Project controls and PMO setup
A controls system that links scope, schedule, cost, change and risk, and a project management office with the decision rights, procedures and reporting cycle to run it.
Who this is for
- Owners and government entities mobilising a programme or a portfolio of projects
- Development companies that need one reporting picture across projects
- Programme and project management consultants who need controls capacity for a client
- Contractors' head offices setting up or strengthening a controls function
The problem it solves
Schedule and cost reported from different spreadsheets rarely agree. Variances are explained after the fact. Boards see slides rather than a forecast. The remedy is one structure, agreed measurement rules and a monthly cycle that everyone follows, with a PMO that owns it.
Scope and deliverables
A typical assignment runs from assessment to the first reporting cycles, then hands over to your team. Each element can also be delivered on its own.
- PMO operating model and governance: roles, decision rights, stage gates and escalation
- Controls procedures and templates for schedule, cost, change, risk and reporting
- Work breakdown, cost breakdown and coding structures that schedule and cost both use
- Earned value and progress measurement rules, and the verification of progress claimed
- Cost control: budgets, commitments, actuals and forecast at completion
- Change and variation control with an audit trail
- Reporting cadence and report packs for steering committees and boards
- PMO maturity assessment and an improvement roadmap
- PMO operation for the first months, then handover, training and optional support
What we need from you
- Organisation chart, current procedures and templates
- Contract structure, packages and the reporting obligations in them
- Existing schedules, cost reports, registers and recent board packs
- The reporting expectations of the board, the client or the lender
- The systems in use or planned: Primavera P6, ERP, SharePoint, Power BI
How the work runs
- Assess, two to four weeks. Interviews, document review and a gap list against what the programme needs.
- Design. Procedures, templates and structures drafted and agreed with the people who will use them.
- Deploy. The first reporting cycle run with us alongside your team, and the second with your team leading.
- Sustain. Handover, training and documentation, with continuing support on a retainer where you want it.
- Management consulting only: we design and run controls and governance. We do not provide design, engineering, construction supervision or cost consultancy that requires a professional engineering licence.
- Decisions stay with your governance bodies; the PMO informs them.
- Software selection advice is independent; we hold no commercial interest in any vendor.
Experience and demonstrations
Programme-level PMO, integrated master schedules, progress measurement and board reporting on Saudi programmes are the heart of our lead consultant's recent experience.
The experience behind this service is the professional record of our lead consultant from more than 20 years on Saudi and Gulf projects, gained before Expert Systems was formed, not work contracted by Expert Systems. References for assignments contracted by the firm will be published with each client's consent as they become available.
Demonstrations, all built with sample data: executive dashboard, weekly report extract, milestone register.
Common questions
Do we need new software first?
Usually not. Excel, Primavera P6 and SharePoint run most first cycles. The process comes first and the tools follow it; see the Digital PMO page for what comes next.
How long before the first report?
Usually the second month after the assessment, with the first full cycle run together.
Can you run the PMO rather than set it up?
Yes, on a monthly retainer or as embedded days, with named people and an agreed scope. See How we work.
Which standards do you follow?
PMI standards, AACE International recommended practices and ISO 21502 inform the methods. They are methods we use, not certifications or endorsements held by the firm.
What does the client's team need to commit?
A sponsor with authority, one owner for each procedure, and time for the people who will produce the inputs each month.
Setting up or fixing a PMO?
Tell us the programme, who reports to whom today and what the board wants to see. We aim to reply within one working day. We confirm the scope and fee once we have the information needed to assess the work.