Build-your-own PMO blueprint

Change, risk, and issue control

Give delivery teams structured portals for change requests, risks, issues, actions, escalations, and decisions.

Finished outcome: A connected control layer for change requests, risk and issue management, decision logs, and escalation communications.

Business problem

Projects fail quietly when changes, risks, and issues live in meeting notes. A small PMO needs one operational source of truth.

Core data model

Change Requests
Risks
Issues
Actions
Decisions
Escalations
Impact Assessments

Portals and workflows to build

Change Request Portal

Capture scope, schedule, budget, risk, and benefit impacts before approving project changes.

Power Platform build

change request form
impact assessment section
approval matrix
linked project and gate records

Automations

change review routing
approval/rejection notification
project baseline update reminder
change board agenda digest

Reporting

changes by project
approved impact
pending change aging
change reasons

Risks and Issues Portal

Track ownership, severity, mitigation, due dates, escalation, and closure evidence.

Power Platform build

risk and issue forms
severity and probability scoring
owner work queue
escalation notes

Automations

overdue mitigation reminder
high-severity Teams alert
weekly RAID digest
closure confirmation

Reporting

open risks by severity
issues aging
mitigation overdue
escalations by sponsor

Power BI report pages

RAID dashboard
change impact dashboard
risk heat map
issue aging and escalation trends

Implementation roadmap

Define change, risk, and issue fields.
Build separate but linked portals for each control area.
Automate reminders and escalations.
Create Power BI views for executives and delivery teams.
Review open controls in weekly governance meetings.

Governance notes

Separate risks from issues: risks might happen, issues are already happening.
Require owner and due date on every active item.
Track decision history so escalations do not reset the story.

Next layer down: implementation details

Table build specs

EitherChange Requests

Controls scope, budget, schedule, and risk changes after charter approval.

Column	Type	Required	Notes
Project	Lookup	Yes	Project affected by the change.
Change Type	Choice	Yes	Scope, schedule, budget, resource, quality, compliance.
Reason	Multiple lines text	Yes	Why the change is needed.
Scope Impact	Choice	Yes	None, Low, Medium, High.
Schedule Impact Days	Number	No	Positive or negative variance.
Budget Impact	Currency	No	Estimated cost increase or decrease.
Status	Choice	Yes	Draft, Submitted, Under Review, Approved, Rejected, Closed.

Relationships

Many Change Requests relate to one Project.
Change approvals create Approval History records.

Recommended indexes

Project
Status
Change Type
Approver
Decision Date

EitherRisks and Issues

Operational RAID control for project uncertainty and active blockers.

Column	Type	Required	Notes
Item Type	Choice	Yes	Risk or Issue.
Project	Lookup	Yes	Parent project.
Severity	Choice	Yes	Low, Medium, High, Critical.
Probability	Number	No	Use only for risks.
Impact Score	Number	Yes	1-5 scoring for heat maps.
Owner	Person	Yes	Accountable for mitigation or resolution.
Due Date	Date	Yes	Drives reminders and overdue reporting.
Status	Choice	Yes	Open, Monitoring, Escalated, Closed.

Relationships

Many Risks and Issues relate to one Project.
Actions and Decisions can link to a RAID item.

Recommended indexes

Project
Item Type
Severity
Owner
Due Date
Status

Recommended fields

Change Request: Change ID, Project, Requestor, Change Type, Description, Reason, Scope Impact, Schedule Impact, Budget Impact, Risk Impact, Recommendation, Status, Approver, Decision Date.
Risk: Risk ID, Project, Category, Cause, Event, Impact, Probability, Impact Score, Exposure, Mitigation Plan, Contingency Plan, Owner, Due Date, Status.
Issue: Issue ID, Project, Description, Severity, Impact, Owner, Due Date, Resolution Plan, Escalation Needed, Status, Closed Date.
Decision: Decision ID, Project, Decision Needed, Options, Recommendation, Decision Maker, Decision, Decision Date, Rationale.

Screens to build

Change request form with impact assessment, recommendation, approval route, and baseline update reminder.
Risk register screen with heat scoring, mitigation owner, due date, escalation flag, and trend notes.
Issue register screen with severity, blocker flag, owner queue, resolution plan, and closure evidence.
Weekly RAID review dashboard for open high-severity items and overdue actions.

Power Apps screen blueprints

Project manager and PMO analystRAID Register Screen

Manage risks, issues, actions, and decisions from one operating queue.

Layout

Filter tabs for Risk, Issue, Action, Decision
Severity and overdue filters
Register gallery
Selected item edit panel

Controls

tabRaidType
galRaidItems
cmbSeverity
tglEscalatedOnly
frmRaidItem
btnEscalate
btnCloseItem

Formula notes

Heat score = Probability * Impact Score
Close requires closure notes
Escalate creates decision request when decision is needed

Data sources

Risks and Issues
Actions
Decisions
Escalations

Project manager or sponsorChange Request Screen

Capture impact and route change approval before baseline changes.

Layout

Change summary
Impact assessment cards
Recommendation
Approver routing
Decision history

Controls

frmChangeRequest
cmbChangeType
numScheduleImpact
curBudgetImpact
cmbScopeImpact
txtRecommendation
btnSubmitChange

Formula notes

Impact level derives from budget, schedule, scope, and risk impacts
Approval route changes by impact threshold
Approved change prompts baseline update task

Data sources

Change Requests
Projects
Approval History
Actions

Risk, issue, and action ownersOwner Work Queue Screen

Let owners update mitigation, due dates, and closure evidence without seeing the full PMO admin app.

Layout

My open items
Due soon and overdue grouping
Update panel
Closure evidence panel

Controls

galMyActions
frmOwnerUpdate
txtMitigationUpdate
dpNewDueDate
attClosureEvidence
btnSubmitUpdate

Formula notes

Items filter by current user email
Due date extension requires reason
Closure sets Closed Date and notifies PM

Data sources

Risks and Issues
Actions
Communication Log

Dataverse solution component map

Create this as BV PMO Controls using publisher prefix bvpmocntl.

Tables

bv_changerequest
bv_raiditem
bv_action
bv_decision
bv_escalation
bv_impactassessment

Choices

bv_changetype
bv_controlstatus
bv_severity
bv_raidtype
bv_decisionstatus

Apps

RAID Register
Change Request Portal
Owner Work Queue

Cloud flows

Control - Route Change Approval
Control - Escalate Critical Risk
Control - Overdue Owner Reminder
Control - Close Item Notification

Security roles

Control Project Manager
Control Item Owner
Change Approver
Executive Escalation Viewer

Environment variables

Critical Risk Channel URL
Change Board Email
Overdue Reminder Days
Baseline Update Owner

Dashboards

Risk Heat Map
Issue Aging
Change Impact
Open Decisions

Power Fx snippets

lblHeatScore.TextCalculate RAID heat score

Formula / code

With(
    {
        heatScore: Coalesce(Value(cmbProbability.Selected.Value), 1) * Coalesce(Value(cmbImpact.Selected.Value), 1)
    },
    Text(heatScore, "0")
)

Implementation notes

Use probability only for risks; issues can default probability to 1.
Use the score to drive escalation and Power BI heat maps.

btnCloseItem.OnSelectClose RAID item with evidence

Formula / code

If(
    IsBlank(Trim(txtClosureNotes.Text)),
    Notify("Add closure notes before closing this item.", NotificationType.Warning),
    IfError(
        Patch(
            'Risks and Issues',
            varSelectedRaidItem,
            {
                Status: { Value: "Closed" },
                'Closed Date': Today(),
                'Closure Notes': txtClosureNotes.Text
            }
        ),
        Notify("Item could not be closed.", NotificationType.Error),
        Notify("Item closed.", NotificationType.Success)
    )
);

Implementation notes

Closure evidence is what makes RAID history useful later.
Notify the project manager when an owner closes an escalated item.

Power Automate flow pseudo-steps

FlowControl - Escalate Critical Risk

Trigger: When a risk or issue is created or severity changes.

Workflow map

Check severity and heat score. ->

If critical or escalated, post Teams alert to sponsor and PMO lead. ->

Create escalation record. ->

Create owner action with due date. ->

Write communication log.

Useful expressions

@or(equals(triggerOutputs()?['body/Severity/Value'], 'Critical'), greaterOrEquals(triggerOutputs()?['body/HeatScore'], 12))
addDays(utcNow(), 3)

FlowControl - Route Change Approval

Trigger: When Change Request status changes to Submitted.

Workflow map

Calculate impact level from schedule, budget, scope, and risk. ->

Route low impact to PMO lead and high impact to sponsor/change board. ->

Update decision fields. ->

Create baseline update action after approval.

Useful expressions

@equals(triggerOutputs()?['body/Status/Value'], 'Submitted')
if(greater(triggerOutputs()?['body/BudgetImpact'], 25000), 'Sponsor', 'PMO Lead')

Status model

Draft
Submitted
Under Review
Action Required
Approved or Accepted
Rejected or Closed
Escalated

Permissions

Project managers create and update controls for their projects.
Risk and issue owners update mitigation, resolution, and due dates assigned to them.
Change approvers approve or reject assigned changes.
Executives view escalated items and decision requests.

Workflow map

Team submits change, risk, issue, or decision ->

Classify severity and impact ->

Assign owner and due date ->

Route approval or escalation if needed ->

Track mitigation or decision action ->

Confirm closure evidence ->

Report open exposure and aging

Workflow logic

When a change is submitted, calculate impact level and route approval by threshold.
When a high-exposure risk is created, notify the PMO lead and sponsor.
Send overdue mitigation reminders before and after due dates.
When a change is approved, remind the project manager to update baselines.

Power BI measures and calculations

Open Risk Exposure = SUMX(FILTER('Risks', 'Risks'[Status] <> "Closed"), 'Risks'[Probability] * 'Risks'[Impact Score])
Overdue Actions = COUNTROWS(FILTER('Actions', 'Actions'[Due Date] < TODAY() && 'Actions'[Status] <> "Closed"))
Average Issue Age = AVERAGEX(FILTER('Issues', 'Issues'[Status] <> "Closed"), DATEDIFF('Issues'[Created Date], TODAY(), DAY))
Approved Change Impact = SUM('Change Requests'[Budget Impact])

MVP build sequence

Create Change Requests, Risks, Issues, Actions, and Decisions tables linked to Projects.
Build owner queues first so the tool changes behavior.
Add threshold-based escalation for high-severity items.
Add change approval with impact assessment and baseline reminder.
Create Power BI RAID and change-impact pages.

Starter template downloads

Intake requests CSVStarter columns for demand intake, scoring, ownership, and triage decisions.Project charters CSVStarter charter fields for scope, sponsors, success measures, approvals, and assumptions.Stage gates CSVStarter criteria and review fields for stage movement and gate decisions.RAID and change control CSVStarter fields for risks, issues, actions, decisions, and change requests.Status reporting CSVStarter fields for weekly project health, milestones, benefits, and decision requests.PMO build roadmapA plain-language build order for rolling out the PMO system one tool at a time.