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Therefore PMO therefore assumes two key roles, depending on which needs of the organisation are being served:

• Tactical: The PMO provides direct support to projects in several areas such as scope management, baseline change management, project scheduling, resource management, cost management and project reviews. The PMO provides the information required for decision making and ensures that the decisions are being carried out.

• Strategic: The PMO supports the PPM framework, which in addition supports project prioritisation, performance management and benefits realisation (see Figure 13). The PPMT intersects with the executive stream, allowing the organisation to make strategic ‘go/kill/hold/fix’ decisions on key projects in the context of managing a balanced portfolio
of investments.

In summary, the PMO is the function responsible for coordinating, planning, overseeing and monitoring an organisation’s multi-project environment. Through the PPM process the PMO enforces executive accountability and transparency by connecting the organisation’s projects to the business’s portfolio strategic decision making stream. The information supplied by the PMO flows directly into the PPMT’s funding, selection, prioritisation and resourcing processes.PMOs are becoming a standard feature within many organisations and are viewed as the operational centre supporting any project within the business. They act as the clearing house for project information and the driving force for project delivery.

The main specific responsibilities of the PMO include:

Project management, control, delivery and alignment:

- monitoring project outcomes and communicating this up stream to the PPMT and down stream to project managers
- increasing communication and coordination across projects
- advising the PPMT on the benefits and status of projects
- advising and reporting on the placement of new and elimination of old projects
- endorsing, advising and supporting project managers
- confirming successful delivery and sign-off at the closure of the projects
- managing resource utilisation across the organisation, matching project needs with specialised skills and availability
- ensuring critical projects are on time and within budget by providing objective accountability and review at every stage, from initiation to closure
- using dashboards to enhance the roles of project and programme managers within the enterprise

Financial accounting:

- assisting project managers with budget control
- maintaining financial status reports on all projects
- analysing interfaces and critical cost dependencies between projects and recommending appropriate action
- maintaining a list of stakeholders and their financial interests

Project management support:

- providing a single point of contact for all project information
- training, coaching, guidance and mentoring
- developing and holding project templates and master copies of all project and programme information
- generating all necessary quality management documentation
- maintaining, controlling and updating documentation
- establishing and maintaining an electronic registry of project information for use by both the PPMT and project managers

Methodologies, standards and metrics:

- guardianship of project methodologies (for example, Prince2), standards and metrics
- compiling reports and collecting information from project reviews
- providing a central, customer focused office to care for the concerns of the client, sponsor and project stakeholders
- providing assistance to the PPMT in selecting and analyzing projects
- establishing consistent practices and standards for programme governance arrangements, including project planning, reporting,
- change control, analysing risks and maintaining and updating the risk register

Programme management is the process of managing multiple, ongoing, interdependent projects. The Programme Management Office (PMO) provides a layer above the project management process, focusing on selecting the best group of programmes, defining them in terms of their constituent
projects and providing an infrastructure whereby projects can be run successfully while leaving the job of delivery to the project management community.

The focus of the PMO is to coordinate and communicate on all programmes and projects in the enterprise, as well as to be the knowledge centre with regard to training, leadership, mentoring, best practice, project governance standards, and so on that supports managers in the implementation of the tasks and work packages required to achieve
successful project completion.

The PMO’s role within the business is not only to act as a knowledge centre, but also to help marry project management process with the executive streams by working closely with the PPMT. This relationship is designed to help the business to identify the precise measures that need to be taken in order to turn strategic goals into reality, as well as to determine the key performance indicators that show whether goals are being met.

The PMO provides the necessary overview and coordination to deliver projects on time and on budget by managing and reporting on schedules, risks, costs, quality, scope and resources across all projects. At the heart of a PMO is its relationship with the PPMT, the aim being to enable the business to coordinate and integrate complex multi-project initiatives across an entire enterprise. This partnership between the PMO and the PPMT is there to empower the executive decision making stream with the necessary information to help prioritise and balance project initiatives, justify decisions, measure risk vs return and allocate resources in a way that maximises their impact on the business.

One of the main issues when implementing a PPM process is that different layers of management within the business have their own territorial issues and oversights. As stated earlier, the PPMT consists of executives and senior postholders who are charged with responsibility for making all key decisions that affect the project portfolio.

The PMO provides the bridge that joins the operational stream with the strategic stream. The PMO is a body of senior project stakeholders and managers that has responsibility for managing all the business’s projects from an operational perspective as well reporting back to the PPMT on their outcome.

By centralising overall operational responsibility for all the organisation’s projects in the PMO, a complete picture of project activity can be painted. The PPMT is able to utilise the tactical structure of the PMO to collect all the necessary ‘coal face information’ to manage and evaluate the health of the business’s projects.

The formation of a PMO is not only designed drive top-down accountability; it also supports the complete operational framework for managing a multi-project environment. In effect a PMO is an information repository that provides the visibility needed to understand the health of ongoing projects and the potential impact of planned projects – and ensures that all projects are evaluated in the same manner. Without a PMO ‘knowledge centre’, executives and the PPMT are hindered in their ability to make the necessary collective decisions based on the right information.

Dear Reader,

While reading Raven’s Brain blog I came across an excellent article about 10 Undeniable Truths of Project Management Barnett sourced from Gantt Head.

1. Project Scope Is Not Defined On PowerPoint Slides

2. Project Schedules Do Not a Project Plan Make

3. Projects Are Not Managed From Behind a Spreadsheet

Some project managers secretly want to be statisticians. They love to calculate all of the various metrics pertaining to their project such as the percentages of deliverables completed, tasks currently on schedule, tasks that should have started, of variance from budget, etc. These are all good to know. The problem is that they spend so much time summarizing and restating data in their spreadsheets, they never talk to the team members about how the project is going and what problems they are having. Without that connection with the team, they are not managing so much as they are reporting.

4. No Task Longer Than 80 Hours and Not Shorter Than 40

5. No More Than One Person Responsible For a Task

6. Every Task Generates a Deliverable. No Work for Work’s Sake.

7. Large projects should be broken down into sub-projects (if they have long timeframes)

8. Plan for the Worst

The old saying is “the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry”, and they do. Always think through your risk plans. Even if things are going well, a good PM has to ask “what if?” Remember that for each risk you can think of, come up with a way to reduce the likelihood of it happening (mitigation) and have a Plan B if it does (contingency).

9. Make it Fun

IT projects can be daunting events. Have you ever noticed that there are some project managers that people just don’t want to work for? The Project Tyrant that is always changing things, asking for things at the last minute and making demands of people is someone that is hard to support over the long haul of a project. There will be tense times on any project, but the lead comes from the top. When things are at their worst, if the PM can laugh at himself it will relieve the tension of the entire team.

10. In the End it is People

In the end, the key point to be mindful of is that all of the previous techniques exist for one purpose: to produce results with a team of people. All of the techniques in the world will not produce anything if they are not constantly tuned, adjusted and calibrated for the individuals on your team. People are different and they all respond differently in various situations. The most successful senior managers I have run across in my experience were the ones with a unique respect, passion, appreciation and understanding for people.

I have found an interesting video post from 4 PM wesbite about the challenges of persuading a sponsor that project planning is worthwhile

The post says…”One of the very difficult barriers to doing projects the right way is the reluctance of sponsors and stakeholders to participate in the planning process. Its much easier for them to avoid making the the tough decisions that should be made at the beginning of a project. Project managers have to muster effective arguments or they wind up starting work without a plan which is the seed of project failure.”

To view the video post go to the 4PM website.

This month we continue our theam about executive sponsorship. I have found an excellent post from ProjectSteps about execuitive apathy.

Ever had a project that begins with strong executive/senior management support and over time that support fades?

The symptoms are:

1) Executives/senior management remain silent during status meetings

2) Executives/senior management stop coming to status meetings and don’t ask for meeting minutes

3) Executives/senior management lack a sense of urgency regarding “your” project

4) Executives/senior management become more confused and less supportive over time regarding project goals and objectives

5) Executives/senior management begin to focus on what has been “installed” vs. what business results have been realized

6) The project sponsor(s) becomes detached and less available for project updates

7) Executives, sponsors, and stakeholders start to forget the culture and try to force solutions to meet deadlines

I know first hand that executives/senior management will tell you they support your project, and then turnaround and encourage resistance in their departments, and allow or ignore passive-aggressive behaviors of key staff members regarding the project’s goals and objectives. What can be done? Here are some ideas; however you must realize that your project is in serious trouble if you have observed the behaviors listed above.

1) Calculate the costs of the project so far. Consider scaling back the project or killing it all together. I know from experience that this is much easier said than done.

2) Identify key executives and stakeholders and meet with them personally and restate the projects benefits. If they still aren’t sold or supportive, move on to the next group. Ensure you create a Scope Change and de-scope portions of the project that aren’t getting support.

3) Reevaluate the project team. Do you need new people? Are they really focused on meeting the project’s objectives and scope? Are the project’s objectives and scope still realistic, attainable and relevant?

4) Reevaluate the organization’s culture and re-plan the project if needed. Reset expectations, and identify sources of resistance. If the culture can’t be changed quickly, perhaps the project’s objectives, goals, and/or scope need to be adjusted.

5) Remember, project failure rests on the project manager’s shoulders. Sometimes senior management is too busy to get or stay involved, however that doesn’t release them from their responsibility to support your project. Determine if they are too busy or just too lazy to support your project. Not easy to do, but absolutely necessary.

6) Remember what Dr. Stephen Covey says is the 4th Discipline (The 4 Disciplines of Execution) - “Hold Each Other Accountable - All of the Time”. If you are a project manager it is your job to hold all levels of the organization accountable for project success. Having said that, you must proceed with caution if you plan to do this with executives. Be tactful and respectful; however, don’t let them off the hook.

A recent survey found that only 39 percent of workers feel highly energized and committed to their organization’s most important goals. This survey includes executives and senior managers. Just because they have the title doesn’t mean they will behave responsibly or be focused on doing the right things right! Executives, senior management, and your project sponsor(s) may say they support you and your project, but it is up to you to figure out if they really are being supportive. Silence is not acceptance when it comes to dealing with the decision makers. When they stop asking questions, you are in deep trouble.