Define the programme |
 The Define process takes the detail in the Programme Brief and develops the scenarios and options that the business should consider to solve the challenge. The main pieces of information developed during this process are: a. The Blueprint or Target Operating Model which the programme will create b. Clear understanding of the Benefits that will come from the change c. The step changes in capability that will be produced at various stages of the programme lifecycle and the projects required to deliver them. |
Objective:
Develop a blueprint for the programme of how the organisation works now and how it will look in the future.
Detail:
This piece of work is fundamental to the direction of the programme as it defines what will be created as the main output is the Blueprint. It will be the basis of the benefits and define what projects are required.
It will maintain programme focus and underpin decision making during the programme delivery
There is unlikely to be a definitive set of outcomes, options are likely to be developed for consideration at the next gate, with a preferred option.
Governance Structure
Task:
The programme blueprint should be assured by any specialist compliance bodies.
Identify governance constraints on future states and include in the options analysis.
Undertake impact assessment on the corporate strategy and plans.
Task:
The programme blueprint should be assured by any specialist compliance bodies.
Identify governance constraints on future states and include in the options analysis.
Undertake impact assessment on the corporate strategy and plans.
Guidance:
Now is the time for allocating a Design Authority to oversee this work, provide advice and support on the use of specific tools and to help evaluate the options.
The Programme Manager will be responsible for the document but the majority of the content will come from the BCMs.
The corporate inputs should be contributing to the development of the options and major step changes required in the corporate plan should be linked to intermediate blueprint states.
There must be appropriate approval of the blueprint by the programme board and any other influential bodies.
When the blueprint is completed the scale and impact of the change will be known, this may require changes to the programme board and the BCMs.
Output:
Impact assessment on corporate plan
Impact assessment on corporate standards
Impact assessment on corporate priorities
Revised programme board structure
Approved blueprint
Management Control
Task:
The programme blueprint should now be put under version control.
Initial gap analysis on the alignment of any existing projects.
Confidentiality of the analysis and content of the blueprint content should be established.
Identify dependencies between the blueprint and existing projects.
Ensure audit trails of the blueprint development are maintained.
Task:
The programme blueprint should now be put under version control.
Initial gap analysis on the alignment of any existing projects.
Confidentiality of the analysis and content of the blueprint content should be established.
Identify dependencies between the blueprint and existing projects.
Ensure audit trails of the blueprint development are maintained.
Guidance:
The management controls should ensure that the options in the blueprint stay within the boundaries and scope set for the programme and that there is a managed and controlled approach to reaching decisions.
The blueprint should be validated with the vision to ensure consistency and that it will meet the objectives that have been set.
Any issues that are identified during the blueprint work should be included in the programme issue register or allocated to projects.
In multi programme environments there should be a check for Blueprints overlapping and avoidance of duplication and conflict.
The Blueprint should now be under version control.
There may be issues that impact on the project which will need to be communicated and managed as a result of the definition of the blueprint.
Output:
Version control arrangements applied to blueprint
Version control arrangements applied to Benefit Profiles
Dependencies identified and mapped
Benefits Management
Task:
Use the blueprint to identify benefits from the future state.
Review the outline benefit profiles and the risk estimates based on programme blueprint.
Draft full draft benefit profiles for the blueprint options.
Task:
Use the blueprint to identify benefits from the future state.
Review the outline benefit profiles and the risk estimates based on programme blueprint.
Draft full draft benefit profiles for the blueprint options.
Guidance:
The difference between the ‘As Is’ and ‘To Be’ states will ultimately be the source of benefits. Without a Blueprint the benefits will be guess work. Once the ‘As Is’ state is properly understood, a process for monitoring it must be established.
During the process of developing the blueprint there will be a number of different potential end states. Each will offer different potential benefits.
The potential benefits of each option will provide a key decision making criteria so they must be evaluated individually.
The intermediate states that the programme will deliver will also be points at which benefits will be released.
Be wary benefits that have no measurement, it is common for an outcome to be categorised as benefits and they cannot be proved at the end, focus on measurable improvements.
Achievement of contributions to a corporate objective should be included as benefits, this is often helpful to overcome the lack of the normal benefits, but again, the focus should be on measurable and evidence based.
Output:
Benefit Profiles
Stakeholder Management
Task:
Engage key stakeholders for their support of options.
Engage the high impact stakeholders in the design.
Ensure that the current state information is current and can be validated.
Ensure that feedback from stakeholders is tracked and acted upon.
Undertaken stakeholder impact assessment on the options being developed.
Develop the communications plan for communicating blueprint related information and gathering feedback.
Task:
Engage key stakeholders for their support of options.
Engage the high impact stakeholders in the design.
Ensure that the current state information is current and can be validated.
Ensure that feedback from stakeholders is tracked and acted upon.
Undertaken stakeholder impact assessment on the options being developed.
Develop the communications plan for communicating blueprint related information and gathering feedback.
Guidance:
Some confidentiality may need to be in place around this work.
High impact stakeholders must be involved and consulted about the changes that will be needed at the end state.
Different blueprint options will have different impacts on different stakeholder groups, the level and type of impact on influential stakeholders.
Stakeholders may also have a local initiative which could contribute to the blueprint and avoid duplications.
Input:
Stakeholder profiles
Communications plan
Stakeholder map
Documents:
Communications Planning how2guide
Links:
Output:
Communications plan
Planning
Task:
For each option develop an outline plan to compare timescales.
Undertake an impact assessment on each project scope and outputs.
Task:
For each option develop an outline plan to compare timescales.
Undertake an impact assessment on each project scope and outputs.
Guidance:
For each option, there should be clear step changes visible, it should not be seen in one leap. There should be enough detail to enable early planning to begin. Each Tranche should end with the delivery of step change in capability, described by an intermediate blueprint. External dependencies relating to each of the Blueprint options will need to be identified. There should be clarity about what the key project outputs (deliverables) will be to achieve the Blueprints.
The programme blueprint will provide the requirements for the projects, so this is a key step in the process.
For existing projects, their scope and outputs need to be tested for contribution with and alignment to the future state or any of the intermediate states, if they don’t, there may need to be changes to the scope.
New projects joining the programme when it is in delivery should have an impact assessment of their scope on the programme blueprint and requirements developed accordingly.
Output:
Risk & Issue Management
Task:
Ensure risks associated with each option are clearly documented.
Analyse any new operational risks identified in the gap analysis.
Prepare mitigation plans for new risks.
Task:
Ensure risks associated with each option are clearly documented.
Analyse any new operational risks identified in the gap analysis.
Prepare mitigation plans for new risks.
Guidance:
This stage should remove some of the ambiguity about some of the risks but it may identify new ones as well.
Additional detail comes out of the evaluation and selection of the blueprint future state, meaning there should be a lot more information available to analyse and profile individual risks in the documentation, so overall, the level of risk should reduce as the understanding increases.
The output of this work may mitigate some risks; this should be factored into the development work.
There are likely to be high and low risk options that will need to be considered. Where information about current performance is missing then this will increase the risk for the programme.
Output:
Resource Management
Task:
Deploy specific resources with Blueprint and analysis experience.
Task:
Deploy specific resources with Blueprint and analysis experience.
Guidance:
As the analysis of the end and intermediate states are developed, each will have an impact on the volume and types of resources that will be required.
When thinking about resources, it is worth remembering that it isn’t just people, there may well be assets and technology that will be needed, including information.
There are two resource plans to be thinking about:
1) To reach the completion of ‘Define the Programme’ and ‘Design the Programme’, and
2) The resource management strategy for the entire programme, which is formally defined in the next stage but needs to be on the radar now.
Output:
Finance and Business Case
Task:
High level cost estimates should be available.
Task:
High level cost estimates should be available.
Guidance:
The costs of achieving the various options should be estimated and considered as part of options appraisal.
Output:
Commercial
Task:
The Blueprint should consider supply chain implications.
Task:
The Blueprint should consider supply chain implications.
Guidance:
There may be more or less suppliers.
It should reflect what the strategic Blueprint defines.
Plans to consult the market or supply chain partners should be factored in to stakeholder plans.
Input:
Output:
Update the Blueprint to include Commercial
Update Stakeholder Plans
Vision & Blueprint
Task:
Create the Blueprint documentation.
Analyse options for the end state.
Analyse options for intermediate states.
Record the ‘as is’ state within the Blueprint.
Task:
Create the Blueprint documentation.
Analyse options for the end state.
Analyse options for intermediate states.
Record the ‘as is’ state within the Blueprint.
Guidance:
The Blueprint is the flip side of the Vision; whereas the vision is setting out where the programme is going, the Blueprint describes what it will be like when the programme arrives. It is where the detail of what will be left behind by the programme is stored.
The Blueprint is the key document as it defines the difference between where you are today and the end state, which is the change you have to deliver. It details what services will be provided, how and who will provide them, what infrastructure needs to be in place and the information that will be used to manage it.
A common cause for programme failure is the lack of a Blueprint, which means that the programme doesn’t really know where it is going. The programme launches projects hopefully, but there comes a point of revelation when someone realises it doesn’t all add up – quite often that someone is a Business Change Manager (‘BCM’) and by then too much money has been spent badly.
The development of the blueprint will impact on the benefits and the projects, so it is normal for this to be an iterative process. , it is also important to maintain an audit trail of decisions that are being made.
A very strong message can be clear statements about what will not be in place in the future.
Input:
Existing Performance Information
Programme Vision Statement
Benefit Profiles
Business Architecture Model
Output:
Blueprint for the Programme
Senior Responsible Owner
Task:
Ensure key stakeholders understand the evolving model implications.
Task:
Ensure key stakeholders understand the evolving model implications.
Guidance:
This is a critical activity so ensure the team have all the information and direction they needed from you. There are going to be a number of options for the ‘To Be’ state, keep them open to avoid early de-selection of options that may become more attractive as the programme moves forward.
Input:
Output:
Theme tasks for Senior Responsible Owner:
Governance Structure
Task:
The programme blueprint should be assured by any specialist compliance bodies.
Identify governance constraints on future states and include in the options analysis.
Undertake impact assessment on the corporate strategy and plans.
Guidance:
Now is the time for allocating a Design Authority to oversee this work, provide advice and support on the use of specific tools and to help evaluate the options.
The Programme Manager will be responsible for the document but the majority of the content will come from the BCMs.
The corporate inputs should be contributing to the development of the options and major step changes required in the corporate plan should be linked to intermediate blueprint states.
There must be appropriate approval of the blueprint by the programme board and any other influential bodies.
When the blueprint is completed the scale and impact of the change will be known, this may require changes to the programme board and the BCMs.
Inputs:
Links:
Outputs
Business Change Manager
Task:
Ensure that the right business expertise is devoted to this work.
Task:
Ensure that the right business expertise is devoted to this work.
Guidance:
You will need to provide a lot of business performance and process information on how things work at the moment and the final Blueprint will be the design of how your business will operate in the future.
Input:
Output:
Theme tasks for Business Change Manager:
Benefits Management
Task:
Use the blueprint to identify benefits from the future state.
Review the outline benefit profiles and the risk estimates based on programme blueprint.
Draft full draft benefit profiles for the blueprint options.
Guidance:
The difference between the ‘As Is’ and ‘To Be’ states will ultimately be the source of benefits. Without a Blueprint the benefits will be guess work. Once the ‘As Is’ state is properly understood, a process for monitoring it must be established.
During the process of developing the blueprint there will be a number of different potential end states. Each will offer different potential benefits.
The potential benefits of each option will provide a key decision making criteria so they must be evaluated individually.
The intermediate states that the programme will deliver will also be points at which benefits will be released.
Be wary benefits that have no measurement, it is common for an outcome to be categorised as benefits and they cannot be proved at the end, focus on measurable improvements.
Achievement of contributions to a corporate objective should be included as benefits, this is often helpful to overcome the lack of the normal benefits, but again, the focus should be on measurable and evidence based.
Inputs:
Links:
Benefits Management Techniques Page
Outputs
Stakeholder Management
Task:
Engage key stakeholders for their support of options.
Engage the high impact stakeholders in the design.
Ensure that the current state information is current and can be validated.
Ensure that feedback from stakeholders is tracked and acted upon.
Undertaken stakeholder impact assessment on the options being developed.
Develop the communications plan for communicating blueprint related information and gathering feedback.
Guidance:
Some confidentiality may need to be in place around this work.
High impact stakeholders must be involved and consulted about the changes that will be needed at the end state.
Different blueprint options will have different impacts on different stakeholder groups, the level and type of impact on influential stakeholders.
Stakeholders may also have a local initiative which could contribute to the blueprint and avoid duplications.
Inputs:
Documents:
Communications Planning how2guide
Links:
Stakeholder Management Techniques Page
Outputs
Programme Manager
Task:
Focus on co-ordinating the work of the various specialist and business groups.
Task:
Focus on co-ordinating the work of the various specialist and business groups.
Guidance:
You will need to facilitate this activity and organise any specialist input, e.g. IT or HR. You also need to do the work to pull that documentation together, but the responsibility for the content sits with the BCMs, your role in this is principally co-ordination and conflict resolution. There may also be key requirements developing which apply to all Blueprints. These need to be captured and base-lined.
Input:
Output:
Theme tasks for Programme Manager:
Management Control
Task:
The programme blueprint should now be put under version control.
Initial gap analysis on the alignment of any existing projects.
Confidentiality of the analysis and content of the blueprint content should be established.
Identify dependencies between the blueprint and existing projects.
Ensure audit trails of the blueprint development are maintained.
Guidance:
The management controls should ensure that the options in the blueprint stay within the boundaries and scope set for the programme and that there is a managed and controlled approach to reaching decisions.
The blueprint should be validated with the vision to ensure consistency and that it will meet the objectives that have been set.
Any issues that are identified during the blueprint work should be included in the programme issue register or allocated to projects.
In multi programme environments there should be a check for Blueprints overlapping and avoidance of duplication and conflict.
The Blueprint should now be under version control.
There may be issues that impact on the project which will need to be communicated and managed as a result of the definition of the blueprint.
Inputs:
Links:
Management Control Techniques Page
Outputs
Risk & Issue Management
Task:
Ensure risks associated with each option are clearly documented.
Analyse any new operational risks identified in the gap analysis.
Prepare mitigation plans for new risks.
Guidance:
This stage should remove some of the ambiguity about some of the risks but it may identify new ones as well.
Additional detail comes out of the evaluation and selection of the blueprint future state, meaning there should be a lot more information available to analyse and profile individual risks in the documentation, so overall, the level of risk should reduce as the understanding increases.
The output of this work may mitigate some risks; this should be factored into the development work.
There are likely to be high and low risk options that will need to be considered. Where information about current performance is missing then this will increase the risk for the programme.
Inputs:
Documents:
Links:
Risk & Issue Management Techniques Page
Outputs
Resource Management
Task:
Deploy specific resources with Blueprint and analysis experience.
Guidance:
As the analysis of the end and intermediate states are developed, each will have an impact on the volume and types of resources that will be required.
When thinking about resources, it is worth remembering that it isn’t just people, there may well be assets and technology that will be needed, including information.
There are two resource plans to be thinking about:
1) To reach the completion of ‘Define the Programme’ and ‘Design the Programme’, and
2) The resource management strategy for the entire programme, which is formally defined in the next stage but needs to be on the radar now.
Inputs:
Links:
Resource Management Techniques Page
Outputs
Finance and Business Case
Task:
High level cost estimates should be available.
Guidance:
The costs of achieving the various options should be estimated and considered as part of options appraisal.
Inputs:
Documents:
Identifying and Controlling Costs how2guide
Links:
Finance & Business Case Techniques Page
Outputs
Head of Business Architecture
Task:
Undertake impact assessment of programme blueprint on the business architecture.
Task:
Undertake impact assessment of programme blueprint on the business architecture.
Guidance:
This is a key control point for you where the intentions of the programme are aligned with the long term architecture and how and when it will be achieved.
Input:
Output:
Theme tasks for Head of Business Architecture:
Portfolio Office
Task:
Ensure an audit trail of the input information is maintained.
Task:
Ensure an audit trail of the input information is maintained.
Guidance:
Any standard tools or templates should be provided. Impact assessment on other programmes by this Blueprint should be tracked by you.
Input:
Output:
Theme tasks for Portfolio Office: