Enterprise Project Management Office (EPMO)

How the EPMO helps colleagues

The EPMO provides practical support to project sponsors, project managers, delivery teams and senior leaders. Depending on the needs of an initiative, this can include:

  • Developing stronger business cases, so that the need for change, expected outcomes and benefits, costs, resource requirements and key people impacts are clear from the outset.
  • Making governance and reporting proportionate and consistent, giving teams and decision-makers the information they need without creating unnecessary bureaucracy.
  • Planning for benefits from the beginning, helping teams remain focused on the outcomes and improvements their projects are intended to achieve.
  • Identifying risks, dependencies and resource pressures early, particularly where these affect more than one project or area of the University.
  • Providing practical tools, templates and guidance, making it easier for colleagues to apply good project and programme management practice.
  • Simplifying ways of working wherever possible, so that teams can spend more time delivering change and less time navigating processes.

Managing the people side of change

Successful projects do more than deliver new systems, processes, structures or services. They also need to help people understand, prepare for, adopt and sustain new ways of working.

Change management is therefore an important part of project and programme delivery. It helps teams consider the people and organisational aspects of change alongside technical delivery.

The University's 5Cs of Change provide a consistent framework for this. They help teams consider:

  • The case for change and intended outcomes
  • Leadership and ownership
  • Change impacts and readiness
  • Co-creation, communication and engagement
  • Capability, adoption and sustainment

Project sponsors, project managers and delivery teams should consider these areas throughout the lifecycle of an initiative, particularly where changes will have a significant impact on staff, students or ways of working.

How the EPMO supports successful delivery across the University

Alongside its support for individual projects and teams, the EPMO helps the University understand and manage its overall portfolio of strategic change. It:

  • Supports the Transformation Delivery Committee, providing the information and insight it needs to oversee the University's portfolio of strategic change.
  • Provides a University-wide view of strategic and transformational change, helping leaders understand what is being delivered, where and when.
  • Provides clear portfolio reporting and insight, supporting informed decisions about progress, priorities, investment and performance.
  • Supports prioritisation and resource planning, helping the University focus its capacity and expertise on its most important priorities.
  • Tracks intended benefits and strategic outcomes, helping ensure that success is measured by the difference projects make, not simply whether they are completed.
  • Identifies connections between projects, helping teams manage dependencies, avoid duplication and spot opportunities to work together.
  • Highlights portfolio-level risks and pressures, enabling potential challenges to be identified and addressed earlier.
  • Develops and shares good practice, providing tools, templates and guidance that make project, programme and change delivery easier and more consistent.

Project and change management resources, including practical guidance, templates and the 5Cs of Change Toolkit, are available on the EPMO Teams site.

Connecting with project teams across the University

Successful change depends on bringing together the right people, expertise and experience.

The EPMO works closely with a network of project and specialist teams across the University to support the delivery of strategic and transformational change. These teams bring expertise in areas including project and programme management, business analysis, change management, digital delivery, estates, governance, data and reporting, and benefits realisation.

By working together, these teams can connect colleagues with the right expertise, share good practice and identify opportunities to coordinate activity across projects. This helps reduce duplication, address risks and dependencies earlier, and provide a more joined-up experience for the people and teams involved in delivering or affected by change.

For the University, this collaborative approach helps us make better use of our collective expertise and resources, improve consistency where it adds value, and deliver change that achieves lasting benefits for staff, students and the wider University community.

Find the right support for your project

Alongside our Change Management resources, the links below introduce the teams and functions that can support different aspects of project and programme delivery across the University.

Explore the areas below to find out what support is available and how to get in touch.

  • Planning and Strategy Office
  • Digital projects
  • Estates projects

For more information on the EPMO