How to use The Teal Book

As The Teal Book is designed as a reference, it does not need to be read in full for someone to make use of it. People fulfilling different roles or even those fulfilling the same role can use The Teal Book in varying ways, for example:

• those responsible for an organisation’s methods, processes and tools might work through the entire book to verify that their approaches are consistent with the guidance
• a senior responsible owner might want to verify whether the governance of their programme or project is effective, proportionate and consistent with good practice
• a programme or project manager at the start of a new programme or project might start in Part D: Managing programmes and projects, and then delve into more of the book as they develop the governance and management framework and work through the life cycle
• a risk manager might start directly in the risk management chapter and then refer out to the chapters on issues management and change control as they seek to ensure alignment
• a change manager might start directly in the chapter on organisational and societal change and then move into other chapters as they seek to ensure that change activities are planned, controlled and appropriate
• a resource manager might start in the chapter on team induction, managing resources, or equality, diversity and inclusion, depending on what aspects they are interested in

While there is no single way to use The Teal Book, it is recommended that everyone makes themselves familiar with Part A to understand how project delivery is organised across government and Part B to understand how to tailor the guidance to the sector, scale or environment they could be working in. These parts provide useful context to keep in mind when considering the practices described in later parts of the book.

The Teal Book covers many different topics and concepts and so, while a single structure for every chapter is not possible, each answers the same questions and in the same order when appropriate:

• what is the purpose?
• what are the key points?
• why is this topic important?
• what is involved?
• who is involved in the work?
• how is this done: what to consider; and how to prepare?
• where is there further guidance?

The term ‘project delivery’ is defined in the Functional standards common glossary and used to collectively refer to portfolio, programme and project management in government. When the individual terms ‘portfolio’, ‘programme’ or ‘project’ are used, the content only relates to those items.

The meaning of words is as defined in the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, except where defined in the Project delivery glossary, which defines terms that have specific meanings in a project delivery context. Where a term has a specific meaning, its definition is presented in the relevant chapter on its first use.

Language is used as consistently as possible and in particular the word require indicates that the statement is mandatory for government departments and arm’s length bodies.

Abbreviations and acronyms are largely avoided; however, where they are used, they are written out in full on the first use.

Bold text is used to highlight the first time a role is mentioned in a chapter for emphasis.

Italics are used to highlight the names of publications, for example the Government Functional Standard for Project Delivery. Publications are referenced in sentence case with a capital letter at the start of the first word, except for headline publications like the functional standards and government codes of practice which are treated as proper nouns and retain their capitalisation.

There are specific requirements placed on programmes and projects that are in the Government Major Projects Portfolio or Departmental Major Projects Portfolio. These are highlighted using a call out box, for example:

Government Major Projects Portfolio and accounting officer assessments

For programmes and projects in the Government Major Projects Portfolio, an accounting officer assessment must be produced at decision points. A summary of the assessment should be published (see Accounting officer assessments: guidance for more information).

The Teal Book includes figures which provide a visual summary of key information or concepts. Many of these figures show the key activities involved in a practice or action. These are always drawn in the same way, reading left to right and set in what are called ‘swim lanes’ to show the roles that are accountable for the activities within that swim lane.

Diagrams use the following elements shown in Table 0.1.

Table 0.1 Key to diagrams in The Teal Book

Element	Description
	Indicates an activity step
	Indicates a decision point
	Indicates assurance activity
	Indicates a project stage
	Indicates activities that take place before a programme or project starts and after it is completed
	Indicates an interaction with a document, such as its creation or updating
	Indicates an off-page reference, usually to an activity diagram in another chapter of The Teal Book, as indicated by the number

Each chapter in The Teal Book ends with a list of relevant references for further reading. These refer to documents or web pages on either GOV.UK, legislation.gov.uk, projectdelivery.gov.uk or the website of a government organisation. In some cases, they refer to a collection of web pages or documents. Where a reference is not dated, it implies that the latest version should be used.