Project Management Office (PMO)

I had always heard that you can learn more from your mistakes than from your successes. I didn't always believe it. Now, after this experience, I am a believer. While we had a great many successes, it was the mistakes that I learned the most from, and which will most impact my next PMO.

The need for a project office was significant. This organization had dozens or more people running projects, none of whom were trained in the craft. There was no methodology. Projects were poorly defined. And, important to them, projects could not be completed on time.

I was hired to bring order to this chaos; to change the way this organization performed projects.

After forming a small group from a few existing employees and a few strategic hires, we went after the four typical areas that a Project Management Office must address: the Portfolio, Projects and Programs, as well as the career path of the project manager.

Portfolio

From time to time, a list of strategic projects had been compiled, but it was never kept up to date for long. We inherited that list and maintained it, adding project specific information and status. We added projects at additional levels of the organization until, for the first time, a comprehensive view of all projects was available. This highlighted workload problems and project interdependencies that were not previously visible.

While a subset of large strategic projects had always been classified in various ways, this new portfolio (built on a database model) could easily show all projects sorted by those classifications. This allowed us to balance the portfolio to insure all the varied needs if the organization were addressed on an continuing basis.

The shear size of the combined portfolio convinced the organization to trim projects to better match the capacity of the organization to perform projects (technically, deferring them). Project estimates, particularly those concerning completion date, suddenly became much more believable.

Projects

There had been no methodology for performing projects, and essentially no awareness of the PMBOK. Project teams rarely got past a vague scope, cursory top-down budget/timeline and a subsequent issues log. Further, there was a reluctance to do anything differently, and anything with "structure." Excepting my few new hires, all of the project managers in the organization were what the Project Management Institute (PMI) calls "accidental project managers."

We introduced basic training programs to expose project managers to the best practices suggested by PMI. Outside trainers were often used to show that these were globally accepted practices. We added advanced training programs to refine the skills of those project managers that wanted to pursue credentialing.

We adopted the methods described in the PMBOK to the organization, creating simple processes, forms and templates to step a project manager through the motions, without requiring indepth knowledge. If a new project manager would follow the steps in our cookbook, he or she would automatically be introducing trusted methods.

In answer to a recurring cry, "we don't have time to plan," we created a series of exercises and games that a new project team could "play." No one except the facilitators required any project management knowledge. At the end of two days, this play resulted in a detailed scope statement, Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), detailed task lists with assignment and duration, dependencies and a detailed, "bottom-up" Gantt chart.

Programs

Program Management is the one area this firm had an understanding of... kinda. Organized by business units, and with the business marketing managers running most projects, "everything" was a program. And with these business managers continuously extending their projects to support the program, individual projects failed horribly; they never ended. Scope statements were loosely written on purpose, there was no scope control, projects did not finish on time, and in some cases dragged on for months and years longer than intended. Instead of segmenting their program into individual projects, their projects became the program.

We partnered with a new employee in the business group to introduce a project review and selection process and "stage-gates" for the progressive elaboration and continuing review of projects. We helped improve scope statements with more detail, including what "would not" be done as part of the project. In this way we encouraged the program managers to create new projects for their significant extensions. Smaller changes were incorporated into project scope changes, allowing existing projects to be successful.

We also offered the business managers the same educational opportunities as our project managers. This allowed them to improve their skills, while better understanding best practices in project management.

Career Path

Creation of a Project Management Career Path was another key element to improve individual project performance by improving the capabilities and motivation of our project managers. We described a family of job descriptions that defined and tracked the progression of project managers from entry-level to senior project manager and on to director. These encouraged our professional project managers to complete additional training and to take on more, larger and more complex projects. They advanced their career and earnings. Many became credentialed as Project Management Professionals (PMP).

The basic training we offered everyone was supplemented by advanced outside training. Some of the training was technical in nature, such as intermediate and advanced software skills in Microsoft Project. Some of the training was specific to project management methods including PMP exam preparation and advanced risk analysis. Some of the training focused on related skills such as six sigma and how to motivate and lead people. Most of our team was credentialed as PMPs through this process.

Results

To test our modified methods, we rigorously tracked all of our group's projects for one year. Where we used the techniques described, we attained an 80% on-time, on-budget, on-scope completion rate. This compared to the organization as a whole, that didn't track on-time performance, and anecdotally was closer to 20% on-time completion.

60% of our team became credentialed as PMPs. And several project managers in other groups were helped by us to earn their PMP credentials.

Had you wondered if I would get back to the mistakes made? There were plenty, starting with a lack of consensus and support in creating a project office. The executive who wanted to change the system, and who created the position that I came in to fill, turned out not to have the support of his peers. Support for the changes we needed to make were fragmented.

We were asked to push the changes hard, because so many projects were in crisis. Without the senior management support needed, that hard push served to alienate some contingents, especially those who feared that a change in the way projects are run would translate into a loss of their individual power. We weren't sensitive to that fear until it was nearly too late.

By this point, the original executive sponsoring the group was no longer with the company. There was no support, no voice to trumpet success and little encouragement. Our partner in the business group was let go; they didn't want to change their methods.

We were winning individual battles; the war was proving long and wearing. Even the success in improving on-time rates to 80% didn't create traction much beyond several individual project teams.

Without any clear management support, we tried to create a grass-roots movement to improve projects, though much of that proved frustrating. We gathered several PMPs and other interested project managers from various departments and worked together to both define and extend our approach, to conduct additional training, and to share our successes.

In the end, it was this group that reformed the project office. We wrote a new charter, created a timeline, wrote the value proposition, and importantly, solicited new executive sponsorship. A new project office was formed with a politically savvy exec, and later extended to our parent company.

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	I had always heard that you can learn more from your mistakes than from your successes. I didn't always believe it. Now, after this experience, I am a believer. While we had a great many successes, it was the mistakes that I learned the most from, and which will most impact my next PMO. The need for a project office was significant. This organization had dozens or more people running projects, none of whom were trained in the craft. There was no methodology. Projects were poorly defined. And, important to them, projects could not be completed on time. I was hired to bring order to this chaos; to change the way this organization performed projects. After forming a small group from a few existing employees and a few strategic hires, we went after the four typical areas that a Project Management Office must address: the Portfolio, Projects and Programs, as well as the career path of the project manager. Portfolio From time to time, a list of strategic projects had been compiled, but it was never kept up to date for long. We inherited that list and maintained it, adding project specific information and status. We added projects at additional levels of the organization until, for the first time, a comprehensive view of all projects was available. This highlighted workload problems and project interdependencies that were not previously visible. While a subset of large strategic projects had always been classified in various ways, this new portfolio (built on a database model) could easily show all projects sorted by those classifications. This allowed us to balance the portfolio to insure all the varied needs if the organization were addressed on an continuing basis. The shear size of the combined portfolio convinced the organization to trim projects to better match the capacity of the organization to perform projects (technically, deferring them). Project estimates, particularly those concerning completion date, suddenly became much more believable. Projects There had been no methodology for performing projects, and essentially no awareness of the PMBOK. Project teams rarely got past a vague scope, cursory top-down budget/timeline and a subsequent issues log. Further, there was a reluctance to do anything differently, and anything with "structure." Excepting my few new hires, all of the project managers in the organization were what the Project Management Institute (PMI) calls "accidental project managers." We introduced basic training programs to expose project managers to the best practices suggested by PMI. Outside trainers were often used to show that these were globally accepted practices. We added advanced training programs to refine the skills of those project managers that wanted to pursue credentialing. We adopted the methods described in the PMBOK to the organization, creating simple processes, forms and templates to step a project manager through the motions, without requiring indepth knowledge. If a new project manager would follow the steps in our cookbook, he or she would automatically be introducing trusted methods. In answer to a recurring cry, "we don't have time to plan," we created a series of exercises and games that a new project team could "play." No one except the facilitators required any project management knowledge. At the end of two days, this play resulted in a detailed scope statement, Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), detailed task lists with assignment and duration, dependencies and a detailed, "bottom-up" Gantt chart. Programs Program Management is the one area this firm had an understanding of... kinda. Organized by business units, and with the business marketing managers running most projects, "everything" was a program. And with these business managers continuously extending their projects to support the program, individual projects failed horribly; they never ended. Scope statements were loosely written on purpose, there was no scope control, projects did not finish on time, and in some cases dragged on for months and years longer than intended. Instead of segmenting their program into individual projects, their projects became the program. We partnered with a new employee in the business group to introduce a project review and selection process and "stage-gates" for the progressive elaboration and continuing review of projects. We helped improve scope statements with more detail, including what "would not" be done as part of the project. In this way we encouraged the program managers to create new projects for their significant extensions. Smaller changes were incorporated into project scope changes, allowing existing projects to be successful. We also offered the business managers the same educational opportunities as our project managers. This allowed them to improve their skills, while better understanding best practices in project management. Career Path Creation of a Project Management Career Path was another key element to improve individual project performance by improving the capabilities and motivation of our project managers. We described a family of job descriptions that defined and tracked the progression of project managers from entry-level to senior project manager and on to director. These encouraged our professional project managers to complete additional training and to take on more, larger and more complex projects. They advanced their career and earnings. Many became credentialed as Project Management Professionals (PMP). The basic training we offered everyone was supplemented by advanced outside training. Some of the training was technical in nature, such as intermediate and advanced software skills in Microsoft Project. Some of the training was specific to project management methods including PMP exam preparation and advanced risk analysis. Some of the training focused on related skills such as six sigma and how to motivate and lead people. Most of our team was credentialed as PMPs through this process. Results To test our modified methods, we rigorously tracked all of our group's projects for one year. Where we used the techniques described, we attained an 80% on-time, on-budget, on-scope completion rate. This compared to the organization as a whole, that didn't track on-time performance, and anecdotally was closer to 20% on-time completion. 60% of our team became credentialed as PMPs. And several project managers in other groups were helped by us to earn their PMP credentials. Had you wondered if I would get back to the mistakes made? There were plenty, starting with a lack of consensus and support in creating a project office. The executive who wanted to change the system, and who created the position that I came in to fill, turned out not to have the support of his peers. Support for the changes we needed to make were fragmented. We were asked to push the changes hard, because so many projects were in crisis. Without the senior management support needed, that hard push served to alienate some contingents, especially those who feared that a change in the way projects are run would translate into a loss of their individual power. We weren't sensitive to that fear until it was nearly too late. By this point, the original executive sponsoring the group was no longer with the company. There was no support, no voice to trumpet success and little encouragement. Our partner in the business group was let go; they didn't want to change their methods. We were winning individual battles; the war was proving long and wearing. Even the success in improving on-time rates to 80% didn't create traction much beyond several individual project teams. Without any clear management support, we tried to create a grass-roots movement to improve projects, though much of that proved frustrating. We gathered several PMPs and other interested project managers from various departments and worked together to both define and extend our approach, to conduct additional training, and to share our successes. In the end, it was this group that reformed the project office. We wrote a new charter, created a timeline, wrote the value proposition, and importantly, solicited new executive sponsorship. A new project office was formed with a politically savvy exec, and later extended to our parent company. Home t Feedback