Agile PMO for Public Sector Digital Programmes Training Course

Course overview

Public sector digital programmes must show visible service improvement while meeting statutory duties, spending controls, accessibility requirements, audit expectations and political scrutiny. Traditional PMO controls can slow teams through stage-gate reporting and duplicated documentation; unmanaged agility can leave senior responsible owners without reliable forecasts, evidence of benefits or a defensible view of risk. This course equips PMO and programme professionals to create governance that supports iterative delivery without weakening accountability.

Participants learn how to design an Agile PMO operating model for multi-team digital programmes, connecting portfolios, programmes, products and delivery teams. The course covers outcome-based roadmaps, adaptive business cases, benefits realisation, integrated assurance, dependency management, procurement interfaces, delivery metrics and executive reporting. Participants practise translating team-level evidence from backlogs, sprint reviews and release plans into decision-ready information for boards, finance teams, assurance functions and elected stakeholders.

Delivery combines instructor-led briefings with a realistic public sector service transformation case. Working in groups, participants build an Agile PMO blueprint: governance cadence, minimum viable controls, RAID and dependency approach, benefits measures, dashboard design and escalation routes. They leave with a tailored 90-day implementation plan and reusable templates for applying the approach in their own department, agency, local authority or public body.

The course is designed for experienced project, programme, portfolio and digital delivery professionals who need to reconcile Agile delivery with public accountability. It is particularly valuable where several suppliers, legacy systems, policy changes or cross-organisation dependencies make conventional project reporting insufficient.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Design an Agile PMO operating model that links portfolio decisions, programme governance and product delivery teams
• Create outcome-based roadmaps using hypotheses, service measures, release horizons and decision points
• Build a proportionate governance framework with minimum viable controls, delegated authority and assurance gates
• Translate backlog, sprint and release evidence into executive dashboards using flow, delivery and outcome metrics
• Construct a benefits realisation map that connects policy intent, service outcomes, measures, owners and review cycles
• Manage cross-government dependencies through dependency boards, interface agreements and escalation thresholds
• Apply adaptive business case and funding approaches to iterative digital delivery within public spending controls
• Produce a 90-day Agile PMO implementation plan with roles, cadences, templates and adoption measures

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• PMO Managers — who must modernise controls without reducing auditability or executive confidence
• Programme Managers — who coordinate complex digital change across policy, operations, technology and suppliers
• Portfolio Managers — who need comparable evidence for investment, prioritisation and capacity decisions
• Digital Delivery Managers — who must explain Agile delivery progress to non-Agile governance forums
• Senior Responsible Owners — who need defensible assurance, benefits evidence and timely escalation routes
• Transformation and Service Improvement Leads — who need to connect service outcomes with programme governance

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical experience of project, programme, PMO, portfolio or digital delivery work, including status reporting, risk management and governance meetings. Familiarity with Agile concepts such as backlogs, iterations, user stories, product ownership and sprint reviews is assumed; participants should also understand the purpose of a business case, RAID log and benefits register. Experience of public sector assurance, procurement or funding controls is useful but not essential. No coding, data-analysis, Jira administration or formal Agile certification is required. Participants do not need to bring a live programme, although one will make the application planning more valuable.

Training methodology

The five-day course uses short instructor-led inputs to introduce Agile PMO methods, followed by facilitated application to a public sector digital service transformation case. Participants interpret delivery data, design governance cadences, test reporting choices against assurance scenarios and negotiate dependencies across simulated departments and suppliers. Small groups produce working artefacts rather than theoretical answers, including a benefits map, dashboard and operating model. Each participant then adapts the materials to a live organisational context and receives peer and instructor challenge on a 90-day implementation plan.

Course outline

Day 1: Agile PMO foundations for public value

• Public value, statutory accountability and digital service outcomes
• Differences between project PMOs, programme PMOs and Agile PMOs
• Agile delivery evidence from discovery through live service
• Minimum viable governance and proportionate control design
• Roles of SROs, product leaders, delivery managers and assurance functions
• Mapping the programme operating context and decision rights
• Selecting controls by risk, spend, complexity and service criticality

Workshop: Participants diagnose a case programme’s current governance pain points and produce a minimum viable control map.

Day 2: Planning, funding and benefits in iterative programmes

• Outcome-based roadmaps and planning horizons
• Adaptive business cases and hypothesis-driven investment decisions
• Benefits dependency networks and benefit owner accountabilities
• Service measures, operational metrics and policy outcome indicators
• Forecasting with ranges, confidence levels and rolling-wave plans
• Prioritisation using cost of delay, risk reduction and public value
• Aligning release plans with budget cycles and spending approvals

Workshop: Participants create an outcome roadmap and benefits map for a citizen-facing digital service programme.

Day 3: Delivery assurance, risks and dependencies

• Integrated assurance planning for Agile delivery
• RAID management linked to backlogs, releases and decisions
• Cross-organisation dependency mapping and dependency boards
• Supplier interfaces, commercial milestones and collaborative delivery
• Managing legacy technology, data and operational readiness risks
• Escalation thresholds and exception-based governance
• Evidence packs for audit, internal assurance and gateway-style reviews

Workshop: Participants run a dependency and risk clinic, producing an escalation route and assurance evidence pack.

Day 4: Metrics, dashboards and decision-ready reporting

• Choosing metrics for flow, predictability, quality, outcomes and benefits
• Using cumulative flow diagrams and cycle-time trends appropriately
• Release burn-up charts and scope-change interpretation
• RAG status limitations and narrative-based confidence reporting
• Designing executive dashboards for boards and portfolio reviews
• Data definitions, metric ownership and reporting assurance
• Communicating uncertainty, trade-offs and delivery options

Workshop: Participants convert raw delivery data into a board dashboard and a one-page decision briefing.

Day 5: Implementing and improving the Agile PMO

• Agile PMO operating model components and service catalogue
• Governance cadences for portfolio, programme, product and delivery forums
• PMO roles, capability profiles and team interaction patterns
• Change adoption strategies for finance, assurance and delivery stakeholders
• Piloting controls and measuring PMO value
• Maturity assessment and continuous improvement backlog
• Ninety-day implementation planning and stakeholder engagement

Workshop: Participants present an Agile PMO blueprint and complete a prioritised 90-day implementation plan for their organisation.

Tools & standards covered

Jira Software, Microsoft Power BI, Managing Successful Programmes (MSP), GOV.UK Service Standard

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions