Case Study
Project, Programme and Portfolio Management Maturity Assessment
Client: Large International Development Bank (World Bank Group Entity)
Year: 2024
Service Provider: PM Academy
Client Challenge
A large international development bank sought to improve delivery predictability, strategic alignment, and governance across its project, programme, portfolio, and Agile environments. Persistent delivery delays, budget overruns, inconsistent practices, and limited visibility across initiatives highlighted the need for an independent maturity assessment and a clear improvement roadmap.
PM Academy Approach
PM Academy conducted a comprehensive Project, Programme and Portfolio Management (P3M) Maturity Assessment and Agile Readiness Assessment using:
- AXELOS P3M3® (7 perspectives and management threads)
- SAFe® Framework (7 Core Competencies and dimensions of business agility)
The assessment included structured interviews with 49 stakeholders across executive leadership, portfolio and project leaders, delivery teams, and support functions, supported by document and governance reviews.
Key Findings
The maturity baseline established:
- Portfolio Management: Level 1 – Awareness of Process
- Project Management: Level 1 – Awareness of Process
- Programme Management: No formal governance
- Agile Environment: Insignificant Agile practices
Key organisational challenges included:
- Limited strategic alignment of projects and conflicting PMO mandates
- Fragmented governance across Portfolio, Programme and Project levels
- Inconsistent tools and lack of consolidated reporting
- Delivery delays and cost overruns driven by poor prioritisation, resource constraints, and inter-departmental dependencies
- Capacity and structural constraints within Group Information Technology (GIT)
Strategic Recommendations
PM Academy delivered a practical, phased improvement roadmap, recommending:
- Standardising Level 1 (Awareness of Process) during 2024/25
- Progressing to Level 2 (Repeatable Process) during 2025/26
- Establishing a strategically aligned PMO, supported by strong change management
- Considering a Transformation Management Office (TMO) to centralise project, change, and portfolio delivery
- Conducting a skills and capability assessment followed by targeted training
- Aligning the portfolio to organisational delivery capacity
- Implementing an Agile Proof of Concept aligned to SAFe®
Value Delivered
- Clear, evidence-based maturity baseline
- Executive-ready insights and prioritised recommendations
- A realistic roadmap aligned to organisational capacity
- A strong foundation for sustainable project management and Agile maturity
Why PM Academy
This engagement demonstrates PM Academy’s ability to combine global best-practice frameworks with practical, implementable guidance, supporting large, complex organisations on their journey toward improved governance, delivery performance, and business agility.
