Archived [2015-11-10] - Implementation Strategy for the Policy on Investment Planning - Assets and Acquired Services and the Policy on the Management of Projects

Due to the substantial changes in policy direction, a phased approach to incrementally transition the Government of Canada to the new policies was adopted. This phased approach entails departments transitioning to the new policies in four separate, sequential 'phases'. The initial pilot phase took place over 21 months, while each subsequent 'phase' will have approximately one year to complete the transition to the new policies.

TBS welcomes departments to begin their transition (in whole or in part), ahead of their designated implementation phase. However, if a department is considering an early start, they are encouraged to contact TBS to discuss the best approach to make the transition.

In assigning departments to the various phases of the transition schedule, TBS sought to balance the schedule using a number of factors, including:

• The size of the organization (asset and acquired services spending);
• The status of the departmental Long-term Capital Plan;
• MAF assessments in Line of Evidence 14.1 – Investment Planning and Areas of Management 15 – Effective Project Management and 16 – Effective Procurement;
• Expressions of interest and readiness by departmental officials; and,
• TBS capacity and workload.

During the transition period, each department is expected to:

• Learn and understand the new policy requirements, through the policy instruments and their supporting documentation;
• Determine how best to implement the new policies within their organization and establish an implementation plan;
• Develop an internal framework within appropriate governance to support implementation; and
• Monitor implementation progress and compliance with the policy requirements.

Communication has proven to be critical for the successful transition of departments to the new policies. As such, TBS is committed to working with the departments throughout the implementation period to ensure a smooth transition. This commitment includes:

• TBS / Departmental Meetings
  Representatives from TBS will be available to meet with departmental transition teams to discuss challenges, opportunities, potential solutions to problems, progress, schedule and other transition related topics.
• Interdepartmental Working Group (IWG) Meetings
  Throughout transition, TBS plans to host, as required, IWG meetings in which representatives from some or all of the transitioning departments will meet to discuss topics of common interest.
• TBS Point of Contact
  A department's primary point of contact with TBS will be their program sector analyst; however, other areas of TBS can, and will, be engaged over the course of transition, as required, in order to provide guidance, advice or policy interpretation.
• Department Point of Contact
  Departments are encouraged to assign a dedicated point of contact to engage with TBS, and to establish clear lines of communication with TBS to facilitate coordination. Departments should be prepared to work closely with TBS throughout the transition period.

4.5.1 The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

The Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) program sector analysts are a department's primary point-of-contact for clarification, assistance and direction throughout the transition period.

TBS is responsible for:

• Maintaining communication with both their department's point of contact and other relevant policy areas within TBS;
• Providing implementation expertise based on lessons learned from previous transition phases;
• Assisting departments in clarifying expectations, roles and responsibilities;
• Assisting departments in developing implementation plans and approaches;
• Assisting departments in identifying high-risk and highly complex investments and/or projects (including those within the department's assessed capacity) to be profiled in the investment plan;
• Reviewing and challenging the department's;
  • Organizational Project Management Capacity Assessment,
  • Investment Plan,
  • Project Complexity and Risk Assessments,
  • Treasury Board submission, and
  • Supporting evidence for the plan, submission assessments and project proposals.
• Providing policy leadership, direction and feedback opportunities for departments on departmental implementation plans, challenges and opportunities in transition;
• Developing and maintaining supporting policy instruments (i.e., standards, directives, user guides, templates, training modules, communications tools, and other materials);
• Gathering and documenting lessons learned and providing departments with access to best practices;
• Assessing the effectiveness of the policies and the impacts on departments;
• Reporting to TB Ministers on the effectiveness of the policies and the transition process.

4.5.2 Transitioning Departments

Since the scope of the new policies is now broader and more inclusive than the previous policies, implementation will require a greater level of collaboration and integration at an enterprise level within a department. As such, the investment planning process should incorporate individuals and groups across the entire organization in order to ensure an integrated planning process which collects and compiles information about investments, assets, and acquired services, and to effectively plan the transition period.

Departments are responsible for:

Managing their approach to transition, including establishing internal resource requirements, schedule and milestone objectives.

Each of the transition phases will occur over a twelve month period beginning in April. Each transition phase should generally consist offour distinct stages, with each stage to include a series of associated activities. To help departments begin their transition planning, a series of milestones for each stage have been listed below as a guide.

• Learning Stage  (April to May)
  Milestones include:
  • Information sessions: Introduction to the transition (March),
  • Official kick-off / launch of the transition phase (Early April)
  • Implementation plan & schedule, assigned responsibilities (April – May)
  • Identification of a departmental Access Control Officer (ACO) (May)
• Planning Stage (June to September)
  Milestones include:
  • Planning process & governance finalized, OPMCA / PCRA approval process established (June)
  • Draft version of the investment plan (September)
  • Draft versions of the OPMCA and PCRAs (September)
• Challenge Stage (October to January)
  Milestones include:
  • Finalized investment plan (November)
  • Finalized OPMCA and PCRAs (December)
• Treasury Board Submission Stage
  Milestones include:
  • Finalized draft of submission for TBS review (January)
  • Investment plan and OPMCA class Treasury Board submission (February)
  • Treasury Board submissions for projects above department's approval level (end of February, beginning of March)

Description of Schedule Stages

4.6.1 Learning Stage

Departments will be expected to begin their transition with a learning period. During this period, information sessions and learning opportunities will be offered to enhance the understanding of the policies and the new requirements.

TBS will actively engage departments to encourage their participation in various fora that promote a common understanding of the policies and the new requirements.

4.6.1.1 Learning Stage Available Resources

The following guides, publications and learning opportunities are available during this stage:

• Implementation Strategy (this document)
• Policy on Investment Planning - Assets and Acquired Services
• Policy on the Management of Projects
• Guide to Investment Planning – Assets and Acquired Services
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
• Standard for Organizational Project Management Capacity
• Standard for Project Complexity and Risk
• Lessons Learned Report
• Project Complexity and Risk Assessment training provided by the Canadian School of Public Service (CSPS) course R901)

4.6.2 Planning Stage

Departments will launch their investment planning process, leveraging existing planning and decision-making mechanisms, and complete their OPMCA and PCRAs.

During this stage of implementation, TBS will support effective planning by collaborating with departments in establishing clear expectations for transition and an implementation plan.

During the planning stage, departments will be encouraged to develop a community of practice in support of each policy, and to engage departmental officials involved in coordinating the process. These communities of practice should include officials responsible for:

• Compiling the planning information required to support investment decisions; (i.e. PCRAs, business plans, project proposals, financial information, etc)
• Supporting and implementing investment planning decisions;
• Completing the OPMCA; and
• Coordinating the completion of the PCRA for all projects.

Throughout this stage, departments will also be encouraged to ensure that performance measures are established to evaluate both the effectiveness of the policy instruments and departmental transition efforts.

4.6.2.1 Planning Phase Available Resources

The following guides, publications and learning opportunities are available to support activities during this phase:

• Guide to Preparing Treasury Board Submissions;
• Project Management Repository;
• Project Complexity and Risk Assessment Tool and Guide;
• Organizational Project Management Capacity Assessment Tool and Guide;

4.6.3 Challenge Stage

During this stage, TBS will continue to work with client departments to support them in achieving compliance with TB policies by providing a challenge role on all relevant deliverables. This includes reviews of draft versions of department's investment plan, OPMCA, individual PCRAs and supporting evidence. This review will be done in consultation with other areas of TBS to ensure that department's receive comprehensive feedback from all parts of TBS.

Near the end of this stage, and once the investment planning process has been completed (along with the OPMCA), the department will develop a TB submission seeking approval of the investment plan and the organization's project management capacity (OPMC) class. Once the departmental OPMC class has been approved, departments will be able to determine which projects exceed their project management capacity and therefore will require approval and additional oversight by TB Ministers.  The department's investment plan will identify investments in assets and acquired services that may also require Treasury Board approval depending on the limit for the particular transaction (service, lease, real property, and contract investments) over the planning horizon.

4.6.4 Treasury Board Submission Stage

During this phase, each department will finalize its PCRAs, OPMCA and the TB submission which will include a proposal seeking approval of the investment plan and the OPMC class by Treasury Board Ministers. TBS will review these deliverables and work with departments to ensure that the content of each submission is accurate and make a compelling case to support the proposals, and that the department is in compliance with relevant TB policies.  TBS will provide policy advice and encourage departments to consider opportunities to enhance project management–related systems, skills, processes and management practices within their organizations.  This should inform decisions to improve organizational project management capacity and increase the likelihood of the successful achievement project outcomes.

TBS will develop and maintain a repository of information and resources that may be helpful to departments in transitioning to the new policies. This repository can be found on-line at:

http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pm-gp/site/home_accueil-eng.aspx

The repository contains information such as:

• Policies and standards
  Links are provided to relevant documents
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
  FAQ documents are provided that address implementation requirements of the policies.
• Guide to preparing Treasury Board Submissions
  A guide, (plus examples), to preparing a Treasury Board submission.
• OPMCA / PCRA Tools
  Links to the most up-to-date version of the assessment tool set
• Guides to both the OPMCA and PCRA
  Guides, that provided additional information on the Organizational Project Management Capacity Assessment and Project Complexity and Risk Assessments tool.
• OPMCA / PCRA Training
  Training material and schedule information.
• Plus other useful documents including business case templates and project charter templates