Peter Taylor The Lazy Nimble PMO

Transcription

1 Peter Taylor The Lazy Nimble PMO Peter used his session to give a few quick wins and practical tips to the delegates on how to help their PMOs be more successful. He summarised how he differentiates between the 3 P s and how they relate to the PMO as follows: Portfolio: Doing the right things Programme: Doing them in the right order Project: Doing them in the right way PMO: Using the Right Team He suggested a few light hearted Acid Tests to help check how closely the PMO s view of itself matches the rest of the organisation s perceptions of the PMO. Call up the CEO (or a manager 2-3 levels above you) and count the number of seconds until they recognise your name. Do they know how you support the business? When was the last time a Project Manager came to you for advice or help? Are you approachable or scary? Project Managers shouldn t be reluctant to ask you for help! When you call up a Project Manager, do you get straight through, or do you encounter avoidance techniques? Do they assume they must have done something wrong if you ring them? If Project Managers aren t happy when you call, or don t believe you are here to help and support, are you marketing your PMO properly?

2 Peter then offered a few simple tips Do not be the project police. Although process compliance may be important in many ways, overdoing it doesn t give a balanced view of the PMO. The Project Managers will end up avoiding or circumventing processes, and won t come to you for help. o Make sure you strike a balance, and emphasise that governance and control are about discipline and meeting the needs of the business, not the PMO. Strive for a good blend of conformance and flexibility If possible, try to rotate project managers (or other people with relevant and recent project experience) into the PMO. If you can involve the best people, both parties can learn from each other. Create a PMO Menu. PMOs rarely have direct ownership of project activity, so you need to find ways of proving the value of the PMO. Drafting a menu enables you to engage and interact with project personnel, explicitly showing how you can help them. o In the early days, focus on the things that you do well, even if they are not always project management-specific; claim as many successes from your interventions as you can! Things to include on your menu of services might be Running healthchecks, Running review / Lessons Learned sessions Holding training or certification events Helping with interviews for Project Management personnel or evaluating applications

3 Providing a signposting service to point request or queries to other people in the organisation who may be better placed to help with specific project or technical issues The delegates then had some discussions around the table on the activities that their PMOs did best. Typical responses included: Drafting and driving standards and processes Providing consolidated management reporting Continuous improvement Ensuring each project fits the needs of business Lessons Learned activities Providing inductions for project staff Assisting with Project Start ups Defining Roles & Responsibilities Helping project managers to draft PIDs and Business Cases Helping project managers use their tools effectively Assisting with project and resource planning Project prioritisation One PMO in particular was heavily involved in process excellence and the statistical process control / quality management of PMO processes

4 PMOs often don t have many easy ways of measuring their performance, with many falling back on Customer Satisfaction. Peter, however, stressed the need for the PMO to find robust measures inside their organisation, and to report against them. Examples of measures used by delegates included: Improvements in resource utilisation Monthly Slippages, trends and common themes RAG statuses Project Manager satisfaction Process improvements Variance from plans Benchmarking Not much that measures PMO itself, more about project metrics One common feeling was that PMOs and organisations tend not to measure benefits as much as they should or could do. In general, the PMO needs to find ways to strike the right balance between people and process. It can be counterproductive to swamp people with too much method and process, so finding the right blend for your organisation is essential. To achieve this, we should focus on the PMO 5 P s: People Process Performance Promotion PMIS (Project Management Information Systems) o Never rush into procuring a PMIS. It is better to take longer and understand what your organisation really needs than it is to try to build your processes around what a PMIS can do. Aim to be an intelligent customer It can be very useful for your PMO to have a BOYD Amnesty: Bring Out Your Dead! This gives project managers to tell you the truth about their projects. This can give you some great insights, allowing you to define and focus your PMO more effectively, and perhaps spot problems from a wider programme and portfolio perspective that you may not have otherwise unearthed. Make sure you take note of any tactics you have you used to build better insight into your projects: you may forget what has worked if you don t, and they can provide the basis of further process improvements.

5 In conclusion, Peter noted that in the current climate, your PMO needs to be too valuable to lose and not too expensive to keep. He recommended applying a sense of individuality to your PMO: Don t let anyone tell you that you have to be a certain way. Be unique. Be what you feel you need to be. For more information see the presentation slide set