PM²'s extensions: agility, EU funding and sustainability

The pillars of PM² — Governance, Lifecycle, Processes, Artefacts — and the Mindsets acting as a 'glue' provide a core on which the PM² Foundation has built three separate extensions for specific environments: PM² Agile, the PM² Addendum for EU-Funded Projects, and the PM² Addendum for Sustainability. All three speak the same PM² language, but direct it toward a particular purpose — agile delivery, multinational consortium work, or embedding sustainability objectives into projects.

Why extensions are needed?

PM²'s core is deliberately generic: it serves as a starting point for managing almost any project, regardless of sector or funding model. Certain operating environments, however, bring requirements the base methodology alone does not fully cover — agile delivery needs its own roles and rhythm, EU-funded consortium projects need their own governance and reporting logic, and sustainability objectives need their own metrics. The extensions do not replace, but extend the core.

PM² Agile

Adopting agile practices is considerably harder in large, functional or matrix organisations than in start-ups — governance, architecture, and audit requirements don't disappear. The PM² Agile extension addresses this by connecting the agile principles and practices to enterprise governance and portfolio management. It introduces its own roles (Team Coordinator, Product Owner, Architecture Owner, Agile Team Member), a three-level CIR rhythm (Coordinate–Implement–Review) across daily, iteration, and release cycles, agile artefacts such as the Development Handbook and Development Status Report, and mindsets aligned with the 'Agile Manifesto' but broadened for use beyond software development.

PM² for EU-funded projects

The EU Addendum is written specifically with Horizon Europe- and Erasmus+-type projects in mind, but its underlying logic — balancing consortium governance, grant administration, and domain expertise — applies just as well to structural fund projects. The Addendum clearly separates the grant lifecycle (funding application, proposal, reporting) from the project lifecycle (Initiating–Planning–Executing–Closing), tailors the governance model to consortium roles such as Project Coordinator and Work Package Leaders, and connects PM² artefacts to the funder's formal documentation requirements. Particularly useful is its Infrequently Asked Questions section, which challenges common misconceptions — such as the assumption that winning the proposal means the hard part is already behind you.

PM² for sustainability

The Sustainability Addendum embeds environmental, social, and economic considerations directly into the governance model, lifecycle, processes, and artefacts, rather than treating sustainability as a separate, declarative add-on. It proposes an optional Sustainability Officer role, extends Monitor & Control to track sustainability metrics, risks, and changes, and introduces an optional Sustainability Log where useful. Here too, the mindsets are framed as Infrequently Asked Questions, prompting teams to reflect on responsibilities, priorities, and long-term impact rather than treating sustainability as routine reporting.

Summary of extensions

The extensions can be combined

These extensions are not mutually exclusive. A typical structural fund project may well include an agile delivery team delivering a digital solution through iterations, operating within the consortium governance set out by the EU Addendum, while the sustainability metrics and IAQs ensure the project's outputs also support long-term impact.

The extensions don't replace PM²'s core — they extend it.

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