P3O Roles and Responsibilities
Domain 5 - P3O roles and responsibilities
This domain tests who is accountable for what. Expect questions on the sponsor, owner, head of P3O and office manager, and on the boundary between P3O support and delivery accountability.
Core roles
- P3O sponsor: senior champion who secures executive commitment and funding, removes barriers and promotes the P3O. The sponsor is not the day-to-day manager.
- P3O owner: accountable for the P3O delivering its business case and value; owns governance and performance, often chairs the steering group.
- Head of P3O: leads the P3O day to day; manages staff, service delivery, performance, improvement and the service catalogue.
- P3O office manager: manages a specific office or team, its service levels and workload, within the head's framework.
- P3O staff/analysts: deliver services such as reporting, planning support, risk tracking and assurance administration.
- Programme and project managers remain accountable for delivery and benefits; the P3O supports and informs them, but does not take their accountability.
Worked example
A project office manager wants to approve a change to the project baseline. The correct answer is no: the change control board or project manager approves, while the office administers the process, records the decision and updates documentation. The reasoning: administration and evidence-gathering are P3O services; approval is a delivery accountability.
Small P3Os may combine roles, but accountabilities should still be explicit. Terms of reference and RACI charts prevent role creep.
Traps
Do not confuse sponsor with owner. Do not assume the head of P3O owns project benefits. Do not let P3O staff approve delivery changes. Do not assume a small office has no need for role definitions. Do not confuse office manager with head of P3O.