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Case study

A structured programme management capability to support executive control and oversight

Alistair Catto
Lead partnerAlistair Catto
Lead partnerAlistair Catto
A leading European banking group had been sanctioned by the regulator for inaccurate data and inadequate controls around Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and financial crime. A remediation programme had been set up to address this, but workstreams were falling badly behind schedule. There was a high frequency of ‘fire drills’ (ad hoc urgent requests), an absence of reliable reporting, and a lack of rigour around numbers. Internal communication was poor and there was disagreement around processes and priorities. ​

The internal Project Management Office (PMO) consisted of a lead plus a team of two, to drive a programme of 22 significant workstreams, 142 projects, and 2,000 milestones. It was clear that the client needed additional support. 
  • Industry segment

    European Bank

  • Function

    Regulatory Reporting

  • Core capabilities

    PMO / Programme Management, Remediation

Key outcomes delivered

  • Redesigned and re-baselined project reporting, providing one consistent source of truth​

  • Enhanced PMO capability commensurate with driving a large-scale multi-year programme​

  • Helped to build a new PMO framework and well-trained team, armed to tackle future projects successfully

Focusing and enhancing

Results

Initiatives

0

The PMO was responsible for driving 22 significant workstreams and 142 projects

Efficiency

0

Milestones set and completed by the team

Source of truth

0

Redesigned and re-baselined project reporting, providing one consistent source of truth​

Challenge

Create a programme infrastructure and robust plans for effective delivery

The European banking group faced further regulatory fines for AML failures, with a remediation programmes behind schedule due to poor management, communication, and inadequate controls.

Approach

Initiating an effective Project Management Office (PMO) function

BeyondFS were engaged to create a programme infrastructure and robust plans which would deliver the programme effectively. Our consultants formed a small PMO team to sit alongside the internal team, introducing clarity to governance, guidelines and standards for how projects would run, and defining fresh plans and milestones. The newly formed joint PMO created new structures for forums, working groups and steering committees, a new framework for closing off initiatives, and a stage gate process with checks and balances.
​
We led the PMO through a deep analysis of project reporting and sources of data, re-baselining the numbers, and redesigning the reporting cycle and reports, so that one consistent view of the project could be shared across all forums. This meant the PMO became a dependable central contact for progress updates and statuses. The result of the improved consistency and stability was a huge decrease in ‘fire drills’, increased trust in the PMO, and therefore confidence in the programme. 

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Outcome

Enhanced Programme Management capability leads to a successful project

With the new PMO in place the client’s senior leadership could check progress, challenge plans, and play an active role in steering the project effectively with accurate data to hand.

​As a result, the multi year project was completed successfully by the regulatory deadline.

BeyondFS worked closely alongside the client throughout, gaining buy in and giving internal teams a framework for running future projects. We provided PMO coaching which left the client with an efficient, well-trained PMO team.