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PMO briefing

The complete PMO, and a team trained to run it

One connected system for running capital projects and portfolios: governance from the investment board to the work package, one monthly cycle on one data date, 198 controlled templates in a ready-to-use folder structure, and a 26-module PMO Academy that trains your own people to run it.

This page is the briefing. The A0 map shows the whole system on one sheet, to download and read at your leisure.

Download the A0 map (PDF) Talk to us

Or talk to us: 01244 267676 · enquiry@projectcentralassurance.com

Preview of the PCA-198 PMO Operation Map: nine panels on one A0 sheet, from set-up to the document key
PCA-198 PMO Operation Map, A0: the whole system on one sheet

At a glance

How comprehensive it is

198controlled templates, each filed once in its folder
26PMO Academy modules in six families
18PMO functions in four service lines
63maturity controls, rated on maturity, evidence and consistency
90days to the first validated portfolio report
10working days from cut-off to board decision, every month

The PMO Academy

Your own people, trained to run it

Behind the library sits a full academy: 26 modules in six families, taught on the library itself, in training copies, and on one worked-example project. A new PMO team is trained in one to two weeks and runs its first live cycle, supervised, the following month.

  1. E01 · 3 hExecutive briefing
    What the PMO gives decision-makers each month, and what it asks of them.Executive Sponsor, investment committee and board members, Project Directors
  2. F01–F10 · 26 hFoundation core
    The operating system, governance, roles, data and coding, the 10-day cycle, the integrated position, evidence to decision, the investment lifecycle, findings and lessons, mobilising and improving.Everyone who works in or with the PMO; days 1 to 4 of the bootcamp week
  3. P01–P09 · from day 5Role pathways
    Portfolio leadership, the reporting engine, integrated project controls, cost and contracts, planning and performance, risk, capability, project leadership, document control.Each learner takes the pathway for their role
  4. O01–O04 · 21 hSpecialist overlays
    Joint ventures and partners; countries and regions; contract forms; quality, HSE, digital and sector controls.Added where they apply
  5. S01 · 21 hSupervised first cycle
    Your team runs its first live monthly cycle with an accredited trainer alongside; the outputs are assessed and debriefed.The whole PMO team
  6. T01 · 21 hTrain the trainer
    Your own people accredited to deliver, mark and coach to one standard, then observed every year.Capability Lead and nominated trainers

Every module, complete

Slides with speaker notes, an exercise pack with a knowledge check, an answer key and trainer notes, so any accredited trainer delivers the same outcomes. The supervised cycle has its supervision plan, observation record and debrief guide.

Competence assessed, not attended

Levels are set on the library’s competence scale by the functional lead: awareness, supervised practitioner, practitioner, expert. A certificate never replaces the assessment.

Kept current, kept on record

A curriculum and competence map shows every library master taught in at least one module; a course record keeps attendance, knowledge checks, exercises, feedback, certificates and the trainer register. A module is revised whenever the masters it teaches change.

All 26 modules
  1. E01Owning the PMO
  2. F01The PMO Operating System
  3. F02Governance, Decision Rights and Delegated Authority
  4. F03PMO Roles, Accountability and Competence
  5. F04Data, Coding and One Version of the Truth
  6. F05The 10-Day Monthly Cycle
  7. F06Reading the Integrated Position
  8. F07From Evidence to Decision to Direction
  9. F08The Investment Lifecycle
  10. F09Assurance, Findings and Lessons
  11. F10Mobilising and Improving the PMO
  12. P01Portfolio Leadership
  13. P02Running the Reporting Engine
  14. P03Integrated Project Controls
  15. P04Cost, Commercial and Contracts
  16. P05Planning and Performance
  17. P06Risk and Assurance
  18. P07Capability, Knowledge and the Academy
  19. P08Project Leadership with the PMO System
  20. P09Running Document Control
  21. O01Joint Ventures and Partners
  22. O02Countries and Regions
  23. O03Controlling Contract Forms
  24. O04Quality, HSE, Digital and Sector Controls
  25. S01Supervised First Cycle
  26. T01Train the Trainer

Module titles are the library’s own, in English.

Why put it in place now

Projects are delivered against the numbers the board can trust

Without one system, each project reports its own way and the board decides on what it is told. The sooner the PMO runs, the sooner every project reports against one validated position, problems surface while they can still be fixed, and each decision has an owner and a date.

Without the system
With the system
Each project reports its own way, to its own dates
One data date, one format, one decision pack
Problems surface late, at the board
Tolerances trigger an exception report within 5 working days
Progress is claimed, not shown
Progress counts only with evidence; missing data shown as Unknown, never Green
Decisions drift and nobody owns them
Every decision logged with an owner and a latest useful date
Lessons leave with the people
Lessons, benchmarks and records kept in one controlled structure
Skills depend on who you hire
Your own team trained and assessed through the PMO Academy
Maturity is assumed
Maturity measured and independently verified

Running in ninety days

  1. Day 0Five decisions start it: the Sponsor and PMO Lead named, the scope confirmed, the PMO model chosen, access granted, the plan agreed.
  2. Days 1 to 10Ownership established and every project listed; all 63 controls rated and the baseline signed.
  3. Days 11 to 30Controls stabilised: one data date, the opening cost position reconciled, the authority map approved.
  4. Days 31 to 60One full monthly cycle run: integrated cost and programme reviews, the first validated dashboard, the portfolio board held.
  5. Days 61 to 90A second cycle run, traceability tested, approvals sampled and the permanent organisation funded.
  6. By Day 90The first validated portfolio report and a P3M3 maturity baseline.

The 90-day mobilisation plan holds 32 actions in four phases, each closed at a gate your Sponsor signs (PCA-008).

What you get

One structure, ready on day one

The library is filed in 13 numbered folders, and every project starts from the same 20-folder template, so every project and every report looks the same. In all, the library holds 308 controlled files, the 198 templates included, and folder numbers never change.

Part A · the PMO library

Start herePCA-180 PMO Library Start Here Guide sits at the top of the library, and PCA-045 Template Catalogue lists every master and the folder it lives in.
00 PMO ManagementThe PMO's own charter and operating model, the PMO Operation Map on one A0 sheet, handbook, service catalogue, roles, budget and KPIs.
01 GovernanceGovernance framework, delegated authority, investment board, portfolio gates, decision log and policies.
02 Portfolio ManagementDemand intake, prioritisation, the portfolio register and roadmap, capacity, business cases and portfolio reporting.
03 ProgrammesOne folder per programme, built from the programme template: the project template plus tranches and component projects.
04 ProjectsOne folder per project, copied from the standard project template and renamed with the project code.
05 Regions and CountriesA country overlay for each country, under its ISO 3166 code: law, permits, local content, tax, security and community.
06 Joint Ventures and PartnersFor each joint venture: agreements, operating committee packs, work programme and budget, partner reporting, cost recovery and secondments.
07 Assurance and AuditThe assurance plan, health checks, independent gate reviews, internal and external audit, the findings tracker and specialist controls assurance.
08 Benefits and ValueThe benefits register, benefit profiles, realisation reports and post-investment reviews.
09 Reporting and AnalyticsThe data model and coding structures, dashboards, consolidated monthly reports, data quality, and PMIS and data governance.
10 Centre of ExcellenceThe template catalogue (PCA-045), which lists every master and its folder; methods and guides, with the library release control procedure; tools and systems, including the agile delivery toolkit; training and competence; maturity assessments and client transformation; and the contract and sector overlays.
11 Knowledge and LessonsThe lessons register, case studies, benchmarking and historical data, and communities of practice.
12 ArchiveClosed projects, locked read-only at the final gate with their retention date recorded, and library files replaced or taken out of use under release control (PCA-177), kept read-only and not used for new work. Empty when the library is issued.

Part B · the project template (20 folders)

  • 00 Project Management
  • 01 Governance
  • 02 Business Case and Benefits
  • 03 Stakeholders and Communications
  • 04 Scope and Requirements
  • 05 Planning and Scheduling
  • 06 Cost and Finance
  • 07 Risk Issues and RAID
  • 08 Change Control
  • 09 Reporting
  • 10 Commercial and Procurement
  • 11 Engineering and Technical
  • 12 Quality
  • 13 HSE and Sustainability
  • 14 Resources and Organisation
  • 15 Legal and Compliance
  • 16 Information and Document Control
  • 17 Handover and Operational Readiness
  • 18 Assurance
  • 19 Closure and Lessons

Copied for each project and renamed with its code. Programmes, countries and joint ventures have templates of their own. Open every folder and template on the PMO page

How it runs

Set up, run every month, kept honest

Set up

Six stages, each closed only on evidence: Diagnose, Stabilise, Control, Integrate, Assure, Optimise. At each gate your PMO Lead lists the evidence, an independent assessor samples it, and your Sponsor decides.

Run every month

Eighteen functions feed one control cycle on one data date: actuals by Day 2, cost and schedule reconciled by Day 4, reports signed on Day 5, validated by Day 7, the pack issued on Day 8, the board decides on Day 10.

Kept honest

Three lines kept separate: no one assures their own work, every submission is checked before it is used, status is never greener than the evidence, and approval stays with the authority.

Every project, six gates

  1. G0Strategic fit
  2. G1Select
  3. G2Define
  4. G3FID / sanction
  5. G4Ready for operations
  6. G5Close and benefits

Fitted to you: contract forms (NEC, JCT, FIDIC, ICC, IChemE, oil and gas, US and Australian forms, Gulf and Iraq public works, EPC and EPCM), countries, joint ventures, programmes, and pharma and biotech CQV and handover.

The whole system on one sheet

PCA-198 PMO Operation Map, A0

Set-up, the monthly cycle, the three lines, the six gates, the PMO Academy, what happens when something goes wrong, how maturity is proved, and the key to every library document it names: nine panels on one A0 sheet, to print or to read on screen.

Download the A0 map (PDF)

PDF · A0 landscape, 1189 × 841 mm · 369 KB · Rev 02, 23 Oct 2026 · in English

PMO briefing: common questions

What does the PMO system include?

The charter and operating model; governance from the investment board to the work package; eighteen functions in four service lines; one monthly cycle on one data date; six investment gates; and overlays for contract forms, countries, joint ventures, programmes and pharma CQV. It comes as a controlled library of 198 templates in a ready-to-use folder structure, with the PMO Academy alongside.

How quickly can it be running?

Five decisions at Day 0 start it. The 90-day mobilisation plan has 32 actions in four phases: ownership by Day 10, controls stabilised by Day 30, one full monthly cycle by Day 60, and by Day 90 the first validated portfolio report and a P3M3 maturity baseline.

Who runs the PMO afterwards?

Your own people. The system is built for your team to set up, staff and run, and the PMO Academy trains them to do it, including your own accredited trainers for the people who join later.

What is the PMO Academy?

The training that sits behind the library: 26 modules in six families, from a three-hour executive briefing to a supervised first live cycle and train the trainer. Each module has slides, an exercise pack, an answer key and trainer notes, and competence is assessed rather than assumed from attendance.

Does it fit our contract forms, countries and partners?

The library carries overlays for NEC, JCT, FIDIC, ICC, IChemE, oil and gas, US and Australian forms, Gulf and Iraq public works, EPC and EPCM; a country overlay for legal, tax and currency, security, community and local content; joint venture reserved matters and partner reporting; programme tranches; and pharma and biotech CQV and handover.

What is on the A0 map?

The PCA-198 PMO Operation Map shows the whole system on one A0 sheet in nine panels: set-up, the monthly cycle, the three lines kept separate, the six gates, the PMO Academy, when something goes wrong, proof of progress, life without and with the system, and a key to every library document it names.

Contact

Talk to us about your PMO

Tell us how many projects you run, what they report today and what the board cannot yet see. We will reply with how the system would fit.

Telephone

01244 267676

Send a PMO enquiry