Portfolio Management Office
Client Context
Luton Borough Council established a corporate transformation programme tasked with delivering £30m of savings across the organisation, aligned to its Luton 2040 vision. At the outset, the transformation portfolio comprised over 200 initiatives across six transformation programmes, creating a need for a robust corporate approach to prioritisation, governance and oversight.
Human Engine was commissioned to establish and operate a Portfolio Management Office (PMO) to provide a single view of change, strengthen governance and support senior leaders to track delivery and make informed decisions.
Our Approach
Working as a blended team with the council’s transformation function, we established and operated a corporate PMO.
Key elements of our approach included:
PMO Blueprint and Governance Model: Designing a co-produced framework defining roles, responsibilities and governance across programmes and projects.
Project and Programme Management Framework: Developing a comprehensive toolkit including lifecycle templates, reporting standards and guidance for project teams.
Prioritisation and Segmentation Tool: Designing a tool to assess project impact and effort, enabling prioritisation and pipeline management across 200+ initiatives.
Portfolio Dashboard: Creating an interactive dashboard providing senior leaders with a single view of progress, benefits, risks, issues and dependencies.
Programme Oversight and Reporting: Supporting Transformation Board governance, coordinating reporting across programmes and managing escalation processes.
Capability Building and Knowledge Transfer: Delivering training, guidance and user materials to embed PMO practices across the organisation.
Outputs and Outcomes
This work established a fully functioning PMO and strengthened Luton’s ability to deliver its transformation programme.
Key outputs and outcomes included:
Corporate PMO Established providing a single, joined-up view of change across the council.
Prioritisation of 200+ initiatives through the bespoke segmentation and prioritisation tool.
Portfolio Dashboard implemented to support Transformation Board oversight and decision-making.
Standardised project governance through a comprehensive project and programme management framework.
Improved risk, issue and dependency management across the transformation portfolio.
Successful transition to an in-house PMO team, supported by training, guidance and a full PMO toolkit.
About Us
Human Engine is a leading management consultancy with specialisms in strategy, transformation, digital, commercial, procurement and projects.
Founded in 2018, we have partnered with more than 50 local authorities, central government, NHS organisations and national charities to help transform their strategies, operations and cultures.
Our mission is to help individuals and organisations to do the best work of their lives. We do this by blending first-hand, practical experience of the problems we help our clients solve with award-winning consulting expertise and an approach based on trust, collaboration and partnership.