Achieve Delivery
Maturity Assessment
Our flagship assessment
Before you can improve your delivery system, you need to see it clearly.
And before you can see it clearly, your team needs to articulate it with clarity.
The Achieve Delivery Maturity Assessment (ADMA) is a structured, evidence-based engagement built on the proprietary Achieve Delivery Maturity Framework of thirteen principles for high-performance delivery, organised into four dimensions and rated on a 6-point maturity scale.
Why the education session comes first
One of the most consistent findings in our consulting practice is this: most organisations do not know what good looks like.
They believe that having a template means they have a process. They believe that a risk register in SharePoint means they are managing risk. They believe they are operating at a Level 4 (consistent maturity) when in fact, they're using the right words, but their actions differ.
In reality, many are at level 2. And they are not wrong through negligence. They are wrong because no-one has ever shown them the difference between having an artefact and embedding a practice that continuously improves without a leader telling them to!.
For this reason, every Achieve P3M Delivery Maturity Assessment begins with a mandatory Education Session: a structured, practical conversation with key stakeholders, typically two to three hours, covering:
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What maturity actually means across each of the thirteen principles and what evidence looks like at each level
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The difference between having a process and applying it consistently
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The difference between leadership driven improvement initiatives and embedded continuous improvement
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How the assessment works: what we look for, how we look for it, how we score it
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Common misconceptions at each maturity level: and why organisations consistently over-rate themselves
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How biases in project delivery erode your outcomes and capability
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The 6-point maturity scale used in the Achieve Delivery Maturity Framework, and how to read a maturity rating
This matters because the assessment is only as useful as your organisation's ability to understand and act on the findings. The Education Session creates the shared language that makes the rest of the engagement meaningful.
The 6-point maturity scale
A scale built for where most organisations actually sit
The Achieve Delivery Maturity Framework uses a 6-point scale. Traditional maturity models use five levels: but in practice, the critical distinctions happen at the lower end of the scale, where most organisations sit and where the most important decisions are made. The 6-point scale provides the granularity needed to understand where you are really placed:
01
REACTIVE
Delivery works only when individuals make it work. Problems surface late, difficult truths are softened, and learning does not carry forward.
RECOGNISED
The organisation can see where delivery is letting it down, but honest reporting, active sponsorship and disciplined prioritisation happen only in pockets, driven by individuals rather than expectation.
02
03
DEVELOPING
The behaviours that drive delivery are taking hold. Risks are being raised earlier and decisions are challenged, but it still depends on who is in the room rather than being how the organisation works more broadly.
CONSISTENT
Honest reporting, disciplined decision-making and active sponsorship are the expected norm across the organisation, not only on flagship work. People are backed for living the standard.
04
05
EVIDENCE-LED
The organisation acts on what the evidence is really telling it. Uncomfortable truths are surfaced early, hierarchy comes second to honest conversations and decision-making is codified to follow evidence rather than optimism, seniority or position.
SELF-IMPROVING
Improving how the organisation delivers is a shared habit. People challenge constructively, learn continuously through robust systems of measure an reflection, and adapt ahead of problems because the culture expects and rewards it.
06
The thirteen framework principles
The assessment evaluates your organisation against all thirteen principles of the Achieve Delivery Maturity Framework, organised across four dimensions:
DIMENSION
THIRTEEN PRINCIPLES
PURPOSE
01
01
Clarity
01 Truth Before Comfort
02 Decision Architecture
03 Fast Feedback
The information and conditions the organisation runs on.
02
02
Strategy
04 Sponsorship Is a Verb
05 Solve the Limiting Factor
06 Ruthless Prioritisation
How leadership sets direction and makes the hard calls.
03
03
People
07 Capability by Design
08 Bring Clever People Together
09 Respect Trumps Harmony
Who delivers and how they work together.
04
04
Execution
10 Pressure Builds Diamonds
11 Consistency Beats Perfection
12 No Dumb Requirements
13 Safe Sizing
How the work is structured, disciplined, and delivered.
HOW THE FRAMEWORK CONNECTS TO ASSESSMENT
From principle to assessment question
Every principle in the Achieve Delivery Maturity Framework generates a set of assessment questions. These questions form the basis of the full Achieve Delivery Maturity Assessment, the free Delivery Maturity Scorecard, and the structured Education Session delivered at the start of every assessment engagement.
For the free Scorecard, one question per principle is used across twelve of the thirteen principles (excluding Sponsorship Is a Verb). For the full assessment, all questions are used across all fourteen principles, supplemented by document review, stakeholder interviews, and artefact analysis.
What the assessment involves
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Mandatory Education Session with key stakeholders
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Desktop document review across all thirteen principles and their associated delivery evidence
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Structured stakeholder interviews across delivery, governance, and executive leadership
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Representative sample review of projects, programs, and/or portfolio artefacts
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Draft findings review with your team before finalisation
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Final Assessment Report with maturity ratings across all thirteen principles, evidence base,
and prioritised gap analysis
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Executive Team debrief session
What you receive
Achieve Delivery Maturity Assessment Report
with 6-point ratings across all
thirteen principle domains
Prioritised gap analysis identifying where the greatest risk and improvement opportunity sit
Recommended Capability
Development Roadmap
Executive Team Debrief session