MoP Foundation & Practitioner
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Course Overview
The Management of Portfolios (MoP) framework has been developed to meet the needs of organisations required to undertake many major projects and programmes simultaneously whilst maintaining high levels of Business As Usual (BAU) work. The methodology helps Portfolio Managers to define which programmes and projects are the right ones to undertake, which ones are a priority and then gives them the tools to deliver those programmes and projects successfully.
The MoP methodology provides best-practice principles, processes and techniques to help organisations define and deliver successfully programmes and projects and to ensure that the portfolio meets its strategic objectives. The framework can be applied to all organisations irrespective of industry or size.
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Course Dates
MoP Course -
Course Description
Audience: Who is the course for?
- Those involved in a range of formal and informal portfolio management roles encompassing investment decision making, project and programme delivery and benefits realisation
- Those involved in the selection and delivery of business change initiatives
- Members of management boards
- Directors of Change
- Senior Responsible Owners (SROs)
- Portfolio, programme, project, business change and benefits managers
- Business case writers
- Project appraisers
Course duration:
Four days. The Foundation exam is taken on the second day and the Practitioner exam on the final day.
Benefits to the individual:
- Recognised qualification
- Ability to work as an informed member of a Portfolio Office or in a range of portfolio management roles
Benefits to the business:
- A better assessment of which projects and programmes are a high priority and will bring about real business benefits results in:
- Reduced risk of project failure
- Reduced costs due to terminating or not initiating projects that will bring about sufficient benefits
- Improved delivery of programmes and projects
- Better and more efficient allocation of resources
- Projects and programmes become better aligned with the strategic objectives of the organisation
Pre-requisites:
There are no pre-requisites for this course but delegates should be familiar with the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) Best Practice Guidance along with any project and portfolio management methods used by their organisation. Delegates must pass the Foundation exam in order to proceed to the Practitioner element of the course. There is approximately two hours of homework per night during the course. This is necessary in order to pass the exam.
Course outline:
At Foundation level, the objective of this course is to enable delegates to understand:
- The principles, cycles, practices, techniques, roles, responsibilities, documents and organisational context within which portfolio management operates
- The scope and objectives of portfolio management and how it differs from programme and project management
- The benefits from applying portfolio management
- The context within which it operates
- The principles upon which successful portfolio management is based
- The approaches to implementation, the factors to consider in maintaining progress, and how to assess the success of portfolio management
- The purposes of the portfolio management definition and delivery cycles and their component practices, and relevant techniques applicable to each practice
- The purpose and key content of the major portfolio documents
- The scope of key portfolio management roles
At Practitioner level, the course endeavours to enable delegates to:
- Apply and understand how to tailor MoP effectively
- Define the business case to get senior management approval for portfolio management
- Plan the implementation of portfolio management
- Select and adapt MoP principles, practices and techniques to suit different organisational environments
- Evaluate examples of MoP information (including documents and role descriptions)
- Analyse the solutions adopted in relation to a given scenario
Over the four day course, the following topics are covered
Overview
- Terms and concepts relating to an overview of portfolio management
Implement, sustain and measure
- Terms and concepts relating to implementing, sustaining and measuring portfolio management
- How to implement, sustain and measure portfolio management
- How to apply and tailor the recommended approaches taken to implementing, sustaining and measuring portfolio management
- How to identify, analyse and distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate application of the recommended approaches to implementing, sustaining and measuring portfolio management
Strategic and organisational context
- Terms and concepts relating to the relationships between portfolio management and other corporate functions and activities with a role in delivering strategic objectives
- The key aspects of the relationships between the portfolio and other corporate functions and activities with a role in delivering strategic objectives
Portfolio management principles
- Terms and concepts relating to the principles upon which efficient and effective approaches to portfolio management are built
- The principles upon which efficient and effective approaches to portfolio management are built
Portfolio definition cycle
- Terms and concepts relating to the portfolio definition cycle
- How to apply and tailor the practices and techniques of the portfolio definition cycle
- How to identify, analyse and distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate application of portfolio definition practices and techniques
Portfolio delivery cycle
- Terms and concepts relating to the portfolio delivery cycle
- How to apply and tailor the practices, techniques and responsibilities of the portfolio delivery cycle. Specifically to identify appropriate practices and techniques within the portfolio delivery cycle encompassing:
- Management control
- Portfolio-level benefits management
- Portfolio-level financial management
- Portfolio-level risk management
- Portfolio-level stakeholder engagement
- Portfolio-level resource management
- How to identify, analyse and distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate application of portfolio delivery practices and techniques
Roles and documentation
- Terms and concepts relating to the main portfolio management roles and key documentation
- How to apply and tailor MoP to a scenario
- How to identify, analyse and distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate application of the syllabus area to a scenario
Exam details:
The 40 minute Foundation level exam takes place on the second day. The exam consists of 50 multiple choice questions and the pass mark is 25/50 or 50%. This is a closed book exam i.e. entrants may not refer to any course materials or their own notes. It is necessary to pass this exam in order to proceed to the MoP Practitioner level.
The three hour Practitioner level exam takes place on the final day. The exam consists of four questions with 20 marks available per question giving a total possible mark of 80. The pass mark is 40/80 or 50%. This is an open book exam – delegates may refer to the MoP guide only.
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Free Resources
MoP Foundation - course description