P3O Functions and Services
Domain 4 - P3O functions and services
This domain tests the difference between a function and a service and your ability to select services that meet a need.
Core rules
- A function is an area of responsibility or capability, such as assurance, resource management or benefits management.
- A service is what the office actually delivers to a customer, such as a monthly portfolio report, a gate review or a resource-tracking process.
- Typical portfolio office services: prioritisation support, investment appraisal, dependency management, portfolio reporting, benefits oversight.
- Typical programme/project office services: planning, progress reporting, risk and issue tracking, change control, financial tracking, configuration management, meeting administration.
- Typical COE services: standards and templates, guidance, training, coaching, maturity assessment, independent assurance.
- Services should be selected and funded, not inherited wholesale. A service catalogue or service agreement states what is delivered, to whom, at what quality and cost.
- Assurance must be independent of delivery. An office that delivers a plan should not also sign off its own assurance review.
Worked example
A programme office is asked to provide assurance on a supplier's plan. It can collect evidence and administer the review, but the assurance judgement should come from an independent function or reviewer. If the same office produced the plan, independence is compromised and the assurance adds little. The reasoning: assurance derives credibility from separation from delivery.
Traps
Do not use function and service interchangeably. Do not assume every office performs every function. Do not let delivery teams self-assure. Do not omit service agreements. Do not forget that training and standards usually sit with the COE, not the project office.