proposed options for delivery. If links cannot be made,
reconsider what you are planning to do and why.
Vision
Aims (linked to strategic objectives such as PSA targets)
Business objectives
Strategic themes
Strategic benefits (‘shopping list’ of things to achieve)
Key programmes and projects
Project objectives
Options
Optimum mix of benefits, cost and risk.
Outcome relationship mapping (opposite) shows the dependencies
between intended outcomes - for example, more effective learning by
pupils cannot occur without improved teaching.
A high level benefits management strategy (page 24) helps you to think
through the practical steps to realise planned benefits.
23
Is it worth doing?
What contribution to strategic objectives?
What benefits?
What added value?
Is it achievable?
What level of stakeholder buy-in?
How well are success factors understood?
What dependencies?
What level of risk?
How accurate and complete is the scope?
How adequate are resources and processes to deliver it?
28
Stakeholder segmentation
Stakeholders are the groups or individuals who are directly involved in the
programme/project and/or affected by the proposed change. Grouping
stakeholders into segments helps the programme to develop effective
strategies for dealing with the inevitable diversity of interests and influence.
Segmentation also helps to ensure the channels for communication reflect
the needs of the stakeholder groups and can be targeted appropriately.
32
Stakeholder map
A stakeholder map lists each of the stakeholder segments against their
particular interest area in the programme and can be used as input to the
planning and implementation of the necessary communications process for
a programme.
Segment B
Segment C
Segment D
Segment E
Segment F
Segment G
33
Commercial aspects
Your objective is to make effective use of third parties, including suppliers.
Look at the main components of the delivery chain and check that your
organisation has adequate commercial knowledge to obtain good value for
money over the whole life of the investment. Use this checklist to help.
Requirements:
Clear and unambiguous; likely to be understood by the market?
Supported by stakeholders, including end-users?
Realistic?
Sourcing:
Opportunities to collaborate with others explored?
Opportunities to achieve economies of scale considered (e.g. using
government catalogues?)
Within the market’s capability to deliver?
Supplier responses:
Capability and capacity of likely suppliers established?
Good understanding of their perspective e.g. business model and risks?
Good understanding of expected relationship and likelihood of success?
34
Contractual arrangement:
If one supplier, how will they manage their supply chain? If multiple
suppliers, how will you manage the supply chain?
If part of the requirement is uncertain, is there scope for ‘partitioning’
that part of the contract?
35
Decision points
Managing change
Programme and project delivery
36
Who is responsible?
Senior managers who are appointed to specific roles related to
programme/project delivery - responsible for providing appropriate
direction and timely management action, relevant to your role, focused on
achieving successful delivery and achievement of outcomes.
The figure below shows how the key programme roles are organised:
Sponsoring Group: responsible for making the investment decision. For
cross-cutting initiatives, it is important to clarify who holds the budget,
who pays for what and when
SRO: personally responsible for the success of a programme. If it is a
cross-cutting initiative, there should be a single SRO with overall
responsibility for a successful outcome, supported by representatives
from each of the collaborating organisations. Where private sector
partners/suppliers are involved, there should be a senior manager with an
equivalent role - the Senior Responsible Industry Executive (SRIE)
programme board members - responsible for decision-making support
to the SRO - as the programme board’s executive
a stakeholder group representing their interests
business change manager(s): responsible for transition and embedding of
change (programmes only). For cross-cutting initiatives, there should be
one for each organisation involved.
37
The figure below shows how the key project roles are organised:
SRO: personally responsible for the success of a project
where private sector partners/suppliers are involved, there should be
an SRIE
project board members - responsible for decision-making support to
the SRO as the project board’s executive
a stakeholder group representing the interests of end-users and
other stakeholders
a project assurance team to check that the required quality is
being achieved
delivery chain(s): external to the project organisation. Where multiple
agencies are involved, clear reporting lines must be defined for each.
38
Essential reading/reference
GatewayTM checklist for managers
Decisions in the wider corporate context
41
42
43
44
45
As part of your delivery planning you will have determined the critical
measures and indicators of success. You should also have arrangements for
ensuring that the programme remains appropriate and relevant and
continues to deliver the intended outcomes cost-effectively. There should
be progress checkpoints at specified intervals against intermediate targets
towards the required outcome. For example, in Year 1 you expect 10% of
citizens to use an e-enabled service; by Year 2 there should be 25% of
citizens using the service and so on.
At pre-defined decision points throughout the life of the operational service
(such as before a scheduled GatewayTM Review 0) you should be checking that:
the planned outcomes remain achievable and not changed in scope,
relationship or value
the principal stakeholders remain committed and confident that
outcomes will be achieved when expected
the plan for achieving outcomes is being actively managed, monitoring
delivery against agreed performance measures/key performance
indicators and any problems resolved promptly.
Where key benefits have been identified, such as more effective service
delivery, increased efficiency or cost savings, these should be actively
managed in the same way. You must be able to define exactly what a
benefit will deliver in a way that can be measured, within realistic
timescales, costs and risks. Each benefit must be linked to planned
outcomes and each benefit must be assigned to an owner who is
accountable for its realisation. For major programmes, there will be a
business change manager coordinating benefits realisation on behalf of the
business areas owning the benefits.
Managing service contracts
46
47
49
IT service provision
OGC’s IT Infrastructure Library® (ITIL®) is an important standard for IT
service provision, which gives the customers of IT services confidence that
their service providers comply with internationally adopted best practice.
Further information
50
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