Coordination, quantification metrics and business intelligence are three of the main keys for guiding the work of a project management office. Although not all organizations have come this far ...

blank table for science research results. purple clipboard with paper. report, paperwork. flat color style vector icon. element for web design, business, mobile app.The PMO and the company: X-ray of the situation

In 2011, Forrester and the Project Management Institute conducted a survey that canvassed 693 PMO leaders.

These experts were asked which is the main task of a PMO. More than 70% of the respondents agreed that the three main functions of a PMO are project management, general management and development of methodologies.

On the other hand, they were asked how they feel the results of a project should be quantified to be considered satisfactory. In this case, some of the results may seem a little surprising. Let us see their answers:

  • 51% of respondents said to measure the degree of achievement of the objectives planned at project outset.
  • 49% said they quantify based on customer satisfaction.
  • 47% measured deadlines met and fulfillment of budget plans.
  • 21% considered that a project has been properly carried out if the use of resources is optimal.
  • 24% of the respondents confessed not to quantify in any way the result of their project management.

That is to say: just five years ago, a quarter of the sample, representing PMO directors in the United States, were not using any quantitative metrics to evaluate the results of their project management office.

Reasons to incorporate a PMO into your company

Optimize resources

Where there is no centralized coordination over project managers, it is difficult to adequately leverage resources in terms of staffing, logistics and distribution, procurement and vendor relationships, and so on. On the contrary adding PMO supervision can ensure that all parties have the necessary information on the mobilized resources.

Minimize investment

In short, PMOs seek to avoid mismatches and inefficiencies, reducing the amount of time and financial resources that need to be deployed to achieve the same result.

Continuous assessment

Without a culture of continuous evaluation, it is difficult to defend the value of a PMO. That’s why the lack of outcome-related metrics identified by the Forrester and PMI report is surprising. To be able to obtain better results in the future, the first step is to know and quantify your baseline position. Subsequently, a thorough and quantitative analysis of the processes must be performed from a critical point of view, which allows the detection of weak points and proposes decisions to act upon them. In this sense, for many organizations where the culture of agile management has been instilled, continuous evaluation by the PMO is closely related to the innovation processes.

Business Intelligence

The quantification of data is not enough. Relevant data should be selected and presented in a simple way that allows proper interpretation, comparison between different projects and guided decision making. This section is especially important in multinational companies, in which it is essential to standardize communication channels to facilitate understanding between them.

Responsibilities of the PMO

A whole series of activities stemming from the evaluation culture can be developed to ensure that the organization's strategies are supported by realistic data on business development.

  • Quantification of change. Once measures are taken to improve project management and to achieve better results, these should be quantified and also entered into structured reports.
  • Making predictions. The quantification of the current state of the company and its progression in time will allow to make predictions.
  • Establishment of frameworks that allow standardization in the execution of projects and their direction. Currently known as agile methodologies in project management.
  • Ensure proper compliance with regulations. The establishment of working protocols and methodologies ensures compliance with current regulations. To give a practical and simple example, establishing a working protocol for food transport will guarantee the quality of the product that reaches the market or the restaurant.
  • Financial Transparency. Control of the processes and the cost of each one of them will allow greater financial transparency with tax regulators, managers and clients, avoiding irregularities in any process or level of company administration and improving the confidence of all interested parties.

 

Juan Delgado
Blogger - ITM Platform

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Slack logoSlack has its own guidelines on how to make the best use of your team chatrooms for managing your projects, and they’re a great way to maximize your productivity if your teams is already using Slack to coordinate your team communications. We particularly find that having a policy to create project-based channels is a great way to ensure that the right people are always getting the right information on time. And if you have a consistent naming guideline, the search box can become a powerful database of everything that is going on in your company!

project, Slack

Source?  Of course, Slack themselves. https://get.slack.help/hc/en-us/articles/218130338-Slack-for-project-management#apps-for-project-management

In fact, while the case for Slack may seem already redundant for American companies given the platform's soaring popularity and the power of its free version, many companies in different markets still haven’t heard of Slack, so it’s never too late to go over some of its pillars.

1. Familiarity of the design

Something I often hear around me is that people dislike Slack because they haven't invented anything. Well, you know, anybody familiar with the history of technology will debunk the romantic myth of originality: technology creates technology. New technologies, particularly successful ones, are combinations of already existing artifacts.

Feels familiar

  • So yeah, Slack’s repurposing of an IRC interface is not original, but at the same time it’s crazy brilliant because it goes back to the foundations of consumer satisfaction.

    You can think about it like the free food and napping pods at Google’s offices transformed into a digital environment. Chats and texting feel leisurely, and that’s precisely the feeling you want to give your team when you want to motivate them to use a specific tool. Particularly if you have a young workforce, trying out the giphy command can be the best way to guarantee people open their Slack account every single day.
    respekt

    2. Cell phone reporting

    Slack stands for “Searchable Log of All Conversation and Knowledge”.  Although it looks like a chat, it is actually designed as a repository of information that you can search at any time.

    Now imagine how powerful this can be for teams that have workers deployed on the field. On one hand, they can send useful information from their cell phones knowing that the app is a validated form of communication; on the other, project managers will spare time on data management and the enforcement of reporting tools.

    3. An app environment for chatbots

    The main one? You guessed it: while Facebook is driven by procrastination, Slack is driven by productivity.

    The integration of third party applications follows its own patterns, starting with chatbots. Although the passion for chatbots has been heavily criticized by some as a passing fad, the truth is that they are a good example of simple products that do small things, but do them good. No team will have use for every app on Slack, but some of them are really powerful.

    Slack doesn’t have a very targeted public. If you work in an office, you can enjoy it. However, these guys have made sure that they meet the needs of any technological firm. In fact, besides giving access to specific apps for developers that go from GitHub and Heroku, there’s a specific feature that allows to share lines of code.

    Create snippet, Slack

    All in all, the main reason why you want to be on Slack is that, whatever your core business is, you will find ways to save time, connect your team, and increase the effectiveness of your internal communications. At the end of the day, that translates into a more solid organization and better project management.

    Did you know that ITM Platform also has it's own integration with Slack? If you want to check it out, click here.

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clock, paperwork, suitcaseFor a project-based organization, setting up a PMO is equivalent to parenthood. It’s just not enough to wake up early to go to work, eat your sandwiches diligently in front of your screen and be a loyal friend. From the moment you embark on this new ship, it’s a whole new level at which you will need to keep ahead of events, create new habits, and be always ready to respond to an emergency. For me, the key to start the process with the right foot forward is to know yourself as well as you can.

Organizations can use the wisdom of self-knowledge in smart ways. Let’s have a look at factors that are helpful indicators of maturity.

 

Know thy maturity, they say

The degree of maturity of an organization is strongly correlated to the complexity of the PMO model that it is likely to implement

According to a study published by Forrester and PMI in 2011, there a number of features and characteristics that provide insight into the maturity of a company.

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Possible signs of low maturity:

  • Lack of clear strategy. Projects are not always properly aligned with the objectives of the organization.

  • Lack of quantitative evaluation. In this scenario it's impossible to obtain clear indicators of the state of each project, identify the causes of any problems and search for areas of improvement. In addition, measures should be taken to improve the efficiency of the company.

  • Ideas, projects and business areas are not prioritized.

Companies that have a medium level maturity may show the following characteristics:

  • Ability to prioritize projects.

  • Some degree of alignment between projects and the overall objectives of the company.

  • Metrics to quantify the results of high level projects.

  • Resources are planned prior to implementing a project.

A company with a high degree of maturity has the following features:

  • Integration of the company’s work and tasks in projects and programs.

  • All work is goal oriented. Each task or project is working towards the general objectives of the company.

  • Standardized measures for the results of each project are performed. This way you can monitor both the progress and status of each project and the impact that the various risks and corrective measures may pose to each of them.

  • There are effective systems in place to allow quick and flexible communication among team members in the various tasks and projects.

  • Work systems can incorporate agile and classic methodologies that help maximize efforts.

  • Projects conform to international standards, ensuring quality and allows smooth implementation in all locations the company is present.

  • Software options combine Specific and advanced solutions with simple and direct tools so that workers can optimize the use of their time and be more productive.

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Implementing a PMO

1. Justification and initiation. Once company executives are aware of the benefits, your organization might be in a good place to start setting up a PMO.

A PMO can contribute clear objectives and compliance metrics, identify possible deviations and define corrective measures. Decide how much your PMO will take up, build your information streams and draw up a goal-driven plan.

2. Planning. What are some of the steps needed to implement the new project management policy?

  • Seamless communication with the board of directors and with customers to establish the scope, objectives of the company and therefore decide the projects to be undertaken. These communication channels should be structured and maintained throughout project implementation.

  • Choose an organization system for the company, project management methodologies and a governance model.

  • Recruit your project management staff. Your crew may combine specific project management training with an open mind that allows continuous training throughout the project to meet the needs which may arise during work.

3. Execution. Measurement and monitoring frameworks are an important component of project implementation that can easily benefit from the centralized functions and the homogenization of a PMO. Project managers position will be strongly supported with the enhanced communication between all organization stakeholders.

At ITM Platform we can help in the process of creating your PMO. With our platform, user onboarding and technological deployment are seamless: our customers start using our solution in as little as one week. You will be able to focus on what really matters: defining the internal procedures that allow you to improve your performance.

If you want to know more about how we can help, request a demo of ITM Platform or request our implementation service, which provides tailored training adapted your company’s needs.

 

Juan Delgado
Blogger ITM Platform

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delivery service process office flat 3d web isometric infographic concept vector. exterior and interior isometry rooms with people staff workers. warehouse management. creative people collection.When project after project is being completed with delays of above 20%-30% unrelated to major issues, executors complain of poor coordination and PMs report progress without a unified model, you might be in a situation that would benefit from the centralization of your governance in a Project Management Office (PMO).

PMOs are versatile: they are adaptable to the nature of the organization that creates them. Therefore, when implementing a PMO in your company, you will need to decide what the roles and responsibilities of the PMO will be. By understanding what needs to be addressed and the issues currently faced at your organization, you can shape the PMO as a response to those factors.

Internal Evaluation

The first step to determine the most appropriate type of PMO for a company is to know what the expectations of the PMO are. Ask yourself and your internal customers the following questions:

  • What are the main problems or areas of improvement within the organization? Have you detected inefficiencies in any of our processes?

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  • What is the balance between formal and informal communication flows and reporting from the company? Is the company coordinating too much work in a spontaneous and decentralized way? Does this pose a problem for the evaluation of management processes? These questions are especially important in relation to the size of the organization: while small teams can afford a high degree of informal communication, a growing the business must follow the path of standardization. It’s vital to persuade all staff to adopt new procedures and to identify the risk low adoption.

  • What is more central: operations or projects? PMOs are designed to work with projects, not operations. If the latter are predominant, you may use a PMO to frame operations in a broader scope or to integrate them with other sections of the company. However, this is a very indirect form of projectization.

  • Is the company currently achieving its main objectives? If not, why might this be?

  • What are the measures to adopt if the organization does not meet the intended objectives?

When finally implementing a PMO, you must decide what a successful PMO might entail, and how to know if it is not operating as it should.

Objectives, size, maturity and corporate culture

The structure and objectives of a PMO depend on the degree of efficiency required by the company. For example, a PMO can serve to manage both a business for profit as well as any other humanitarian purposes. However, more often than not economic profitability takes precedence when setting up a PMO.

Another aspect to consider is the size of the company: Project scope, type of product, target audience, etc. will vary. While a small business can use a less structured approach, in a larger company the number of simultaneous processes that can potentially coexist multiplies, and so does the importance of standardization and structured reporting systems.

It’s particularly important to maintain the balance between support and control. Focusing too much on control can cause discomfort among workers and increase resistance to change, while offering too much support can lead to excessive documentation and training no one will actually use.

One possible solution is to begin with less demanding PMO models with supporting functions, and gradually pivot towards controlling and directive approaches.

Selecting the most appropriate PMO for my company

Here is a list of situations where it would be advisable to choose a specific type of PMO. Although the classification of the 3 types of PMO remains orientative, it can serve as a good starting point to size the scope of the project and identify good practices.

You should choose a Supportive PMO if:

  • Your company lacks methodologies, procedures and project management tools.

  • Project Managers have not developed specific skills in project management

  • Your company lacks adequate training programs and updated project management.

You should look for a controlling PMO if:

  • There is a moderate project management culture in your company.

  • Project managers have basic knowledge in current PM standards.

  • The organization is accustomed to multidisciplinary projects.

  • Project management standards and compliance practices are implemented.

  • The supportive PMO is already implemented.

The directive PMO would be best if:

  • The company has successfully implemented the previous two types of PMO.

  • There is an established project-based mentality.

  • Schemes to monitor all processes with structured reporting systems are effectively established.

 

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hosting services developers and office staffs busy in working process Project Management Offices (PMOs) organize and economize resources by establishing protocols and documentation that normalize, consolidate and centralize project management.

When implementing a PMO it is necessary to recognize the inadequacies of current project management capabilities, what needs to change and how a PMO can bring about this change. However, there is no one recommendation to effectively manage the change. The goal of a PMO depends greatly on the context of the organization as well as various factors such as the macro economy, the size of the organization and the capacitation of project management staff.

 

Nevertheless, the most important factor will be how well the PMO responds to system failures. Naturally, every situation will be different, and therefore the solutions will have to be adapted accordingly.

Although it is risky to offer recommendations on such circumstantial cases (and to accept them!) categorizing the different forms of PMO to suit the situation can be beneficial. A classic typology of the different forms of PMO is in William Casey and Wendi Peck’s "Choosing the right PMO setup" article (2001). Casey and Peck begin by recognizing that the PMO is often used as a panacea – but there is no universal medicine.

His typology is based on three metaphors: a PMO can be a "weather station" a "control tower" or a "resource pool".

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Type 1: The "weather station" PMO

Sometimes, customers feel that they are poorly informed about the on-goings of the project. Their perception is that they are investing time, money and hope into the project without detailed information.

It’s also common for clients to have ordered several projects simultaneously and then receive differing information about the progress of each project, in different formats, with different styles and types of data. Streamlining decisions based on such heterogeneous information is rough.

The solution to this problem is to implement a PMO whose mission is to provide objective, well-structured, and comparable factual information. By providing templates for reports, information can be presented uniformly and predictably, allowing for the efficient extraction of information.

Example customer concerns that the “weather station” PMO must answer are:

  • What is the current status of the project? To what degree have the initial objectives been met?

  • What has been invested or how much has the dedicated capital contributed? Is the planned budget sufficient? How much of the total initial budget has already been spent?

  • What are the main risks or problems that may occur during project implementation?

However, this type of PMO is merely informative, which means they do not have the authority to coordinate or to make decisions. They serve purely to inform any interested party and the information may assist the Project Managers to make better decisions.

If you think it is necessary to implement a PMO that makes decisions and solves project issues, you should opt for another model.

Type 2: The "control tower" PMO

This type of PMO can be used in combination with the previous model. In fact, both may construct a suitable supplementation in which the first model identifies and monitors problems, whereby the additional functions of the PMO to ensure that the project complies with established standards.

The functions of this type of PMO are:

1. Setting standards for project management. The standards serve as a methodological reference for the project managers. They must adapt as much as possible, whilst also having a certain degree of flexibility to respond to market changes in real time. The establishment of standards also includes the following aspects:

  • Setting the desired level of risk.

  • The organization of HR that are responsible for carrying out the project.

  • The distribution of tasks.

  • Channels of communication and information that will keep the team, management as well as customers updated.

2. The choice of methodologies for the measurement and analysis of results. It must establish quantitative systems to monitor project progress in real time in order to detect any deficiencies and to take corrective action to minimize the impact on the initial plan.

3. Compliance and rising standards. The constant application of corrective measures can be adjusted in the initial plan in order to meet the established standards. Depending on the maturity of the PMO and the degree of compliance of the organization, it may also be important to review the standards from a new perspective.

Naturally, when the degree of compliance is low, it may be beneficial to review the standards "downward" to bring them to a more realistic level.

Type 3: The "resource" PMO

This third type PMO usually occurs in very large companies where a high degree of specialization is required and where it can mobilize human resources to new projects with relative ease.

For example, a project manager may be assigned to a project, but does not have the desired skill set to manage the project. In this case it is necessary to have a location where all project managers are organized as if they were products in a catalog. When you need a Project Manager who is an expert in a particular field of knowledge, you can easily search for and find specific experts that meet the requirements. This ensures that the project manager has the necessary training and experience to match the desired quality and, therefore, ensures the best managers are on the appropriate projects.

This interpretation of the PMO does not guarantee that the right projects are carried out or that they are carried out in the best way; only that the elected Project Managers are the most suitable for the project. This is a good foundation on which to maintain success, along with other factors such as good communication, and a skilled and motivated workforce, etc.

Once the appropriate project manager is selected, they must be allowed enough freedom to perform their work as they deem appropriate.

So what is the best type of PMO?

As explained previously in this article, each company and each project has different goals and aspirations. The type of PMO that will be best suited for your organization will depend on the maturity of a company, its scope and your needs. You may find different aspects from different types of PMO are what you need, and draw inspiration to tackle change freely.

 

 

This is the first of a series of articles of posts on Project Management Offices. The next three articles will focus on each of the PMO models explained above.

 

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