Terry's Take-aways from the Chicago and Boston PMO 2.0 Leadership Forums

Here are some highlights the first two of our PMO 2.0 Leadership Forums that are at the top of my mind I thought worth sharing.

But, before we go there, let me say again to all that took the time to come out and participate – what a great experience! We sometimes get so caught up in the "hustle du jour" we forget to take time to just sit down and listen to each other.

Expanding the PMO’s Scope and Reach

On the surface, expanding the PMO into a broader role as a "Business Center of Excellence" is still a dormant or just emerging idea among most organizations when asked. Notable was one participant’s overt move to pollinate the technology unit with senior members from 'the business'.

And, on that subject, as another participant was quick to add; "IT is (part of) the business". Similarly, we discussed the role of the PMO in helping facilitate strategic planning and alignment, which is a more common and established area - proof that the PMO as we know it is indeed thinking beyond programs and projects.

Take Away: The whole PMO 2.0 concept is validated by the direction of more mature PMO’s, but many organizations are primarily focused on basic PMO blocking and tackling. There is a lot of opportunity to fully integrate the strategy - portfolio - program - project - product/service continuum. Take care not to sleepwalk into it - wake up and drive.

Adoption is a Perennial Hot Topic

Not surprisingly, discussion was animated whenever the role of the PMO in managing change arose. After all, the PMO itself is the main organizational vehicle for creating change, and if a PMO is in development, it is the change. Yet another evolutionary sequence emerges as PMO’s shift their focus from technology to process to culture and impact. Most PMO’s have some collateral training responsibilities, and the better ones are intimately involved with fostering corporate change.

Take Away: As a PMO, you will never be too good at understanding and managing the human component. Furthermore, when humans band together under a corporate or agency banner, they become a whole different kind of beast. Even more challenging, it can have many heads in larger or global enterprises. Study organizational behavior carefully, and never turn your back on the beast.

Size Matters

The form of a PMO is shaped by many different factors, not the least of which is the size of your organization. As indicated by major corporate attendees such as BP, large enterprises have to develop a federation of PMO’s. It is not practical or scalable for one single entity to assume all the various roles and responsibilities at both a strategic and tactical level across diverse business units, international cultures, etc. Even in smaller organizations such as Shure, a multi-PMO approach effectively serves as a triumvirate to help manage and align the key business areas. Conversely, sometimes consolidation under a single entity is critical when M&A brings you diverse PMO’s, like at National Grid. Bottom line - there is no single right answer or organizational model.

Take Away: As a service organization, the face of the PMO is most effective when kept close to the customers it supports. A single focused organization can be ideal, but only to a practical limit, so more than one PMO may be appropriate. However, even a large PMO network can and should be tightly matrixed to ensure consistency, interoperability and capitalize on various economies of scale. Top-down leadership that drives clear roles and responsibilities aligned to a common purpose are more important than the lines and boxes on the org chart.

On Proving the PMO’s Value...

Selling the PMO never ends, it simply changes form. Discussions would suggest three distinct "selling" phases: Initiating, Defending, and Reminding. As the idea of a centralized business management office is first proposed, the value of such an organization must be clearly communicated relative to its proposed charter (see more on this in the 4th PMO 2.0 whitepaper due out soon).

Once operational, PMO Directors must be diligent in proving that value, particularly as other parts of the organization go through the pain of adopting new processes and the general integration the PMO drives. Presentations from both BP and Aetna documented their remarkable progress over the past several years.

Even the most well-established and successful centers of excellence can be quickly taken for granted or have their funding challenged if executive leadership is not always reminded of "what have you done for me lately?"

Take Away: Demonstrating PMO value added is the most important performance metric the PMO generates; without constant focus on it, you risk being able to effectively deliver all the others. Plan how you will measure and communicate your worth to the organization as an integral part of your development and operations.

There’s Nothing Like Being There

There is no way that I can convey with any justice the true value of the discussions, sense of inspiration from the case history presentations, or the wisdom of the panelists.

Take Away: You have to be there! For those considering Denver - sign up and participate. It’s a rare opportunity to get this much for so little time invested. And, if we haven’t come near you yet, sign up for PMO 2.0 update emails and keep watching.

Terry Doerscher

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