Building a Value Added Effective PMO – Part I

A PMO Organization can provide very effective way to enhance and contribute to your overall Project Management Methodology, Practices and Execution – when done properly. It can also simply be a way for the organization to have an Iron Fisted reporting and control group, that sits back and simply tells many people what is wrong without any assistance or real help to make those corrections. Additionally, it is far too common of an occurrence, to find a PMO setup and running, that does nothing at all but collect information and pass it on to someone else. In short, to have a PMO be effective, it must be setup and organized to provide practical knowledge, experience and leadership to achieve greater results.

An Effective PMO must deliver Value Added Service to the entire organization.

There are a number of key areas that must be taken into consideration, as a PMO is being formulated so that the proper foundation(s) can be put into place to service a larger organization. One is to truly understand that the ‘larger organization’ does not necessarily mean that you are working in a large to very large group, but rather that you are working in an organizational structure where different needs and desires have to be addressed. Information and tracking must be organized such that upper management can receive timely updates on progress, issues and overall success being achieved ‘during the execution’ of the project or program underway. Mid-level management will likely need the same type of information, but in a more granular level, for the mid-level managers have different responsibility levels. The Project Managers that report into the PMO will need help and assistance at several levels and areas. Commonality of process, methodology, and deliverables will be one thing certain to be needed. Assistance with solving both large problems and those smaller issues is another. Guidance on team composition, working across matrix organizations and solving what to many will seem to be smaller problems that may be new or simply difficult to handle by PM’s that may be struggling in a larger program.

For smaller organizations, that have only one or two active projects at any one time, having a full time PMO (Project Management Office), may well be a luxury that cannot be afforded. However, some of the same key processes, techniques and practices of a well setup PMO can still be utilized on an ad-hoc or as needed basis. Simply put, in a smaller organization, take some of the key practices and make sure that the individual PM’s are using them to execute their plans. In larger organizations that have multiple PM’s; multiple projects running simultaneously and running smaller programs (3-4 projects grouped together to achieve a common goal/objective) – it is strongly recommended that a formal PMO be established for the purposes of commonality, governance and to help improve on the execution and delivery of your program. Needless to say, if you are working in a larger endeavor that not only has multiple projects, but also has multiple programs being run – it is imperative that an ‘Effective PMO’ be established early, to achieve the results that are needed. How do we do that?

What does Value Added Service from a PMO really mean?

It is commonplace for many to use ‘value added’ as a catch phrase in many scenarios. Unfortunately, to many that is all that it accomplishes – setting up and using a catch phrase. One must truly be dedicated to the establishment of an organization that brings actual value and a ‘helping hand’ when needed both horizontally and vertically within the organization. If done properly, the PMO will be the ‘first place someone thinks of’ to engage’ when a problem arises or assistance is needed. How many times have you been working with a PMO group that is either invisible, or is the last area that you think of when it’s time to solve problems.  Value added service is generally needed on many levels. When upper management needs to have a different look/view of the tracking data; when a PM needs help and assistance understanding a deliverable; when a difficult scheduling problem is uncovered that spans across the entire program. These are all times where the PMO can be most effective and help bring the leadership and guidance needed to solve the problem, and not simply be part of the problem. The following is a real life example that the PMO that was encountered and also overcome.

The XYZ Manufacturing Company had contracted with a large Services Firm, which we will call the ABC Services Company to take over their system hosting, maintenance and most of their IT Services. When the contract was executed, the delieverables were broken down into three separate phases, with the first phase being the most critical since it needed to be delivered on or before a particular date so that the XYZ company could complete and satisfy the sale of certain assets. The ABC firm staffed up a delievery team with a Transition Manager leading the day to day operations. In this particular situation, the PMO Manager was hired early on, and asked to work on the overall Governance Model, combined Project Schedule and to assist with the establishement of common deliverables and PM Practices (Issue Management, Risk Management, Tracking, etc.). However, the PMO Manager worked directly for the Transition Manager, and many items and practices were tailored to that Managers style, without true regard to what was really needed by the ‘larger organization’. To complicate matters (for the PMO), all of the practices, standards and deliverables had to not only be approved by the ABC Services company, but also the XYZ Manufacturing Company and their PMO group.

The situation turned out not to be a good one, and turned ‘Red’ only 6 weeks after contract signing. Project schedules were hap-hazard at best; updates and ‘real world’ reporting were missing and the Transition Manager was feeling the heat from both organizations. While the ‘performing organization’ was trying to address the leadership and management aspects of the problem, it was evident that the PMO needed to step in and provide ‘value added service’ to Management, the PM’s leading the individual efforts, and the mid-level managers who were trying to execute the plans.

To wrap this story up, without boring everyone with the details which would be all to familar to most of us, the PMO stepped in and became a ‘Client Advocate’ in the rework and establishment of all of our project plans and reporting. Over a period of approximately three weeks, we worked closely together at the Customer Site, reviewing and re-organizing the project plans to meet the needed deadlines so that all parties could be successful. Several weeks after the new plans were established and the integrated program effort was once again underway, the overall status moved to yellow, and finally back to green. Although the overall effort was largely the result of the extended team, the PMO provided ‘Value Added Leadership’ to help organize and foster a new sense of working together effectively. The side benefit to this, is that we not only helped turn around a bad situation, but firmly established the PMO team as the place to go to help solve and address problems – before smaller issues got out of hand.

This is but one example of ‘Value Added’ that a PMO can help bring to an organization. Over the next weeks, we will put together a road map on how an effective and Practical PMO can be established in your organization – always keeping in mind the ‘value added benefit’ that can be brought into play. There are many ways to do this successfully, this will be one way. Hopefully, we will get many practitioners that have both pioneered and led fully functioning PMO Groups, that will follow along and contribute to our discussions.

Next Week: PMO Setup – Part II -Establishing the foundation for your Value Added PMO

Tagged as: Leadership, PMO, Program Management, Project Management Office