Successful Delivery Skills

The Prime Minister, Tony Blair underlined the increasing emphasis on delivery skills in managing large projects in February 2004 when he stated that:

"The Civil Service needs to be valued as much for its capacity to deliver as for its policy skills."

The Successful Delivery Skills programme has produced a Skills Framework and Skills Assessment Guide to provide a basis on which to build and put into action a capability improvement strategy. The Skills Framework is co-branded by the Cabinet Office since they have been closely involved with its production and it encompasses their views.

The Skills Framework seeks to establish a shared vocabulary for delivery skills, identifying and describing in detail skill levels in programme and project management (PPM) and procurement in order to support the management, deployment, marketability and mobility of staff. The Skills Framework also acknowledges that expertise alone is not sufficient and that effective performance is also dependent on having good generic skills such as communication, teamwork and leadership.

For further information, contact the OGC Service Desk.

Skills Framework and Assessment Guide

The enhanced Successful Delivery Skills Framework and Assessment Guide acknowledge that departments are well advanced in assessing the core competencies of their workforce such as team working, leadership or customer focus. The scope of the programme has therefore been refocused to provide a closer link to the Centres of Excellence initiative and to align with the Government Procurement Service and the Programme and Project Management (PPM) specialism.

The Skills Framework is the fundamental building block of the SDS programme, detailing procurement, programme and project management skills and their related subject content in an easy to follow guide spanning four levels of proficiency. It is supported by guidance on the assessment of skills against the Framework.

The Skills Framework and supporting Skills Assessment Guide are now available for managers and staff to download, use and adapt for their organisation. Please note that each linked document on this page will open in a new window. To return to this page, please close that new window.

• Skills Framework Document (PDF file 443KB)

• Skills Framework Assessment Guide (PDF file 128KB)