Headwinds

Strategic flux (i.e. major requests from Exec not predictable)

Site Cost savings going beyond in-year need to be scoped

Unclear link with Business Portfolio offices

Dislike of Enterprise Portfolio office (EPO) from Project community

Multiple strategic transformations occurring simultaneously, but which are not being managed as programmes / seen as part of portfolio (Transition to new mgt model, cost saving, establishment of EPO)

Portfolio office overall design

In general, a thin definition of services, without clear links within or outside EPO

How operate a stable EPO now whilst continuing EPO design, against a backdrop of a flat EPO structure with a wide span of control (8), and whilst staff are already in place

Definition of responsibilities, accountabilities not done

Resource and cost loading of EPO jobs has not been done.

Specific design and provision of particular EPO services

How to manage resource, incl. relationship with HR & commercial

How to co-ordinate assurance across the site

Poor understanding of benefits mapping

Intelligent prioritisation of intervention / support reqd by programmes

Portfolio reporting maturity and tools, lack of roll-up capability and tools

Whether reporting focus should be on in-year or lifetime metrics (the context: in-year thinking drives behaviour, against the tension of multiple-decade programmes)

Business Cases, prioritisation, sanction and decision-making

The poor adoption of existing Hazard reduction procedures for Business Cases Risk reduction is hard to use as a benefit, since risk often stays high for most of the job

Prioritisation in the context where one site is more serious than all the others

The roll out and communication of prioritisation without destabilising programmes

Generally poor business case guidance. Recent guidance has been issued and is okay, but capability is lacking within the programmes