Better Business Cases™ is a systematic and objective approach to all stages of the business case development process that sits alongside and complements HM Treasury’s Green Book guidance.

The course and examination are based on The Five Case Model, the UK government’s best practice approach to planning spending proposals and enabling effective business decisions. This provides a step by step guide to developing a business case, by:

• Establishing a clear need for intervention – a case for change
• Setting clear objectives – what you want to achieve from the investment
• Considering a wide range of potential solutions – ensuring an optimal balance of benefits, cost and risk
• Putting the arrangements in place to successfully deliver the proposal.

The purpose of the Managing Benefits™ guidance and certification scheme is to provide managers and practitioners from multiple disciplines, working in a variety of organizations, with generally applicable guidance encompassing benefits management principles, practices and techniques. Managing Benefits provides:

• An overview of benefits management – what it is, the case for doing it, and some common misconceptions that can limit its effectiveness in practice.
• Descriptions of the seven principles upon which successful approaches to benefits management are built, and examples of how they can be/have been applied in practice.
• Guidance on how to apply benefits management at a portfolio level, as well as at an individual project or programme level.
• Details of the five practices in the Benefits Management Cycle and examples of how they can be/have been applied in practice.
• Advice on how to get started in implementing effective benefits management practices and sustain progress.

Benefits are not simply just one aspect of project and programme management (PPM) – rather, they are the rationale for the investment of taxpayers’ and shareholders’ funds in change initiatives.

Managing Benefits has been carefully designed to complement existing Best Practice in the portfolio, program, and project management such as PRINCE2®, MSP®, P3O® & MoP®. It consolidates existing guidance on benefits management into one place while expanding on the specific practices and techniques aimed at optimizing benefits realization.

Portfolio management is defined as a coordinated collection of strategic processes and decisions that together enable the most effective balance of organizational change and business as usual.

Management of Portfolios (MoP®) approaches the management of change projects and programmes from a strategic viewpoint. It provides an overview of all change activities including what is in the portfolio, what it is costing, what risks are faced, what progress is being made, and what the impact is on business as usual and the organization’s strategic objectives.

Management of Value (MoV®) has evolved from the tried and successful practice of value management across many sectors and over many years. The MoV guidance aligns the established methods with Cabinet Office Programme and Project Management guidance. The guidance describes methods that are not new, but their use is often overlooked or misapplied.

The guidance is intended to help organizations use a successful, proven methodology to supplement their current management practices; so that they can increase the value they deliver and make better use of resources.

Managing Successful Programmes (MSP®) was developed as a best practice guide on Programme Management. The guide comprises a set of Principles and a set of Processes for use when managing a program.

MSP represents proven program management best practice in the successful delivery of transformational change through the application of program management.

MSP is very flexible and designed to be adapted to meet the needs of local circumstances.

MSP Framework

The MSP framework is based on three core concepts:

• MSP Principles. These are derived from positive and negative lessons learned from program experiences. They are the common factors that underpin the success of any transformational change
• MSP Governance Themes. These define an organization’s approach to program management. They allow an organization to put in place the right leadership, delivery team, organization structures, and controls, giving the best chance for success
• MSP Transformational Flow. This provides a route through the lifecycle of a program from its conception through to the delivery of the new capability, outcomes, and benefits.

Around the world, there are many organizations in both the public and private sectors, who recognize that their portfolio, program, and project management are best supported through a delivery support office. The Cabinet Office’s PRINCE2®, Managing Successful Programmes (MSP®), and Management of Risk (M_o_R®) all touch on the need to provide adequate support structures for these best practices, but until now there has been no single source of information that either organizations or individuals can use for guidance or advice on setting up or running an effective delivery support office.

Portfolio, Programme and Project Offices (P3O®) is a Best Management Practice certification and is aligned to PRINCE2, MSP, and M_o_R. P3O brings together in one place a set of principles, processes, and techniques to facilitate effective portfolio, program, and project management through enablement, challenge, and support structures.