PMO17BR318 Communities of Practice: Doing It Right! Edouard Larocque, Senior Program Manager Employment and Social Development Canada

Transcription

1 HOUSTON, TX, USA 5 8 NOVEMBER 2017 #PMOSym PMO17BR318 Communities of Practice: Doing It Right! Edouard Larocque, Senior Program Manager Employment and Social Development Canada

2 Learning Objectives What is a Community of Practice (CoP)? How can a CoP influence agility? What can a CoP do for you? Entrepreneurial vs. process centric What can a CoP do to promote professionalization of project management? Promote competency development How can you create a CoP? How can you energize or re-energize your CoP? Canada s public service experience 2

3 What Is a Community of Practice/Practitioners? A group of functional experts interested in and willing to collaborate with likeminded colleagues for the purpose of identifying, developing and implementing continuous improvements that are intended to promote and enhance their function s value to the practice of professional project management Ed Larocque Wikipedia: A community of practice (CoP) is a group of people who share a craft and/or a profession. The concept was first proposed by cognitive anthropologist Jean Lave and educational theorist Etienne Wenger in their 1991 book: Situated Learning (Lave & Wenger, 1991) 3

4 How Can a CoP Influence Agility? Agile is one of the most misunderstood words in the project management practice Many people confuse the word agile, meaning doing things quickly or in a flexible manner with agile, a discipline of project practice that focuses on task-level management to build products in a more client-responsive manner 4

5 Agile: As It Relates to Project Management Agile in project management is not a methodology The agile movement seeks alternatives to traditional project management approaches Oxford Dictionary 2017: Relating to or denoting a method of project management, used especially in software development, that is characterized by the division of tasks into short phases of work and frequent reassessment and adaptation of plans 5

6 Values of Agile Project Management Individuals and interactions Over processes and tools Working software Over comprehensive documentation Customer collaboration Over contract negotiation Responding to change Over following a plan 6

7 Principles of Agile Project Management Customer satisfaction through early and continuous software delivery Accommodate changing requirements throughout the development process Frequent delivery of working software Collaboration between the business stakeholders and developers throughout the project Support, trust and motivate the people involved Enable face-to-face interactions communication is more successful when development teams are co-located Working software is the primary measure of progress Agile processes to support a consistent development pace 7

8 Characteristics of Agile Adaptability Agile allows the client to change their minds, and the agile team the ability to provide value by delivering on client needs not on the development team s perceived need of the client Scalability Agile can be applied to multiple deliverables and deployment options (releases) for a project team Predictability The strongest advantage of agile is the predictability that comes from the delivery of products in smaller packages 8

9 Benefits of Agile Methods The customer has frequent and early opportunities to see the work being delivered; the agile team accepts and welcomes changing requirements The client gains a strong sense of ownership by working extensively and directly with the project team throughout the project Speed to market More transparency many check-ins between development and the client Product quality is typically better more opportunity for testing Risk management lower project risks due to smaller work packages Cost control use of cost burn-down charts allows for stricter monitoring of development costs 9

10 Common Agile Project Management Myths Agile is only suitable for technology-based projects Scope creep can result in cost and time overruns Agile projects do not require planning Only processes (triple constraint) focused on project management will succeed in agile Agile project management teams must be co-located 10

11 When to Use a Traditional vs. Agile Approach Traditional Requirements are well known Product definition is stable Technology is understood New version of existing product Technical team is unstable, junior, needs management oversight Integration of existing product to the new platform Project is large, expensive and complicated Management has a control style Focus is on deadlines and contracts Testing is separated from the development staff Agile Business objectives are well defined Functionality of the system is clearly visible End users are available/high level of involvement Technical team is stable/senior/skilled Functional requirements are reasonable and within capabilities of technology used Systems can be modularized Management style is empowering Focus is on time to market Testing is able to understand product/read code and write automated tests 11

12 Sharing Agile Project Management Across a Broad Membership Present case studies for review/discussion Host expert presentations/workshops Promote agile competencies (entrepreneurial vs. process-centric or process-cratic) Promote and support an agile cultural shift Promote role clarity Influence senior executives/central agencies 12

13 Sharing Agile Project Management Across a Broad Membership (cont d) Promote role clarity Project manager Scrum Master/team lead (transformation lead) Program manager Product owner 13

14 What Can a Community of Practice Do for You? Provide a forum for the sharing of knowledge and experience Provide the opportunity to collectively identify systemic issues Develop and implement corrective action plans Influence policy Expose members to new ideas/concepts (entrepreneurial skills) Provide networking opportunities Access to discounted training rates 14

15 What Can a CoP Do to Promote Professional Project Management? Identification of common stakeholder needs/challenges PMO, EPMO, PDO, PSO Purpose Target audience Identification of staffing, competency and experience deficiencies PMCD (professional development of project management) Increase understanding of and proficiency in project management 15

16 PMO, EPMO, PDO, PSO Typical Deliverables PMO: An organizational structure that standardizes the project-related governance processes and facilitates the sharing of resources, methodologies, tools and techniques. Types include: Supportive, Controlling, Directive: (PMI: A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) Sixth Edition, pg. 48) Collect, analyze and display program data Day-to-day project management Define and maintain standards Ensure strategic alignment Facilitate the sharing of resources Project oversight Provide project guidance Provide project performance metrics Source for documentation 16

17 PMO, EPMO, PDO, PSO Typical Deliverables (cont d) EPMO: Aligns strategically with the organization and provides a holistic management approach over multiple program management offices (PMOs) Collect, analyze and display program data Define and maintain standards Ensure strategic alignment Project oversight Provide holistic management across PMOs Secretariat support to project governance Source for documentation 17

18 PMO, EPMO, PDO, PSO Typical Deliverables (cont d) PDO: Responsible for day-to-day project management and completion of projects; focuses on process improvement when possible Day-to-day project management Facilitate the sharing of resources Provide project guidance Source for documentation 18

19 PMO, EPMO, PDO, PSO Typical Deliverables (cont d) PSO: Coordination center for project activity, typically responsible for tracking various initiatives and providing project management guidance support (not execution) Facilitate the sharing of resources Guide the development of skills and competencies Provide project guidance Provide project support functions/infrastructure Source for documentation Formal support for P3 managers 19

20 What Can a CoP Do to Promote Professional Project Management? Promote understanding of project, program, and portfolio relationship Identification of common governance challenges Timely and accurate information Data collection Timely dissemination of decisions Host keynote presentations/speakers Promote entrepreneurial and other approaches vs. process-cratic project management Benefits realization management Organizational change management Strategic stakeholder/sponsor engagement Project risk and complexity management 20

21 How Can You Create a Community of Practice? Determine existing level of interest/support Solicit input from interested parties Develop a baseline of topics for initial discussion Schedule and meet with interested parties Validate survey findings Develop an initial members list Determine member availability/timing/frequency for meetings Develop terms of reference, agenda/rod templates, roles and responsibilities, membership requirements, guest speakers, etc. 21

22 How Can You Energize or Re-Energize Your CoP? Establish a meeting schedule that meets the needs of the membership Bring in keynote speakers that engage the membership Benefits realization management Agile project management Scheduling projects and programs Strategic stakeholder relationship management Organizational change management Entrepreneurial vs. process-cratic project management Risk and complexity in project management Survey the membership periodically to ensure engagement 22

23 How Can You Energize or Re-Energize Your CoP? (cont d) Establish sub-wgs to investigate and develop options for the potential resolution of systemic issues Promote networking events Promote educational opportunities Encourage an open membership (regular, associate, etc.) Share research findings, current literature and training opportunities Encourage public/private sector collaboration 23

24 Canada s Public Service Experience 2011 (June) TBS/ITPROD established Project Management Advisory Committee (PMAC) at the senior executive level as a strategic forum for consultation and information exchange on matters relating to project and portfolio management of IT-enabled business projects in the GC 2013 (summer) PMAC becomes dormant 2013 (fall) Interdepartmental Investment Planning and Project Management Community of Practitioners starts up at the working level 2014 (Jan 31 March 2015) IP & PM CoP entered into a MoU with the Canada School of Public Service for discounted training fees 24

25 Canada s Public Service Experience (cont d) 2015 (spring) IP & PM CoP revises ToRs to include associate members 2015 (Feb) First sub-wg established to develop a generic project management competency model 2015 (Oct) IP & PM CoP membership consists of 98 individual members representing 30 departments/agencies 2016 (spring) Training cost discounts offered to general membership by associate member training service providers (colleges and universities) 25

26 Canada s Public Service Experience (cont d) 2016 Efforts made to identify opportunities for improvement/increased practitioner engagement Membership survey conducted Keynote speakers scheduled Stable meeting forum secured Regular meetings scheduled Regional participation encouraged Sub-WGs established to investigate systemic issues and develop options solutions 2017 meeting participation available via WEBEX 2017 (fall) IP & PM CoP membership consists of >250 individual members representing 40 departments/agencies supporting 6 Sub-WGs with a sixth under consideration 2017 (summer) PMAC revitalized under TBS/OCG 26

27 Closing Slide Next week: Solicit interest for the creation of a CoP; or Solicit interest in the continuation of an existing CoP Next 90 days: Hold a first meeting to establish ToRs, meeting schedule, etc.; or Conduct a membership survey to determine current key issues Next 12 months: Have at least one Sub-WG established to investigate a key systemic issue; or Review and finalize existing terms of reference and begin to schedule keynote speakers 27

28 Contact Information Professional: Personal: homewithaces@sympatico.ca 28