Strategic Programme Office

The concept of the Strategic Programme Office (SPO) is one of promoting Corporate working on Programme & Project Management using a central pool of skilled resources to provide the roles of Project, Programme, and Strategic Programme Support.

Since the Strategic Programme Office was formed in April 2004, eleven people have been appointed into various roles including a Manager, Programme Co-ordinator,  Process Quality Manager, Programme/Project Planners, Configuration/Resource Managers and Programme Administrators. In conjunction with Corporate Training, their skills have been developed to ensure they have the necessary expertise to assist staff in their understanding of processes, components and quality techniques needed to help them become practitioners in the world of Programmes & Projects

Typically the roles of the section include the following :

• Programme & Project Management (PPM) expertise and advice 
• Programme/Project Tracking and Reporting 
• Configuration and Resource Management 
• Co-ordinating Risk/Issue analysis 
• Standardising the Methodology 
• Project Assurance  
• Quality Control

Based in the Civic Centre, the SPO have created an environment that is easily accessible by all members of staff wanting advice, help and guidance on all aspects of PPM. They work in close contact with many Project Managers on a day-to-day basis providing the necessary tools and techniques required for their projects.

Nicola Trotman who is the Strategic Programme Office Manager, ensures the necessary resources are available for the Project Managers as and when required, many staff are assigned to the major projects of the Council but are also available to help other smaller projects when needed.

Since 2004, the Strategic Programme Office have lived and breathed PPM to successfully create a methodology that can be used throughout the Council. They realised from the outset that capability and knowledge around PPM was essential to enable them to introduce change and deliver success but the most important aspect was that they has the backing of senior management to take the initiative forward.

Many "draft" versions of the methodology were created and a number of key actions were undertaken before an agreement was made. This included:

• Appointing consultants as critical friends
• Presenting the methodology to Corporate Management Team and Senior Managers
• Attending Prince2 and MSP training courses for further understanding.
• Promoting the SPO and selling the reasons behind the change

Over the years, the SPO have built a solid relationship at all levels within the Council and this is shown by the recognition they recieve from staff. The systems and processes are constantly developing to the requirements of their customers which helps to contribute to a more flexible, efficient and accessible service.

The creation of an e-learning Tutorial website

It became apparent that there was a need for an e-learning tool that all staff within the Council could use and have at their finger tips. This was a new initiative and staff wanted information that was understandable and accessible. As there was an intranet website already in existence throughout the Council, this was the best avenue to use.

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Why not give Nicola Trotman a call to discuss Programme & Project management in more depth.