Overview of a Project Book of Work

Overview: Project Book of Work
Author: PM Majik
Copyright 2016. All rights reserved. www.pmmajik.com

Contents
1.0 Purpose of this presentation
2.0 What is a project book of work?
3.0 Why use a project book of work?
4.0 Example project book of work template
5.0 Data items
6.0 Summary
7.0 PMO resources and downloads
8.0 The PMO Manual

1.0 Purpose of this presentation
The purpose of this presentation is to provide an understanding of what is a Project
Book of Work and a description of the important data points.
At the end of the presentation you will find details of further resources including the free
guide, 7 steps to set-up a PMO and The PMO Manual, both resources created by
www.pmmajik.com.

2.0 What is a project book of work?
• The concept of a Book of Work is very simple. It is a list of all the current and
planned projects for an organisation.
• Each project is captured as a line item with important information including Project
Name, Budget and Benefits.
• In large organisations, it is common for each area to have their own Book of Work
that aligns to the organisation / budget structure. This may even be broken down
further with each function having a regional or country Book of Work.
• Whatever level the information is captured, it should be possible to consolidate the
Book of Works to give each area a view of all of the projects within their area.
Ultimately all the information can be consolidated to give a Book of Work for the
organisation (useful for senior management).

3.0 Why use a project book of work?
• In most cases the budget demand will exceed the available budget. This means the
organisation will need to prioritise what projects receive funding.
• The BoW allows a consolidated view to be built across all of the demand. The
information can then be used to provide meaningful management information to
make decisions on how the budget is allocated.
• A good example being that an organisation usually needs to fund all Mandatory
projects before considering funding discretionary projects. The BoW can provide the
total demand for all Mandatory projects. If there is any budget available after all
Mandatory projects are funded, this can then be used to fund the discretionary
projects in order of priority.

4.0 Example project book of work template
Book of Work Data Items Book of Work Data Items
1. ID 9. Budget Current Year
2. Project Name 10. Benefits Current Year
3. Priority 11. Budget Total Project
4. Business / Function / Department 12. Benefits Total Project
5. Location 13. Budget Risk Factor Applied
6. Investment Type 14. Benefits Risk Factor Applied
7. In-flight 15. Comments
8. Risk Factor

5.0 Data items (1 of 3)
No: Data Item Description
1 ID This is used to give a user defined identifier to the project. The reason for this is if you are
building a BoW that takes inputs from a number of different areas, you may want to be able to
identify the source. For example, you may want to use OP1, OP2, OP3, etc to identify that the
project is for Operations.
2 Project Name This is the simple, succinct name of the project that will be recognised in the organisation.
While the aim is to keep it brief, it must be descriptive. For example using ABC System
Enhancements may describe what is being done. However, what if another area is using the
same system and plans to make enhancements. It may be better to add the area i.e. ABC System
Operational Enhancements.
3 Priority It is normal for the project budget demand to exceed the available budget. Therefore, each area should
prioritise their project submission. So if the area submits 10 projects, they will be prioritised 1 to 10,
with 1 being the highest priority.
4 Business / Function The field is used to identify the area requesting the project. It should be the same as indicated in the ID. This field
helps when the overall demand is consolidated so as to see what each area is requesting.
5 Location This can be used to identify what location in the organisation is making the request. It could be that a BoW is
developed at a country level and then consolidated to a regional level i.e Hong Kong, Singapore, etc that rolls up to
Asia Pacific. Having this allows the demand by location to be reviewed.
6 Investment Type Very important. This is used to indicate if the project is Mandatory or Discretionary. A Mandatory project will typically
something that the organisation has no choice and must complete i.e. to meet requirements mandated by Governments, Law
Enforcement Agencies, Regulators, etc. Discretionary being where the choice to complete the project is not being mandated.
This can be a grey area. For example, in banking the SWIFT network periodically upgrades their message types. If a financial
organisation wishes to continue to be able to send / receive the messages they need to upgrade their systems. This is not
technically a Mandatory project as the organisation can choose not to upgrade and decide they will no longer use the SWIFT
message. However, realistically the organisation must upgrade as without using the message, they probably will need to stop
parts of their business.

7 In-flight This is used to indicate that the entry is an active project. This is important as it is typical for
projects to run multiyear whereas budgets are set annually. Knowing this helps inform funding
decisions.
Tip: Just because a project is in flight, do not assume that it automatically should be allocated
funding in subsequent years, especially if it is not Mandatory. When the BoW is prioritised, if
there is not enough budget, and an in-flight project is lower in priority than others not started,
you should evaluate stopping the in-flight project to pass the budget to those with higher
priorities.
8 Risk Factor This is an optional field in order to build a risk based view to the project budget and benefits.
Many projects end up costing more with reduced benefits. Allocating a rating of High, Medium
or Low risk that applies a risk multiple to the budget and benefit value, helps give an indicator of
potential true costs.
For example, you may decide that a High risk factor for Budget is 200%. High risk being that
the project is a new system that has not been implemented at any other organisation and
resources need to be trained in the new programming language. The Risk to delivery is high so
the Risk to budget is high. Therefore, the 200% Budget Risk Factor will provide a view of
potential real costs i.e. $2m against request of $1m.
9 Budget Current Year Used to indicate the amount of budget being requested without Risk Factor applied. This should be the
best estimate available..
10 Benefits Current Year Used to indicate the benefits expected to be delivered in current year. This should be the best estimate available.

11 Budget Total Project Used to indicate the total multiyear cost for the project. This is important as Year 1 may only be
a request for a low amount. However, there are 4 more years of much greater cost required to
complete the work. This is important information to make an informed decision.
12 Benefits Total Project Used to indicate the total multiyear benefits for the project. This is important as benefits
typically are "back loaded", come near the end of the project. Therefore, having a view on total
benefits helps inform the investment decision.
13 Budget Risk Factor
Applied
This is the calculation of the budget by the defined risk factor (High, Medium, Low). It helps to
understand potential cost if the projects do not go to plan.
14 Benefits Risk Factor
Applied
This is the calculation of the benefits by the defined risk factor (High, Medium, Low). It helps understand how the
benefits could change if projects do not go to plan.
A project with High Risk Factor for Budget and Benefits could result in much higher costs and much lower benefits.
Management may want far more information before making the decision to invest.
15 Comments This allows the submitters to provide any other useful information to support the submission.

6.0 Summary
Project Book of Work
•Consolidated view of project demand
•Allows budget to be allocated based on priority
•Helps align budget to priorities
•Provides management with the MI to make informed decisions
View post:
•Building a project book of work

7.0 PMO resources
If you want more information, visit www.pmmajik.com where you will find lots of project
and PMO resources including the FREE guide, 7 Steps to Set-Up a PMO.
Visit http://www.pmmajik.com/set-pmo/
PM Majik Website
On the PM Majik website you will find over 150 articles that contain practical and
pragmatic tips and insights for designing, mobilising and managing a PMO. New
articles are added weekly. Topic requests are encouraged from the community.

8.0 The PMO Manual
The PMO Manual - a step by step guide for a practical PMO for the real world
https://www.pmmajik.com/pmo-manual/
The PMO Manual
Official resource created by www.pmmajik.com. Based on over 25 years experience
of defining and implementing global Project Management Offices.
• Step by step guide to setting up a PMO
• Easy to understand action lists
• Examples and checklists
• 220+ easy to follow pages
• Saves time – start implementing your PMO
today
• Saves money – no need to spend time or
employ expensive consultants to design a
PMO
• Quickly gain years of valuable knowledge

Overview of a Project Book of Work

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