What is a PMO and What Should a High Value PMO Do? 45
■ Global project prioritization model for all projects, current and pro- posed
■ Governance Board setup and/or modification that enables the force- ranking of the portfolio of projects
■ Project management training, coaching and mentoring on projects that are on the executive radar screen
3. Develop and maintain an executive cockpit, through key portfo- lios — The PMO must put itself in a position, right from the start, of providing invaluable information to executives, project managers and resource managers. The key portfolios are the Project Portfolio, the Resource Portfolio, the Asset Portfolio and the Strategic Goals Portfolio. See Part III of this book for detailed descriptions and dis- cussion of portfolio management. The cockpit allows executives to see what is going on, from a high level, and to change course in time to avoid collisions with shareholders, customers or competition.
4. Track and report progress (high level) — This effort is the de- tailed work behind function 3 above. The executives need to know if the projects will complete in time and within scope to meet their goals. They also need to know if the financials are good. They must be involved in any major scope decisions that could impact their goals. Project managers, knowing that the PMO is using data for executive reporting, are much more willing to provide data. For projects in trouble, the PMO data must include what action(s) it is taking to correct the problems. Resource managers need accurate, up-to-date reports to do a good job of managing and coaching their resources. The key contribution that a high-value PMO can make is to ensure timely, accurate information in an easy to use form. The earlier project managers can recognize a problem, the better chance they have to fix it without major effort. The PMO has an important role to play by helping to identify and resolve problems and limit the number of crises that are escalated to the Governance Board. This is also necessary for PMO survival.
5. Mentoring — The PMO staff are the project management experts who have the scars to prove it. These people must be believable and have the ability to interface tactfully in delicate situations with all levels of the workforce. They are forward observers and will typi- cally be seen as the PMO center of excellence.
6. Tools — The PMO houses the project management tools technical experts, who also often staff the Help Desk.
7. Help Desk — Response time is critical to the value model of the PMO. Fast, knowledgeable response means good value.
8. Methodology — How-to methods are needed in every organization for project management. This PMO function should be to provide expertise, marketing and encouragement without bureaucracy or a police force. The focus should be on how to use the minimum neces- sary methodology to ensure predictable results.
What is a PMO and What Should a High Value PMO Do? 47 9. Corrective action — The PMO must seek to eliminate any mea- surements that cause people to prolong project cycle times. The PMO must use the reporting and the Pareto Principle to find the biggest causes of project delays, rework and other negative effects. The PMO focus on corrective action is not on a per project basis. Rather, the view is enterprise-wide.
10. Facilitate the Governance Board — Every project portfolio needs management oversight to establish the order of work. It is not the PMO itself that sets project priorities. However, the PMO is respon- sible for helping senior management define the process and exercise it. The senior management is in charge of ensuring that the strategic objectives of the business are met. The PMO should, however, en- sure that the Governance Board is represented by a balance of mar- ket- and supply-side executives. The PMO must ensure that Gover- nance Board meetings are convened regularly and that decisions are made, recorded and communicated formally. The PMO is respon- sible for communicating decisions of the Governance Board to all concerned, and for helping to implement those decisions.
11. Prioritization of the project portfolio — A business unit under- stands its own project inventory and priorities. However, in most organizations, there are no predefined prioritization schemes. Nor is there typically a commonly accepted rationale for sorting out priori- ties between business units, other than having the CEO or Senior Vice President referee. Common language is required. The various approaches to project prioritization are discussed in a later chapter.
12. Help projects in trouble — While PMOs can provide some impor- tant help for projects in trouble, at least part of the PMO’s mission is prevention. Every troubled project should be analyzed to determine root causes for the trouble. If it is a skills issue, then training or skills development must be provided to prevent it in the future. If policies or measurements caused the problem, these must be changed to avoid wasting time and also to avoid making the PMO become nothing more than a search and rescue unit.
13. Project management training — The PMO should play a major role in developing a standard, high-quality training strategy for the organization. The most successful programs we have seen are ones that offer participants many choices, as well as some mandatory pro- grams to build the common language. Also, because many project managers view their work as a profession, the PMO should have a professional development approach and career track that makes train- ing significant to highly motivated project managers.
14. Marketing and communication — A high-value PMO is one that communicates regularly and meaningfully with all of its customers.
The communication takes many forms. Information, customized to each customer, must be available online. Web-based live communi- cations are becoming more common, especially for projects with global resources. With executives, the PMO should never underesti- mate the importance and the power of simple, face-to-face commu- nications, well planned to minimize the executives’ time. Marketing implies that the PMO needs to continually sell its value, and bring its internal customers to use the service more.
15. Archives — There are several reasons why it makes sense to have all project archives in one place. For example, this is a great place to keep “lessons learned.” A smart person learns from his or her mis- takes. But a wise person learns from other people’s mistakes. Ar- chives are also useful in case of legal repercussions from any past project work. Also, records of individual accomplishments and work performed can be helpful when recruiting for future projects.