Mark Reilly, Association for Project Management

Project assurance: ensuring the pre-requisites for success are in

place

Presentation by

Mark Reilly M.Eng C.Eng MICE MAPM,Transport for London, and

APM Specific Interest Group on Assurance

What exactly is assurance?• assurance n. Emphatic declaration, guarantee; self-confidence,

assertiveness; insurance esp. of life; certainty. (Source: The Pocket Oxford Dictionary.)

• assurancenoun1. the act of assuring 2. the state of being assured; sureness; confidence; certainty 3. something said or done to inspire confidence, as a promise, positive

statement, etc.; guarantee(Source: www.yourdictionary.com)

• P3 assurance The process of providing confidence to stakeholders that projects, programmes and portfolios will achieve their scope, time, cost and quality objectives, and realise their benefits.

(Source: APM)

What is the Assurer often asked?

18 Oct 06 3

• I need to know that everything is under control?

• Is what I am being told is correct?

• I am going to get what I want?

• Will the project going to finish on time and within budget”.

• If things are going horribly wrong and should I can the project!?

Assurance Landscape

18 Oct 06 4

Internal Audit

External Audit

Quality Assurance

Health & Safety

OGC GatewayTM

Independent

Engineer reviews

PMO/PMCoE

Control Self

Assurance

NAO

Policies

Standards

Processes

Systems

Project Audits

Contract Audits

Peer Reviews

Assurance Landscape

18 Oct 06 5

Internal Audit

External Audit

Quality Assurance

Health & Safety

OGC GatewayTM

Independent

Engineer reviews

PMO/PMCoE

Control Self

Assurance

NAO

Policies

Standards

Processes

Systems

Project Audits

Contract Audits

Peer Reviews

Audit Committee

s

Sponsors

MDs & Directors

Project Boards / SROs

Programme BoardsGoverning Bodies

Shareholders

Public & media

Integrated Assurance Framework• Map the assurance communities of interest

• Establish a lead assurance provider for the project

• Provide a comprehensive, shared and consistent view of risk

• Set out the standards for Assurance

• Map assurance interventions

18 Oct 06 6

ORGANISATION’S RISKS

First Line ofDefence

Outcome:Control of risks


CONTROLS

Application of a Management System, comprising policies,

procedures, processes, standards, etc.

AS

SU

RA

NC

E

Management

Second Line ofDefence

Outcome:Confirmation of control of risks (Verification)




CONTROLS



COMPLIANCE

Management assurance, comprising monitoring, checks and

audits by Risk Management, Quality

Assurance, PMOs, etc.

AS

SU

RA

NC

E

AS

SU

RA

NC

E

Management Management

Second Line ofDefence

Outcome:Confirmation of control of risks (Verification)



Third Line ofDefence

Outcome:Strategic overview of system of control


CONTROLS



COMPLIANCE

Management assurance, comprising monitoring, checks and

audits by Risk Management, Quality

Assurance, PMOs, etc.

INDEPENDENT REVIEW

Assurance through independent reviews by Internal Audit, External

Audit (e.g. NAO), independent peers, or

external scrutiny.

AS

SU

RA

NC

E

AS

SU

RA

NC

E

AS

SU

RA

NC

E

Management Management

Board & external stakeholders

18 Oct 06 7

Three Lines of Defence Model for Assurance

18 Oct 06 8

Assurance maps

18 Oct 06 9

Assurance maps

The APM Assurance SIG

18 Oct 0610

4 work streams currently under way:

– Integrated assurance• Developing an approach to collaborative working between assurance providers

– Project Auditing• Sharing approaches and experiences in project auditing, and developing best

practice guidance

– Measures for Assuring Projects• Investigating and developing guidance on measures that can be used to gain

assurance

– Assurance of Agile projects• Development of guidance to applying assurance principles in fast-moving Agile

environments

18 Oct 06 11

Thank you

18 Oct 06 12

Government & Nonprofit

Mark Reilly, Association for Project Management