University of Waikato
Case Study
University of Waikato
How did we do it?
The University of Waikato (UoW), one of the top-ranking universities in New Zealand, is committed to delivering a world-class education and research portfolio, providing a full and dynamic university experience, distinctive in character, and pursuing strong international links to advance knowledge.
To support this, the University wanted to leverage portfolio management of their project investments to ensure they have the right mix - doing the right things at the right time.
The first step in this journey was to establish an Enterprise Portfolio Management Office (EPMO) and, the University decided to partner with a consultancy that could offer the knowledge and experience to set up the EPMO for success.
In June 2022, the UoW selected ValueKey and together we embarked on this journey. In addition to supporting the establishment of the EPMO, ValueKey was asked to guide and support the maturity uplift of one of their satellite Project Management Offices, the Information Technology Services (ITS) PMO.
How did it go?
We approached this programme of work with 3 phases, each phase building on the previous:
- A discovery phase to review existing artefacts and tools/systems, interview key stakeholders and produce a findings and recommendations report
- The establishment phase delivered a blueprint report that defined the agreed EPMO and ITS PMO operating models, service offerings and target maturity levels
- The maturity build phase focused on the quick wins and high priority/key items (identified in the findings, recommendations and blueprint reports).
We established a Steering Committee with a membership that had a good representation of the EPMO’s stakeholders across the University. We would meet with the Steering Committee regularly, seeking their approval of what the programme had produced each month before sharing it with the EPMO’s stakeholders.
For the ITS PMO, we worked closely with the ITS PMO Lead and key stakeholders to ensure everything we developed was fit for purpose and an enhancement to their existing framework.
How did it go?
After 7 months of effort, the programme delivered:
- EPMO & ITS PMO roadmaps to reach their target state of maturity for their portfolio, delivery and centre of excellence service offerings
- A governance framework (with scaled governance paths for small, medium and large-sized projects)
- An enterprise project lifecycle
- An ICT project delivery lifecycle
- An EPMO portfolio dashboard report and project portfolio register
- An EPMO prioritisation framework and tool
- A refreshed Investment Review Panel (IRP) – with updated Terms of Reference and induction for members
- ICT lifecycle training for the ITS project community
- ICT lifecycle training for Steering Committee members of ICT projects
- ~30 templates developed or enhanced.
The IRP is up and running and the enterprise project lifecycle is well known and understood amongst the satellite PMOs. The EPMO is looking to further enhance its portfolio reporting to the IRP, providing additional insights as part of its maturity journey.
The ITS project community felt they were sufficiently equipped to run with the updated framework after receiving the training ValueKey delivered. The benefits they have experienced are consistency across practices and documentation and an overall uplift in project delivery maturity.
In July 2023 ValueKey undertook an independent quality assessment of both the EPMO and ITS PMO’s maturity progress. The objective of this IQA was to assess the overarching progress made on the EPMO’s maturity journey since December 2022. In addition, to identify further quick wins and next step recommendations for further maturity improvement.
How did it go?
“We engaged ValueKey to assist us in building our maturity in our programme and project management practices.
We were very satisfied with the knowledge and experience they brought, the guidance on good practice they provided, and the way they built positive relationships with our team and stakeholders. Guy and Tracie were very personable and highly supportive of our team to help us achieve our objectives within our timeframe.
Overall, we were very impressed with their level of expertise.” – Claire Philbrick, Strategy & Change Manager, Information Technology Services
