Forward Momentum: Delivering Results

By Bruce Beer, PMP

Note: This is Part 2 in a series on Project Management Offices. Part 1, What is a PMO and What Does it Do? can be found here.

In Part 1 of this series, I outlined what a PMO is and what a PMO can or should do. Now let us turn to the business reasons and incentives for having a PMO. A PMO is often packed with senior and expensive resources so there has to be a good business case for this expenditure.

Not all programs can justify the cost of a PMO. However, consideration has to be given not so much to the cost but to the “value” of a PMO: things like how much does it influence the success of the project, how much money can it save, how much additional cost would there be and could the program objectives be successfully met without one, etc. So let us look at some of the features of a PMO and how this could be cost justified.

Baselines

At the project level we have three key baselines: scope, cost, and time. It is the Project Manager’s responsibility to establish and then meet those baselines. In a program where there may be multiple related projects, each of those projects will have their own baselines and there may be a Program Manager who is in overall charge. However, the Program Manager has a finite limit regarding the number and complexity of projects in the program that they can manage alone. It will not take long for the Program Manager to start recruiting additional resources to assist in managing various aspects of the program. It also does not take long for this to escalate and morph into a PMO, whether recognized or not.

Constraints

One thing most projects will do is to evaluate constraint priorities – the flexibility matrix. What is the key “driver” for each project – time, cost, or scope/functionality? If different projects have different priorities there is a high chance that the program will not be totally successful due to conflicting project priorities. If, for example, the program is time driven, the whole program must be complete by a certain date. Unless each individual project understands that time is the key driver and if they focus on one of the other constraints instead, they could cause the program to slip. So enabling a time driven program to coordinate and amalgamate individual project schedules and milestones will enable identification of the program’s critical path, ie which projects are on the critical path. The PMO can then ensure the focus on these projects is to attempt to ensure critical timescales are met. This could provide major benefits to a company in terms of reducing cost of slippage of a time driven program and have a direct impact on the bottom line of the program and the company.

If the program level critical path changes, the PMO should be aware of this and shift their focus to the new critical path projects, so again maximizing the chance of overall success. Missing a time deadline can have serious financial implications for a company, and the reverse is true – meeting contractual or defined deadlines can save or gain additional revenue.

Information and Reporting

Without relevant coordination and management of the constituent projects at the program level, senior management may not be able to obtain a consistent view of the program objectives and status without a lot of digging. Consequently, one of the major functions of a PMO would be to gather information from the constituent projects, combine these disparate objectives, plans, status reports, deliverables etc. into a set of higher level overall program information for easier understanding by management. These reports should indicate developing issues at the earliest time, together with any action required to put a program back on track.

Risk

Some tasks that the PMO will undertake at the program level may include overall risk management – assessing how a risk on one project might impact other projects. If a risk starts to happen on one project, the PMO can immediately assess action required on other projects to minimize “knock-on” effects.

Quality

Ensure a consistent look and feel for each project under the PMO and provide templates that can be used to ensure the constituent projects look like they are coordinated and are not just a mixture of random projects thrown together. This may not have a tangible bottom line benefit but will improve the final product of the program.

Managing a Program vs. a Company-Wide PMO

All the above considerations were in regard to multiple related projects in a program. Now let us consider a “company” PMO where the PMO is not managing a program of related projects but is there to provide assistance on all projects being undertaken by the company. Many of the benefits detailed above also apply to this scenario, but there are also additional considerations.

Having led a PMO for a major computer company, I can highlight some of the benefits. Before there was a company PMO, all projects were little “islands” of work. The company wide PMO was staffed by several of the most senior PMs in the company and the main roles of the PMO were to:

• Train all PMs in the company methodology – this was compulsory for all PMs.
• Provide a consistent framework to review all potential projects to ensure that any response to an RFP that the company submitted had considered all the relevant areas of the plan, had achievable baselines, and risk was contained.
• Provided the framework for Quality audits or reviews of all major projects in execution to ensure consistent application of the company methodology, in particular financial, time, quality and risk management.
• Provide a formal mechanism for mentoring less experienced PMs.
• Allow for consolidated monthly reporting on all projects to assess any problem areas and attempt to even out risk among all company projects.
• Provide templates and tools that could be used not only throughout the USA projects but also were accessible globally.
• Implement a standard and comprehensive change management process for all US projects.

In conclusion, there are many quantifiable benefits of having a PMO for both a group of related projects in a program or as a company-wide function to improve project management over time in a company. There are also many intangible or “soft” benefits of a PMO such as common standards, methodologies, tools and templates, etc. that will have an eventual impact on the bottom line of a company even if they cannot be quantified at the individual project level.

The next post in this series will look at why you might want a PMO and at what stage you could think about creating one.

By Rob Zell

I had a boss once who loved to draw on the white board. It became something of a joke on his team, that at the beginning of a meeting we would hide the dry erase markers before he came into the room. It never stopped him; he started carrying them around. Only recently do I truly appreciate his approach.

Sidebar for a personal story: My daughter’s soccer team recently ended their season and part of my end of season gift was a coloring book and crayons and the missive that it was something to help me reduce my stress (something of a gag gift). At home after the party, I sat down with the coloring book and colored a picture. I took the time to work slowly and carefully, experimenting with different colors and used shading to highlight areas. It took me back to a calmer time: I worked on the image for me, not for my boss, or my kids, or for the executive committee – just for me. I loved it.

I am known among my peers as the visual learning guy. I push hard on the team to use fewer words and more pictures in both the training materials we produce and the presentations we create. If an image is worth a thousand words then we should we be creating voluminous training in images, not pages of text. Too often, the push back is, “I can’t draw” or “I’m not creative.” Let me say now that everyone can take this approach given some processes and tools.

1. Take some time to tap into your creative side. A quick search on Google yields a plethora of sites on coloring to relieve stress. I’m not saying you should make it a daily habit, but why not take a few minutes once in a while to doodle? It unlocks a thinking habit that thrives on free association and random connections that you might not have considered. Those links are the foundations of innovation and might lead to bigger and better ideas.
2. Incorporate a process for thinking differently. The Six Thinking Hats framework developed by Edward de Bono is a wonderful starting point for organizing meetings and encouraging a style of thinking. Assign the role of Green Hat to various team members and have them work at being the creative, “blue sky” thinker. By assigning the role to a person you give permission for ideas to flow and remove limitations.
3. Encourage mind-mapping as a technique for organizing information. On many occasions I find myself in meetings struggling to grasp how all the parts of a program or initiative are tied together. The various stakeholders have input into the problem and the resulting maelstrom can be hard to decode. A mind map can help illustrate the interconnectedness of all the ideas and make concrete the linkages that the entire team needs to see.
4. Seek out visual representations of complex ideas. I have two sites I visit regularly to keep my mindset firmly planted in a visual approach. One is the RSA.org channel on YouTube. This British think tank does a fabulous job of linking thought leaders to artistic displays of the concepts. The images drawn in the videos make the presentations so much more vivid. Another is visual.ly a web site that shows how information can be presented visually and, in my opinion, more memorable.

Finally, let me say that visuals don’t have to be high end art work to be effective. A very simple visual can speak volumes to the reader and communicate at more levels than a paragraph of text. Visuals are great for learning, meeting management, brainstorming, even project management (what’s a WBS but a visual of all the tasks in a project?). Don’t fear the creative side, embrace it and take your projects and work into a different, better, more holistic place.

How are you using visuals and creativity to work more efficiently in your role? If you aren’t using them now, how could you?

By Vicki Wrona, PMP; Dr. Gerald Mulenburg, PMP

While talking with the team, we thought it would be fun to share some of the recent books that we have been reading and hear from you what you find interesting and relevant now. There is never a shortage of professional (and fun) books, so together, hopefully we’ll all find something new to read and enjoy!

Recent books from Vicki:

Books that I have recently completed and have enjoyed are as follows. Note: I listen to more books than I read, and not only are these good books, they are also well-narrated.

• On Second Thought: Outsmarting Your Mind’s Hardwired Habits by Wray Herbert – Interesting list of the shortcuts and biases that our brains use and how to become aware of them so we can enjoy the positive aspects and avoid the negative consequences of each. These biases include why 99.9% of the citizens of France but only 28% of Americans are organ donors, why people who are hungry for lunch donate less money to charity and why early birds serving jury duty are more likely to give in to racial stereotypes when the day gets late.

 

• If You Ask Me (And of Course You Won’t) by Betty White – this is a fun, light-hearted read. I listened to this in audiobook form and it was wonderful hearing Betty White read the book. Listening to her talk was like sitting down with a good friend and learning from her 7-decade career.

 

• The Steve Jobs’ Way: iLeadership For a New Generation by Jay Elliot, William L. Simon – read Vicki’s review of this book here. Listening to Jay Elliot, Sr. VP at Apple and one of Steve’s early employees, read this book and tell the story makes you feel like you were there.

Recent books and suggestions from Jerry:

Books that I have recently completed and have enjoyed are as follows. (This book’s theme parallels the book Vicki mentions, On Second Thought, which I can’t wait to read.)

• Thinking on Purpose for Project Managers: Outsmarting Evolution by Bill Richardson – If you’ve ever wondered why so many poor decisions are made on projects, this book identifies why, and what can be done about making better ones. In clear, no-nonsense writing, the author provides the background for why we make decisions the way we do, what is sometimes (often it turns out) wrong with the way we make them, and how to make better decisions through what he defines as thinking-on-purpose. A major problem in projects, Richardson says we’re often thinking on autopilot, which he defines as reacting to events as they occur using quick-and-dirty or good-enough solutions. He takes the reader through a series of simple steps to help recognize ineffective patterns of thinking, biases, emotions, and blind spots that cause these problems, and he describes how to improve awareness of them—how to think about what you think about.

 

• It’s Your Ship: Management Techniques From the Best Damn Ship in the Navy by Naval Captain Michael Abrashoff – read Jerry’s review of this book here.

What books have you recently read?

By Vicki Wrona, PMP

I recently read two articles by Roger Connors regarding how to increase accountability on our teams. (1-Accountability Leads To Greater Influence and 2-Uncontrollables?) While he is working with large organizations on complex projects, the principles offered apply to small teams as well. One of the complaints I hear from senior management is lack of proactive action by their employees or project teams. What I hear them talking about is accountability. In classes, I will often ask if participants have noticed that there are those managers or project managers who are able to get the better resources, more budget when needed, better management support and who tend to deliver more successfully? What do they do differently?

They act accountable for delivering results rather than sitting back and letting things happen to them. They are more proactive in a way that Connors offers as a simple thing to do. When working with a team, they often ask, “What else can I do?” This question posed to the team brings out new ideas, gets the team used to hearing the question and possibly thinking in these terms themselves. It is what allows teams to deliver more quickly by fixing inefficiencies or finding more creative solutions. It is what allows teams to deliver on budget when it seems that is not possible. It is what allows teams to discover new uses for either existing products or new products being created. It is what allows teams to educate the end user so the new process or the new product being developed is accepted, used or followed.

The other point made in these articles is that there is more in our control than most people initially believe. I often bring this point up when discussing risk with teams, and discussing steps that can be taken to prevent a threat or enhance an opportunity. We may not have final say in many matters (FDA approval, economic conditions, management priorities, etc.) but we can influence them to some extent, and often to a greater extent than we initially believe. Many people do not want to believe this, but again I will ask if you have seen someone who is able to influence more things than the average worker. Often, these people are not those high up in the org chart, but instead those who are proactive and willing to take accountability. To support this idea, Connors provides an example of a team who increased the speed of government approval tremendously, a process that many believe is out of their control.

What do you think? Do you believe we can influence accountability for ourselves and our teams? How have you done it?