Portfolio and programme management (PPM)

Implementing change successfully  

In order to meet the demands of tomorrow, organisations and companies must be in a constant state of transformation – and approach this transformation holistically and purposefully. Throughout the process, PwC provides companies with advice and guidance from strategy through execution. We can support you not only when it comes to strategy development and translating that strategy into implementation portfolios, but also in the prioritisation, implementation and control of your portfolio and programme management (PPM). PwC’s PPM experts are familiar with the typical challenges that change entails and focus on streamlining the transformation process.

Lay the foundation with strategic portfolio management

Setting up and managing large project portfolios is a critical and demanding task for organisations. The biggest challenge lies in the selection of the projects that promise the greatest value. PwC’s experts can help you identify those projects. To that end, we are equipped to analyse your portfolio in detail – and optimise it.

In doing so, we align ourselves towards your goals: we build the bridge between your corporate strategic goals and the implementation measures anchored in the project portfolio. Moreover, we ensure a high degree of transparency by means of digital tools. Accordingly, you will always have the information you need to make decisions and alter them where necessary. We will increase the efficiency of your processes through standardisation and automation. Our goal is not merely to provide administrator services, but to create real value.

Add value with benefits realisation management

An organisation’s overall transformation portfolio pursues the strategic goal of allowing, every initiative, programme and project to add value. PwC’s benefits realisation management experts will ensure that those benefits can be quantitatively measured and qualitatively recorded. Transparency is essential in this context and is guaranteed by the digital underpinning and method-based approach of our work. We ensure that all programmes and projects are systematically identified and recorded. Our transparent planning and follow-up means that the added value of each activity (or at least its business case) becomes visible.

Evaluate and streamline projects and programmes

Programmes and projects may often spiral out of control, and important parameters such as scale, budget and target date can shift drastically. In these situations, PwC’s experts are there to help stabilise the situation and restructure the programme. Here, our SARA framework (SARA: stabilisation, analysis, reduction, action) comes into its own. It is not simply a matter of a quick reboot. Establishing an appropriate action plan and regular reviews is equally important. This is the only way the programme and the projects may remain stable and successful in the long term.

PwC can help companies in analysing and comparing their projects and programmes using maturity diagnostics. When conducting the evaluation, we work with benchmarks and health checks. In doing so, we generate the necessary transparency and identify areas in which a reboot is necessary.

Set up and implement programmes successfully

When a project or programme is methodically and adequately set up, it is often successful. If it is not, it is condemned to failure.

PwC has experienced PPM experts who have been adapting proven standards and methods to projects and programmes for decades – during both set-up and implementation.

We utilise a global standard for programme management - the “12 elements of delivery excellence”. By applying them, we ensure that the method used fits the task at hand and covers all important aspects. These elements have been derived from established standards such as PMI, PRINCE2 and IPMA. They also form the basis of our PRogramme Initiation MEthod (PRIME), which we will use to plan and mobilise your project in a structured way.

Another way to increase the efficiency of projects and programmes is to automate programme management office (PMO) activities using our digital PMO (dPMO) services. We also have the possibility of leveraging near/offshore service elements and implementing agile methods (such as SAFe or Scrum) to further increase efficiency.

Cultural and organisational management of change: mobilise and motivate your employees

Your business model has to be converted into operating results as rapidly as possible, particularly when it comes to major changes as a result of restructuring, corporate transactions, comprehensive process changes, the introduction of a shared service centre or post-merger integrations. In that context, structural and technical solutions often seem the most important. However, in order to implement them, the management and the affected employees must be purposefully mobilised and motivated. An important part of implementing change processes is target-group-oriented and consistent communication.

PwC’s change management approach aims at aligning employees’ skills, behaviour and attitudes with their business goals. The objective is for the company to accomplish its competition-critical transformation successfully.  

Our range of services includes: 

• change management strategies
• change readiness and leadership
• change communication
• strategic alignment of the corporate culture and cultural change
• stakeholder management
• organisational agility
• developing and implementing visions and mission statements

Accelerated and digital enablement: digital tools offer significant assistance

Ideally, companies prioritise their strategic decisions using portfolio management in order to implement them in the next steps through transformation programmes and projects. For management, the challenge is to eliminate departmental silos. This is the only way to create organisational transparency concerning the value, cost, quality and progress of a project. In many cases, however, the necessary data is contained in different IT systems or, depending on the degree of PPM maturity, in individual files. Sometimes it only exists in the minds of the project participants.

Another problem is that, often, too much time passes between the moment a decision was taken and the point of its implementation. Information has to be agreed on in several tedious rounds and thus cannot be shared on time.

Digitalisation offers a solution to this dilemma: companies that digitalise their portfolio, programme and project management processes are in a position of automating processes and thereby accelerating them. Decisions can be made and communicated in real time. This can even be achieved across different IT system landscapes. PwC’s experts employ the appropriate methods and tools from traditional and agile project management.

The business transformation office: the control centre for change

Many large organisations lack the ability to manage change sustainably. This is why they often fail to realise the goals and added value envisaged in their strategy. On an organisational level, companies or administrations are frequently faced with the task of setting up an appropriate unit - from scratch- to manage the change process, such as a centre of competence for PPM or an enterprise PM(O) to manage comprehensive transformations.

For this unit to provide the best possible management and structure for the process of change, all implementation activities must be systematically linked to the overarching vision and strategy. In particular, this involves designating clear organisational and procedural responsibilities and using new, digitally supported methods and tools. Only in this way can the problems of complexity facing large organisations be overcome with positive results.

PwC’s experts in project portfolio management will work with you to design and create powerful business transformation office structures – both across the entire organisation and in individual departments.