HOUSTON, TX, USA | 5–8 NOVEMBER 2017

#PMOSym

PMO17BR208

Managing a Portfolio in a Way That Fosters Organizational Innovation and Agility

Rachelle Reilly, Director, Strategic Investment Planning and Oversight

Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)

Getting to Know You!

• What role do you play in project management?

2

– Project or portfolio oversight/governance

– Project resource/project management office (PMO)

– Other?

Perspectives

3

Project/Project Management Office:

• We want projects to proceed and succeed but there’s only so much money

• It’s ok for projects to be agile, but we need some certainty

Project/Portfolio Oversight/Governance:

• Approving funding without a plan and/or oversight is not prudent

• A plan is a plan…plans will change; it’s better than having no plan

• Don’t worry…trust us! It’s our job to worry!

• Without control, projects will turn in circles and squander resources!

• We need to deliver fast; we don’t have time for oversight or reporting burden

• Your oversight process does not accommodate “agile”

• We don’t need a detailed plan; things will change anyways

• We can’t plan that far in advance because we don’t know “X” yet

• Don’t worry…we won’t fail…you can trust us to deliver this project because….

• Just give us the money to do the project and leave us alone!

What the Community Is Saying

4

“Organizations are far less willing than their employees to adopt agile working methods and are missing out on the benefits such as earlier delivery of projects and return on investment.” –Axelos

“The world is changing very quickly around us, so much so that we cannot afford anymore to have projects taking two to five years to deliver, because, during this time, the initial requirements have changed.” – PMI

Taken from: 2017 PMI® Pulse of the Profession – Success Rates Rise: Transforming the high cost of low performance and from https://www.axelos.com/news/axelos-2016-prince2-report

“Over the past 12 months, one in five projects has used agile approaches, whereas another one in five has used hybrid or blended approaches.” – PMI

“Survey of more than 2,400 professionals found that more than three-quarters (81%) of respondents—across all job roles and industry sectors surveyed—now see value in working in an agile way.” – Axelos

Objective of This Session

• To discuss how the two perspectives can be reconciled

• To describe how my organization is adapting

• To share our lessons learned

5

Where I Am From…

6

• Canada – Ottawa to be specific

• What is Canada is known for other

than maple syrup and Mounties?

– Winter!

– Polar bears

– Hockey/skating

Where I Am From! (cont’d)

7

The Organization: Canada Revenue Agency

• Mission - To administer tax, benefits and related programs, and

to ensure compliance for governments across Canada, thereby

contributing to the ongoing economic and social well-being of

Canadians

• Vision -The model for trusted tax and benefit administration,

providing unparalleled service and value to its clients, and

offering its employees outstanding career opportunities

8

The Organization: At a Glance

• Information from 2015-16 Departmental Performance Report and the 2017-18 Departmental Plan

9

100+ agreements with other government departments and agencies

CA$485 billion in taxes and duties assessed (CA$241.9 billion in administered revenues alone)

180 million visits to CRA’s website (forms, info and answers to tax-related questions)

Approx. 40,000 employees located in more than 30 offices across all 10 provinces

23 million calls from taxpayer and benefit recipients each year

130 million pieces of correspondence each year

31 million income tax returns with 84% of Canadians filing their 2016 returns electronically

CA$28.6 billion in benefits paid to 12.8 million benefit recipients

CA$4.2 billion in planned spending for 2017-18 to run the agency

Investment Planning and Oversight

Like any other organization, we undertake projects to adapt/transform our

business to meet our strategic objectives

• Approximately 40 major projects in progress at any time

• Spending for each ranges between CA$2–250 million

• Of the agency’s CA$4.2 billion annual budget, 4–5% is spent on major

projects each year

• Thresholds and nature of the project determine level of oversight required

10

Portfolio Management

• Portfolio definition* – “doing the right projects”

– Within CRA known as the Strategic Investment Planning

process

– Invites investment proposals to be understood, categorized

and prioritized, in order to balance and plan our major project

investment portfolio over a ten-year planning horizon

*Office of Government Commerce (2011). Management of Portfolios. TSO, London

11

Portfolio Management (cont’d)

• Portfolio delivery* – “doing projects right”

– Within CRA known as the Major Project Investment process

– Gating process: Business problem and opportunity definition,

options analysis, detailed planning, execution and close

out/benefit realization

– Practices: Organizational governance, stakeholder engagement

control, financial management, risk management, resource

management, benefits management

• Oversight for projects to ensure successful delivery*Office of Government Commerce (2011). Management of Portfolios. TSO, London

12

My Team

• Three sections – approximately 15 employees

– All shepherd projects through the major project investment

process

– Three centers of expertise – investment planning, finance and

benefits management

• Responsibilities

– Secretariat services to the agency’s finance committee

– Advice to project teams and senior management

– Preparation of the strategic investment plan

13

The Context – Need for Increased Agility at CRA

• E-service agenda (organization’s and public’s expectations)

• Cost-reduction exercises

• Collateral impact of reduction exercises from partners

• Expectations on time to market

14

E-Strategy

2009 2010 2015 Now2011 2012 2013 2014 2016

Client expectations

How We Adapted

• Professionalized the agency’s PMO

• Continued to grow our project management talent

• Started increasing/pursuing use of “agile” and “agile-like” and established an agile

center of expertise

• Increased use of business and IT architecture

• Increased emphasis on benefits management with link to outputs/outcomes

• Encouraged the use of programs where applicable, to lighten reporting burden

• Gradually learned to tailor the oversight process, where appropriate

15

What Has Changed?• There is a better appreciation of the need for oversight and a recognition of its flexibility

• Finance committee (oversight) has increased awareness of project management capability

• Capture lessons learned systematically

• Growing project management community of practice

• Shifting the focus of the business case to benefits management

• Continue to tailor oversight process in recognition of the more prevalent use of “agile” and

“agile-like”

• Balance progress with prudence based on our risk attitude

…and we continue to evolve

16

Our Lessons Learned

17

Fostering organizational innovation and agility

Understand Risk

Tolerance

Tailor Oversight Process

Increase Knowledge

Base

Conclusion

• You can only be as agile as your skill and risk tolerance allows

18

Contact Information

• Rachelle Reilly

Director, Strategic Investment Planning and Oversight, Finance

and Administration, Canada Revenue Agency

+ 1 613 954 6257

rachelle.reilly@cra-arc.gc.ca

19

Action Plan for Leaders

• Next week – Understand your own situation

– How agile does your organization need to be?

– What is your current skill level?

• Next 90 Days – Understand the gap

– What needs to change?

– What is your plan to change it?

• Next year – Make the change happen

20

Questions/Comments?

21