Project Control & Prioritisation Framework

CASE STUDY - TOP 50 UNIVERSITY

The Requirement

The University needed a more structured and objective approach to managing project demand and prioritising investment across the institution. Project requests were increasing across faculties, placing pressure on the Digital Projects and Innovation Office (DPIO) and Digital Services.

The University wanted a project control and prioritisation framework that would improve governance, visibility and transparency, while creating a consistent process for assessing demand against strategic priorities rather than escalation or local pressure.

The Challenge

There was no standard prioritisation process across the University. Requests were often progressed through multiple channels, governance was fragmented, and decisions could be influenced by escalation rather than strategic fit, value or benefit.

Demand also exceeded available IT capacity. This created delivery bottlenecks, made it harder to align faculties to one process, and contributed to the purchase of solutions without IT involvement. Existing tools and processes were not yet fully embedded, which limited visibility, consistency and control.

Our Approach

Discovery: Maxica interviewed key stakeholders, reviewed existing governance and delivery processes, and mapped the current “as is” request and prioritisation routes across the University.

Analysis: We assessed blockers, adoption challenges, process gaps, capacity constraints and the current use of Project Online and supporting controls.

Design: We developed and tested options for a project control framework, prioritisation model and governance structure that reflected the University’s culture and strategic context.

Validation: A prototype prioritisation model was built using real project data and refined through feedback from stakeholders and DPIO.

Our Solution

Maxica delivered a structured Project Control Framework that set out how ideas should enter the pipeline, how demand should be triaged, and how projects should be prioritised and governed across the University.

The solution included a prioritisation model with scoring criteria, a governance structure with approval checkpoints, a demand management funnel, a prototype tool validated against live project data, and a roadmap for implementation and adoption.

We also produced a report for the investment committee to support adoption of the recommended changes and to help secure embedment across faculties, DPIO and Digital Services.

Benefits

Objective Prioritisation: A more transparent basis for ranking projects against strategic priorities and business value.

Stronger Governance: Clearer decision points, accountability and oversight across demand, prioritisation and delivery.

Improved Visibility: Better line of sight across requests, pipeline status and decision-making.

Reduced Shadow IT Risk: A clearer route for faculties to bring forward initiatives through an agreed process.

Better University Alignment: A shared framework to support more consistent ways of working across faculties and central teams.

Why it Worked

The engagement worked because the framework was grounded in the University’s real operating environment. Maxica combined stakeholder interviews, process analysis and prototype validation to develop something practical rather than theoretical.

The work also balanced governance with adoption. By engaging faculties, DPIO and Digital Services, and by preparing a clear recommendation for investment decision makers, the framework was designed not only to improve control but also to support implementation and long-term use.

Learn More

If you are looking to improve how your organisation prioritises investment, manages project demand and strengthens governance across complex stakeholder groups, Maxica can help you design and embed a practical, scalable framework.

Call us on +44 333 700 2014

Email us on hello@maxica.com