Virtual Project Management Office S.Chandramouli PMP S.Rajarajan

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1 Virtual Project Management Office S.Chandramouli PMP S.Rajarajan Virtual PMO 1

2 About the Authors: 1. Chandramouli S.Chandramouli, PMP is currently working as Lead Consultant at Satyam Computers Chennai. He is leading the Program Management Office (PMO) for a practice. His experience is diverse and covers - Audit, Risk, Quality, Control, Operations, Sales, and Profit Centre Mgt.He has worked in organizations such as Scope International, Polaris, and Birla Soft. He has an MCA from Bharathidasan University and PGDBA degree from Annamalai University. He has been actively involved with the Project management discipline and got Most Valuable Player of the Year 2004 award from Birla Soft Management. He presented papers on Project Management in various international forums. He is a Project Management Professional certified by Project Management Institute USA. He is currently involved as an active member in PMI s OPM3 and PMCDF Project Works 2. Rajarajan S.Rajarajan is currently working as Consultant at Satyam Computers Chennai. He is leading the Program Management Office (PMO) for a practice. Good exposure to banking domain and Project Management activities. He has been actively involved with the Project management discipline and has Strong delivery capabilities with tough deadlines along with appropriate process definition. He has an MCA & PGDCA from Bharathidasan University. Virtual PMO 2

3 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION...4 PMO CONCEPT AND ITS GROWTH...4 WHAT S DRIVING PMO GROWTH NOW?...5 VIRTUAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT...5 INTRODUCTION...5 DOING, SHARING, MEASURING...5 VIRTUAL TEAMS FOR SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT:...6 KEY CHALLENGES OF THE VIRTUAL PMO...6 ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF VIRTUAL PMO...7 NEED FOR VIRTUAL PMO...7 TOOLS FOR VIRTUAL PMO...8 USING VIRTUAL PMO AS A COMPETITIVE TOOL...8 ADVANTAGES OF VIRTUAL PMO OFFICE:...9 OBSTACLES:...10 VPMO FRAME WORK...10 SETTING UP VPMO...13 SETTING VPMO...13 DETERMINE THE TOOLS REQUIRED...14 EVALUATE DIFFERENT OPTIONS...14 BUY (RENT) THE TOOLS REQUIRED...15 CONFIGURING THE TOOLS...15 DETERMINE THE STRUCTURE OF PMO...15 RECRUIT SUITABLE PEOPLE FOR PMO...16 SHARE THE GOAL OF VPMO...16 PILOTING VPMO...16 CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT...16 CONCLUSIONS...17 REFERENCES:...18 Virtual PMO 3

4 The Virtual Project Management Office Introduction Internet has removed the barriers of time and space to allow our business to be performed electronically (virtually) by people in different geographies, time zones and organisations. This virtual enables people to interact without the need to physically come together. With the appropriate processes and tools, information can be effectively exchanged in the virtual environment. In addition, virtual working offers financial and operational benefits to organisations through increased flexibility, reduced overhead costs and cycle times. PMO Concept and its Growth Companies do projects to fulfil a strategic internal initiative or meet a customer need and most, according to reports, are challenged or eventually fail when executing their projects. The void between strategy and execution is there but is difficult to see and touch. Typical Strategy Objectives of the Organisation: Improve Profitability Reduce Cost of Business Reduce Risk of Business The real value of a PMO is in making sure that every project undertaken is aligned towards company s strategy and advances the same in a measurable way. In many cases today this simple objective is not met by a significant percentage of enterprise projects. The emphasis is on enforcing standard processes so that all projects are governed in the same way. Virtual PMO 4

5 What s driving PMO Growth now? Several key factors contribute to the continued growth of the PMO. 1. Project Complexity 2. Global Economic Condition 3. Sarbanes-Oxley Act of The Basel II Capital Adequacy Accord Introduction Virtual Project Management Geographical location is no longer a constraint when pursuing business opportunities in support of strategic goals and Objectives. Global business means greater numbers of long-distance virtual teams. The final ingredient is the World Wide Web. Enter cost effective , broadband, along with collaborative technologies and the concept of virtual teams emerges with all the hype associated with other Internet breakthroughs. Virtual project management (VPM) is the Information Age equivalent of management by walking around. Executives will have to manage virtually without Travel. Current project planning is plagued with logistical problems such as identifying and assembling skilled teams of people, the timely procurement of products and services, and the optimal decomposition of a project into biddable pieces. Virtual project management is aimed at radically changing the way teams are constructed and projects are conducted. Doing, sharing, measuring "A virtual project is a collaborative effort towards a specific goal or accomplishment which is based on 'collective yet remote' performance,".another source sets "working together, apart" as Virtual PMO 5

6 the goal of enterprise networking. These modes of work share a need for management tools that enable communication and coordination at a distance. Advantages of Virtual Project Management: 1. Cost savings 2. Project Schedules Compressed 3. Minimize Phone and travel expenses 4. Online tools save time and money 3. Virtual Tools for VPM: Virtual Teams for Software Development: Definition: Identifying Virtual Teams Virtual project management is the system by which virtual teams collaborate for a finite period of time towards a specific goal. There are several appealing definitions in the literature. 1. Authority Key challenges of the Virtual PMO PMO has to have its own authority to insist its recommendations to be implemented in the Projects. In the case of Virtual PMO it needs more authority as the people are scattered and the chances of its recommendations going in air is high. 2. Senior management buy-in If our management is not taking part in the activities of PMO, it won t succeed at all. Senior management has to take part actively in all the activities of PMO.It is the PMO s responsibility to get they buy-in from the senior management for all of its activities. Virtual PMO 6

7 3. Defining the key metrics of success First time Right, On Time Delivery and within Budget are the main metrics which we set usually as metrics for the success of the Project. Other metrics which relates the Project with the Organisational strategy also has to be captured. 4. Getting the Project managers confidence Getting the Confidence of the Project Manager who is directly managing the Project is very important in the case of Virtual Project Management Office. If the Project Manager decides to ignore the Virtual PMO the entire concept of it will collapose.getting the Confidence of PM is a key challenge for Virtual PMO team. Roles and Responsibilities of Virtual PMO 1. Virtual PMO like any other PMO must have a well-defined charter and set of objectives. 2. The Virtual PMO must work with senior management and company stakeholders in allocating Project managers to projects. 3. The Virtual PMO itself must be centrally and carefully managed as a resource or it will fail. The overall head of the VPMO must be a strong leader who is not afraid to say "no" at times. 4. The PMO should use a standard Project Management package, Project Management Methodology, and create standards for all aspects of its work. Need for Virtual PMO 1. High Competition 2. Cost Reduction 3. More Sophistication (easy access) Virtual PMO 7

8 4. Availability of tools Tools for Virtual PMO 1. Telephone/ s/chatting tools 2. Video Conferencing 3. Data Sharing Applications 4. Version Control Systems 5. Voting tools 6. Virtual Project tracker 7. Automatic Tasks reminder 8. Global reporting anywhere anytime 9. Planning and Scheduling Tools 10. Historical Project Database Tools 11. Support and Training Tools 12. Risk Management Tools There are two web-based products that support virtual project teams. One is Mesa/Vista Project Manager by Mesa Systems Guild, Inc., a high-end offering that provides comprehensive process management through a rich mix of Java, JavaScript and XML technologies. Using Virtual PMO as a competitive tool The benefits from implementing a Virtual PMO will ultimately pay off through better controls over existing operations, greater understanding of risks, which results in better business investment decisions, and a stronger competitive position in particular at a lower cost. Improvements in quality will flow from a well-designed and carefully implemented Virtual PMO. Kintana Tool: It provides foundation for capturing and automating key IT business processes. Kintana s comprehensive approach achieves real-time IT governance through proven applications that manage and automate critical IT functions: Virtual PMO 8

9 demand management portfolio management program management time management change management Once the virtual team is assembled, the next step is to design and instantiate a workflow that models the integrated, multi-organizational project. Advantages of virtual PMO office: A virtual office Project teams can be dynamically reconfigured providing exceptional working flexibility without informing the whole team. Information can be added or uploaded in any electronic format from any location. Your information becomes part of a global virtual library. Your team can use any PC with Internet access to contact your virtual PMO office. It can bring improved financial performance by reducing travel, expenses and minimising overhead administration costs. Quick and easy access to the latest information provides a good base for decision-making, reducing overall business risk. Efficient use of personnel among multiple projects Higher reliability in production systems Projects aligned with business objectives Virtual PMO 9

10 Projects that implement reusable tools so that stakeholders have more predictability in project results Improved project management skills throughout the enterprise Obstacles: All project teams face obstacles to success. When one decomposes virtual teams into the summary of its parts, it is evident that virtual teams are especially challenging. They include: false consensus, unresolved overt conflict, underground conflict, closure avoidance, calcified team meetings, uneven participation, lack of accountability, and forgetting the customer. These can be a part of every team. However, virtual teams add a new dimension to the problem technology adoration. Virtual teams face problems encountered by all teams, people working with others in the organization, plus those face by the virtual nature. These can be numerous. In the end it simply boils down to the fact that it is difficult to collaborate on something when the communication process is inhibited. New technologies just provide new mechanism to make distant collaborative teams possible, not necessarily superior to other options. Since virtual teams present stiff challenges to its members, most authors end up heavily emphasizing one of three areas: building trust, enhancing communication, and developing virtual management skills. VPMO Frame Work It is always required to define a frame work for Program (Project) Management Office and act within its boundary, as we already told acting outside the boundary is clearly out of scope for the Office. If senior management wants the PMO to involve in anything outside its boundary then we have to bring the outsider into its own boundary. PMO Office Framework in Virtual Environment will be looking similar to the one without virtual environment but in the virtual environment all informal things will become formal and the Virtual PMO 10

11 process has to be followed clearly and the history is known to others openly. When we are defining the Frame Work for PMO all pre cautionary steps has to be taken. We can divide the Frame work at higher level as 1. Internal environment 2. External Environment External Environment PMO Internal Environment The frame work for VPMO is influenced by both the external and internal factors. The frame work has to define the direction of the initiative towards the goal defined by the senior management and provides leadership for the entire project team. Virtual PMO 11

12 Every participant's user interface includes an environment, which is a toolkit or workbench that allows participants to perform their tasks. Environments are role-specific. For example, a project owner's environment consists of tools suitable for project management; for estimation, planning, budgeting, etc. On the other hand, a developer's environment consists of tools needed for development. Examples of environments are: Project Owner's Environment: Project site management tools, Workflow design, coordination, & monitoring tools, Project management tools. Project Participant's Environment: Workflow coordination & monitoring tools, Project management tools. Software Developer's Environment: editor, workflow client, libraries, compiler, debugger, analysis tools, visualization tools, configuration management system. Software Tester's Environment: editor, workflow client, test case generators, configuration management system. Software Designer's Environment: editor, workflow client, design tools, visualization tools. While many tools may be local to the participant, it may be advantageous in the context of the Internet to centralize certain tools/environments. For example, shared software artefacts can be maintained in a server-side repository; accessible over the Internet through the Project site web server & CGI gateway. This can work for shared resources such as a configuration management system, search tools, code query processors, etc. The shared artefacts of interest may include specs, design documents, code, versions, docs, test cases, bug reports, and any other relevant information. The PMO framework has the following internal critical Factors: Virtual PMO 12

13 1) Risk Management 2) Change Management 3) Problem Management 4) Integration Management The PMO framework has the following external critical Factors: 1)Business results definition 2)Budget tracking 3)Communications Management The term External means outside the Project and of course inside the Organisation. Web-based project infrastructures Virtual projects require communication, collaboration and project management. The present generation of software aims to support work within each of these domains by leveraging client/server technologies such as shared data access, standards-based messaging and browser economies. Setting up VPMO Setting VPMO 1. Determine the tools required 2. Evaluate different options/type of tools 3. Buy(Rent) the tools required 4. Configure the tools as per requirement 5. Determine the structure of PMO 6. Recruit suitable people for VPMO 7. Share the goal of the PMO to all the parties 8. Train all the parties to use the tool 9. Pilot VPMO Virtual PMO 13

14 10. improve VPMO The different steps described above need not be implemented in the same Order. We can start with any step we are confident with. But for effective implementation of our Virtual Project Management Office all the steps described above has to be implemented. Determine the tools required There are different free tools available in the market for establishing the Virtual Project Management Office. Basic tools required for establishing VPMO is telephone, s & chatting tools. Free soft wares available for video conferencing, Data Sharing, Version Control, Automatic task reminder, Risk Management tools, Planning and scheduling tools. Using these tools is very cost effective but we must be trained on these tools for optimum use of it. Since there are so many tools available for setting up the VPMO, in this step we have to determine the tools necessary in our Organisation for establishing the same. Evaluate different Options Next step is evaluating different Options available for each tool. For example if we decided to use the Audio conferencing facility to be used as a part of VPMO, list down various options available in the Audio conferencing facilities in the world like bridge call facility, music facility, mute facility, Web Schedulement facility, Toll-free Dial-in Number, Maximum Conference Size, Maximum Conference duration, Conference Recording facility, Outlook and lotus calendaring facilities, Good Customer Support, Security features. Determine the features we really required to execute or setup our Virtual Project Management Office. Pugh matrix can be used effectively used over here and it refers to a matrix that helps determine which items or potential solutions are more important or 'better' than others. It is a scoring matrix used for concept selection, in which options are assigned scores relative to criteria. The selection is made based on the consolidated scores. Virtual PMO 14

15 Buy (Rent) the tools required We need not buy all the tools required at a time to start the VPMO.We can buy basic tools required to start VPMO and can use the required software whenever required, but almost all are available for free of cost. Telephone Connection, Internet connection, Facilities are the basic things required for setting up the VPMO and all the tools required for the same has to be purchased. Configuring the tools Some of the tools have to be configured according to the requirement of our Organization or Virtual Project Management Office. For example we need to customize or create an Group for VPMO which will be helpful for the team to contact the PMO without knowing who is currently working in the Office. We can also configure many of the applications that are started by various Desktop icons, including the editor, mail reader, and calendar Determine the structure of PMO The structure of the PMO within the Organisation is very vital for the Organisation and various factors determine the structure of the PMO.In the higher level there are two types of structures called 1) Centralized structure 2) De-Centralized structure. In the Centralized structure of the PMO, it is common across various divisions/practices available in the Organization and it is very much suitable for Organization where there is less number of departments or divisions.de-centralized structure is more suitable for an Organization where we want to track and control all the activities at each division level or Practice Level. When the size of the Organization is very high then we have to naturally go for De-Centralized structure for VPMO.In this step we have to determine the Role and Responsibilities of all the roles of the people in the Organization structure. Virtual PMO 15

16 Recruit suitable people for PMO Right people have to be placed in the PMO to execute its jobs. Under rating the activities of PMO will definitely spoil the purpose of forming it. Big question arises over here of how to select the Right people for PMO.We have to map all the roles and responsibilities defined for that role against the suitable qualifications, experience and necessary artefacts or credentials. Any compromise on the quality of people recruited will definitely affect the quality of the deliverables of the PMO.So Lets select the right people at right Places for VPMO.When we are selecting the people for VPMO, we have to find the interest of the particular people also. If the particular person is not interested in the role we are recruiting even though he is very much suitable for the position then it own solve the purpose of selection. Share the goal of VPMO The goal and service Offerings of VPMO has to be shared with all the parties involved so that everybody understands the purpose of VPMO and in turn all the concerned people will recognize and respond to VPMO. This step is very important for the success of VPMO and to get the co-ordination of all the Project Managers involved, after all they are the real end users for VPMO. Piloting VPMO VPMO has to necessarily be piloted to understand the difficulties we people are facing while using it. During this stage we can understand the feeling of the real end users and Voice of these users has to be captured in a prompt way. Voice of the people who are really using it and the people who are not using it has to be captured. The Voice of the people are not using it during the pilot period has to be given due attention and it is the responsibility of the VPMO to make them use it by dusting off all their difficulties. Continuous Improvement This step is very important for the success of VPMO and to get the co-ordination of all the Project Managers involved, after all they are the real end users for VPMO. Adopting new activities and eliminating those which are found to add little or no value. The goal is to increase Virtual PMO 16

17 effectiveness by reducing inefficiencies, frustrations, and waste.the Japanese term is Kaizen, which is taken from the words "Kai" means change and "Zen" means good. Conclusions In this short position paper, we have outlined some of the ideas relating to virtual project management Office. The concept of virtual project management Office seems attractive both in terms of economic implications as well as technical opportunities. Virtual project teams are successful because the leaders and members put forth the extra effort to overcome communication barriers. Virtual PMO 17

18 REFERENCES: 1) for Business terms reference Virtual PMO 18

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