Department for Transport

PPM Community of Practice

Sian Jones – PPM Change Manager

Michelle Dawson – Project Assurance Co-ordinator

Aviation

Shipping Roads

Rail

Driver &

Vehicle

Standard

Agency

Department

for Transport

Introduction to Department for Transport

Introduction to Department for Transport

PPM Centre of Excellence

Stelios Stylianou G6

Head of PPM CoE

Sian Jones G7

PPM Improvement Lead

Michelle Dawson HEO

PPM Officer/DAC co-ordinator

Vacant EO

DAC Support

Craig Stevens SEO

PPM Manager

We aim to be the recognised and respected focal point

across DfT for PPM expertise, advice, and guidance.

Supporting PPM staff - working with them to continue

to recognise the key roles they play in delivering work for

the organisation.

Collaboration with other critical functions - such as

Learning and Development to raise the maturity and

skills of PPM

Drive standards and good PPM practice throughout

DfT and be recognised as an exemplar by external

organisations.

PPM Improvements Programme

Background

• The Department commissioned a P3M3 assessment in early 2012.

• P3M3 improvements programme objectives;

– improve control of programme and project management delivery in DfT,

– increase PPM capability and capacity in DfT to deliver increase in workload,

– provide a robust, proportionate and agile PPM framework to enable effective delivery.

• To support the department in achieving it’s PPM objectives a Community of Practice (CoP)

was formed in July 2013.

How we started

• We held a pilot session with a small group

– to confirm that a CoP was needed

– get an initial feel what it should cover

– get support to help promote the future sessions

• The first PPM CoP was held in September 2013 and chaired by our Head of Proffesion

• We have held four PPM CoP forums

Format of the PPM CoP

• Theme based – reporting, benefits management, lesson learned

• Guest Speakers – both from within the department and across government

• Speed Learning – think speed dating! Four to five speakers sharing experience with small groups at a

table.

Who can attend?

• It is all-encompassing of the level of PPM capability from those at foundation level through to experts.

• There are 157 members!

When do they take place?

• They are run on a quarterly basis for an 1 ½ hours during lunch.

• We book a large room to accommodate 30-40 members

Departmental Support

• Supported by Philip Rutnam Permanent Secretary and Michael Hurn Head of PPM Profession

PPM Community of Practice

PPM Community of Practice

Why focus on communities of practice?

• help with challenges

• access to expertise

• confidence

• fun with colleagues

• meaningful work

• problem solving

• time saving

• knowledge sharing

• synergies across units

• reuse of resources

• personal development

• reputation

• professional identify

• network

• marketing

• strategic capabilities

• keeping abreast

• innovation

• retention of talents

• new strategies

• visible management sponsorship Org

an

isati

on

M

em

bers

Short-term value Long-term value

Risk

The group gets too big – room to manage meeting and keep under control, book meeting in advance to

ensure that large rooms can been booked. Agenda and lead on actives run two groups and split timings.

People loose interest; need to keep people interest and excitement, this can be mitigated by getting

feedback and ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to get involved.

PPM CoP Terms of Reference

Purpose

1. The community has been set up to bring like-minded people who

share a common interest in programme and project management.

2. The community is all-encompassing of the level of PPM capability

3. The community is for its members and run by its members

4. Its purpose is to:

a. Share good practice between community members

b. Build a PPM community across the Department

c. Raise the levels of PPM capability of individuals and the

department

d. Raise the profile of PPM across the organisation

5. This will be achieved by:

a. bring in good practice from other Departments and

organisations i.e. guest speakers, case studies

b. reviewing case studies on current project issues

c. sharing resource such as blogs, webinars, and articles.

d. leading by example, by promoting the PPM Framework

e. promoting consistency

f. establishing a PPM knowledge support network for the

Department

Management of the Group Meetings

1. The community will meet quarterly to a published schedule

2. The Chair will be rotated every six months

3. The meeting agenda will be agreed in advance with the Chair

4. Where possible meeting will last 1 ½ hours and be through

lunchtime

5. The community will be sponsored by the Head of Profession,

and supported by the PPM CoE.

6. PPM CoE will take responsibility of the provision of the

meeting accommodation and any technology/office supplies

needed.

Code of practice

The Community of Practice will:

1. Be open to all that have an interest in PPM

2. Encourage an open exchange of information, ideas and

opinions

3. Support good practice

4. Value diversity/difference in views, skills and experience

5. Encourage – there’s no such thing as a bad idea

6. Support ‘One Team’ working in DfT

Roles of the community

1. Is a forum to openly share experience and information

2. To provide the opportunity for the community to develop

and improve ways of working with each other and for the

department.

3. To challenge the status quo.

4. To act as an intelligent customer supporting the PPM

Framework and bring about change.

5. To provide opportunities to contribute to the wider PPM

agenda. This will include attending the community meetings,

volunteering in the knowledge support group and other

working groups, and contributing to the PPM improvement

programme (although no involvement is mandatory).

6. To support the PPM career ladder beyond certificated

training such as mentoring and providing opportunities within

and beyond their own programmes and projects.

Keeping in contact with the community

Quarterly PPM CoP Forum

Senior SRO Group

PPM

Ambassadors

PPM Mentors PPM CoP

PPM CoP Lessons Learned

Issues

• Attendance can some times be low – this could be because of a specialist topic

or communications have been poor.

• Lack of new people community members actively getting involved i.e.

Successes

• PPM Ambassadors, a small group of people who like to get involved in supporting

the PPM CoE team

• Being creative with the style of presentation – speed learning

• Understanding the issues that the community face

• Having senior management by in gives the group creditability

Tips

• Inviting the wider community such as other organisations helps build relations

• Keep in line with current topics and be prepared to change them if something

more significant may affect your department