Glossary

Terms beginning with P

profession

See government profession.

portfolio

Part or all of an organisation’s investment required to achieve its objectives.

Note: a portfolio is governed through its portfolio (or business) plan, and comprises work components, such as other portfolios, programmes, projects, other related work and work packages.

portfolio management

Portfolio management is a co-ordinated collection of strategic practices and decisions that together enable the most effective balance of organisational change and business as usual.

product

An article of substance that is offered or is part of a service delivered by an organisation

programme

A programme is a unique, temporary, flexible organisation created to co-ordinate, direct and oversee the implementation of a set of projects and other related work components to deliver outcomes and benefits related to a set of strategic objectives.

project

A project is a unique temporary management environment, undertaken in stages, created for the purpose of delivering one or more business objectives.

Note: a project’s objective can be fulfilled by a combination of deliverables, products, services, outputs, outcomes and benefits, depending on the project’s context.

project delivery

Collectively, portfolio, programme and project management are referred to in government as “project delivery”.