0 / 28

Model 22 of 74 · Operations & Delivery

Project & Programme Management Maturity Assessment

Assess how well your organisation plans, governs, and delivers projects and programmes to achieve strategic outcomes.

Pillars & areas

Plan

Scope and structure

  1. 01Planning & Scoping
  2. 02Governance & Decision-Making

Execute

Deliver with discipline

  1. 03Resource & Capacity Management
  2. 04Risk & Issue Management
  3. 06Delivery Execution & Quality

Realise

Capture the value

  1. 05Stakeholder & Benefits Management
  2. 07Learning & Continuous Improvement

Levels

  1. 1HeroicDepends on individuals
  2. 2DisciplinedDefined method & roles
  3. 3Portfolio-AlignedCore capability

01 Planning & Scoping

Does the organisation define clear scope, objectives, and realistic plans before committing to delivery?

0/4 answered

PS-1How does your organisation define the scope and objectives of a project before work begins?

Think about whether there is a written document that everyone agrees on, or whether scope is vague and shifts constantly from day one.

PS-2How realistic are your project plans and timelines?

Consider whether estimates are based on evidence and experience, or whether deadlines are imposed without regard for effort.

PS-3How does your organisation manage changes to scope during delivery?

Think about whether scope creep happens silently, or whether every change is assessed for impact and formally approved.

PS-4How well does your organisation identify and manage dependencies between projects?

Consider whether teams discover clashes and dependencies mid-flight, or whether these are mapped out in advance.

02 Governance & Decision-Making

Are there clear structures for oversight, escalation, and timely decision-making?

0/4 answered

GD-1How are project decisions made and by whom?

Think about whether it is clear who can approve what, or whether decisions stall because nobody knows who has authority.

GD-2How does your organisation track and report on project health?

Consider whether there is honest, consistent reporting, or whether status reports mask reality until it is too late.

GD-3How quickly does your organisation escalate and resolve blockers?

Think about how long an issue sits unresolved before someone with authority intervenes.

GD-4How does your organisation decide whether to continue, pause, or stop a struggling project?

Consider whether there is a mechanism for killing projects that are no longer viable, or whether everything limps on regardless.

03 Resource & Capacity Management

Does the organisation allocate, protect, and manage the people and funding needed for delivery?

0/4 answered

RC-1How does your organisation assign people to projects?

Think about whether people are allocated based on availability and skills, or whether the same overloaded individuals get pulled onto everything.

RC-2How well are project teams protected from competing demands on their time?

Consider whether project team members are constantly pulled away for operational work, other projects, or ad-hoc requests.

RC-3How does your organisation manage project budgets and financial tracking?

Think about whether project spending is tracked against a baseline, or whether costs are only understood after the fact.

RC-4How does your organisation handle situations where demand for project delivery exceeds available capacity?

Consider whether too many projects run simultaneously, spreading people too thin, or whether work is deliberately sequenced.

04 Risk & Issue Management

Does the organisation proactively identify, assess, and respond to risks and issues throughout delivery?

0/4 answered

RI-1How does your organisation identify risks at the start of a project?

Think about whether risks are formally identified during planning, or whether the team only reacts to problems as they occur.

RI-2How actively are risks monitored and updated throughout the project lifecycle?

Consider whether the risk register is a living document reviewed regularly, or whether it was created at kick-off and never looked at again.

RI-3How does your organisation handle issues that threaten project delivery?

Think about whether issues are logged, owned, and actively managed, or whether they sit in someone's inbox until they cause a crisis.

RI-4How well does your organisation learn from risks and issues that materialised on past projects?

Consider whether the same risks surprise the organisation repeatedly, or whether lessons genuinely feed into future planning.

05 Stakeholder & Benefits Management

Are stakeholders effectively engaged, and are the intended benefits of projects actually realised?

0/4 answered

SB-1How does your organisation identify and engage stakeholders throughout a project?

Think about whether stakeholder engagement is planned and sustained, or whether it happens only at kick-off and goes quiet until delivery.

SB-2How well does your organisation define the expected benefits of a project before approval?

Consider whether the business case clearly states what measurable outcomes the project will deliver, or whether it is vague about the value.

SB-3How does your organisation track whether projects actually deliver their promised benefits?

Think about whether anyone checks, months after a project closes, whether the expected improvements actually happened.

SB-4How effectively does your organisation manage conflicting stakeholder priorities within a project?

Consider whether competing demands from different stakeholders are resolved transparently, or whether the project team is left to navigate political tension alone.

06 Delivery Execution & Quality

Does the organisation deliver work consistently, with appropriate methods and quality controls?

0/4 answered

DQ-1How consistently does your organisation use a defined delivery method across projects?

Think about whether there is a standard way of running projects, or whether every project manager invents their own approach.

DQ-2How does your organisation ensure the quality of project deliverables?

Consider whether quality is checked before handover, or whether defects and rework are discovered by end users after the fact.

DQ-3How effectively does your organisation manage the transition from project delivery into business-as-usual operations?

Think about whether handovers are planned and smooth, or whether operational teams are left scrambling after a project dumps something on them.

DQ-4How does your organisation manage multiple projects as a coordinated programme or portfolio?

Consider whether related projects are managed together with a shared view of outcomes, or whether each runs in isolation with no coordination.

07 Learning & Continuous Improvement

Does the organisation capture lessons, develop capability, and improve its delivery approach over time?

0/4 answered

LI-1How does your organisation capture and apply lessons from completed projects?

Think about whether lessons learned sessions happen and whether their outputs genuinely change how future projects are run.

LI-2How does your organisation develop and maintain the skills of its project and programme managers?

Consider whether project management capability is formally developed, or whether people are expected to figure it out on the job.

LI-3How does your organisation use data from past projects to improve future estimates and planning?

Think about whether historical data on effort, cost, and duration is captured and used, or whether every project estimates from scratch.

LI-4How does your organisation assess and improve its overall project delivery capability?

Consider whether anyone looks at delivery performance in aggregate, or whether each project is viewed in isolation.

Self-assessment report

Project & Programme Management

Answer the questions above and your report builds here: an overall score, a score and target for each area, and the three changes that matter most.

About this model

About the Project & Programme Management maturity model

Delivering projects is easy to start and hard to finish well. Most organisations can launch initiatives — the real test is whether they consistently deliver the right outcomes, on time, within budget, and with benefits that actually materialise. This model assesses the maturity of your organisation's ability to plan, govern, resource, and execute projects and programmes as a repeatable capability rather than a series of one-off heroic efforts.

The difference between organisations that reliably deliver and those that do not is rarely about tools or methodologies. It is about discipline: clear scope, honest reporting, protected resources, active risk management, and genuine learning from experience. Mature organisations treat project and programme delivery as a strategic competence, not an administrative overhead.

This model is methodology-agnostic. Whether your organisation uses waterfall, agile, hybrid, or something entirely bespoke, the fundamentals assessed here apply equally. The questions focus on observable behaviours and outcomes, not on whether you follow a specific framework.

28 questions across 7 key areas, assessing your organisation's ability to plan, govern, resource, and deliver projects and programmes effectively. Takes approximately 10-15 minutes to complete.

Scoring is based on 3 maturity levels per question. Your overall score reflects the average maturity across all areas, giving you a clear picture of where your delivery capability is strong and where it needs focused improvement.

Who this assessment is for

  • Project and programme managers at all levels
  • PMO leads and portfolio managers
  • Senior leaders and executives sponsoring projects
  • Operations directors responsible for delivery outcomes
  • Department heads managing project-dependent work
  • Anyone responsible for improving how their organisation delivers change through projects

The three maturity levels

  • Level 1 — Heroic: Delivery depends on individual effort, informal relationships, and workarounds. There is no consistent method, and project success is unpredictable. Scope is vague, reporting is unreliable, risks are managed reactively, and lessons are not captured. When projects succeed, it is because of exceptional individuals — not because the organisation has a reliable delivery capability.
  • Level 2 — Disciplined: Projects follow a recognised method with defined roles, governance structures, and planning disciplines. Scope is documented, risks are tracked, status is reported consistently, and resources are allocated with intent. Delivery is more predictable and repeatable. The organisation learns from its projects, though not always consistently, and there is a shared understanding of what good looks like.
  • Level 3 — Portfolio-Aligned: Project and programme delivery is treated as a core organisational capability, tightly aligned to strategy and continuously improved. Portfolio decisions are evidence-based, capacity is actively managed, benefits realisation is tracked beyond project closure, and delivery performance is benchmarked and improved over time. The organisation does not just deliver projects — it gets measurably better at delivering them.

The 7 areas assessed

  1. Planning & Scoping — Does the organisation define clear scope, objectives, and realistic plans before committing to delivery?
  2. Governance & Decision-Making — Are there clear structures for oversight, escalation, and timely decision-making?
  3. Resource & Capacity Management — Does the organisation allocate, protect, and manage the people and funding needed for delivery?
  4. Risk & Issue Management — Does the organisation proactively identify, assess, and respond to risks and issues throughout delivery?
  5. Stakeholder & Benefits Management — Are stakeholders effectively engaged, and are the intended benefits of projects actually realised?
  6. Delivery Execution & Quality — Does the organisation deliver work consistently, with appropriate methods and quality controls?
  7. Learning & Continuous Improvement — Does the organisation capture lessons, develop capability, and improve its delivery approach over time?

How this model relates to other frameworks

  • PRINCE2 (Projects IN Controlled Environments)
  • PMI PMBOK Guide (Project Management Body of Knowledge)
  • P3M3 (Portfolio, Programme and Project Management Maturity Model)
  • MSP (Managing Successful Programmes)
  • MoP (Management of Portfolios)
  • APM Body of Knowledge (Association for Project Management)
  • SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) — for agile programme delivery
  • OPM3 (Organizational Project Management Maturity Model)

Frequently asked questions

What is the Project & Programme Management maturity model?

Assess how well your organisation plans, governs, and delivers projects and programmes to achieve strategic outcomes. It is an original, simplified model with three maturity levels (Heroic, Disciplined and Portfolio-Aligned), assessed through 28 questions across 7 areas: Planning & Scoping, Governance & Decision-Making, Resource & Capacity Management, Risk & Issue Management, Stakeholder & Benefits Management, Delivery Execution & Quality and Learning & Continuous Improvement.

How long does the Project & Programme Management assessment take?

Most people finish in 11–17 minutes. Each of the 28 questions has three concrete answer options. Your progress is saved in the page URL, so you can bookmark it and come back later.

How is the score calculated?

Each answer scores 1 (Heroic), 2 (Disciplined) or 3 (Portfolio-Aligned). An area's score is the average of its answered questions, and the overall score is the average of the area scores, so every area counts equally. Scores run from 1.0 to 3.0.

Is my data stored or shared?

No. Your answers are never sent to a server. They are stored only in the page URL, which you control. Copy the link to share results with colleagues, or export a PDF or CSV report.

How should I use the results?

Start with "Where to focus" in your report. It lists the questions with the biggest gap to the target you set for each area, and shows what the next level looks like in practice. For a fuller picture, ask several people from different teams to complete the assessment and compare their links. Differences in perception are often as revealing as the scores themselves.