...Creating a Methodology Course: Project Management January 16, 2015 In John Compton’s Company, the issues that were in play which caused the lack of a Project Management methodology for years are due to the possibility that none of his executives had any knowledge or experience in project management. I also believe that fear was in play, maybe more than a few executives were afraid to let the other know that they did not have any knowledge or experience in project management and instead of coming up with a methodology, they would rather sweep it under the rug and hope that the request goes away, or maybe other executives would take the mantle and come up with a methodology on their own. Another reason which is obvious is the thought of losing power and authority to the project management office. Another reason is that most people are afraid of change, they have been operating a specific way for so long that this change is scary when you don’t know what is coming down the pike. In a survey conducted by CIO and the Project Management Institute (PMI), “the top two reasons for establishing a PMO, according to the survey: improving project success rates and implementing standard practices”. Reading the question for this assignment, it is apparent that a project management office has been establish or is in the process of being established by the senior executives and John Compton; now the task before us is to decide where the project management office (PMO) should report to. Before...
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...PMO Challenges The AtekPC Project Management Office Case Study was assigned for this class to provide an overview of the challenges faced by management in the development and deployment of a PMO in an existing company. Based on the case study respond to the questions below incorporating not only the course reading materials, but any outside research that may be relevant. Be sure to cite the authority for any research included in your response. What were the changes in AtekPC’s business environment that caused the company to introduce a PMO? Based on your assigned readings and research, do these appear to be appropriate reasons for developing a PMO? Why or why not? “One might be cost reduction. Another motivation to get better on projects would be that we have to get more creative, adaptive, and agile in launching new products. “ [1] “The PC industry was changing, and AtekPC was engaged in dealing with dramatic pressure from larger competitors such as HP, Dell, and Lenovo. To compete in a changing industry in which consolidation was occurring, AtekPC had implemented a corporate Planning Office. Recognizing the role that IT would likely play in enabling AtekPC to respond to the industry pressures, the senior vice-president had supported the creation of a PMO within IT. “ [1] Somewhat true but not sufficient Here are some other reasons of why we should have PMO. (of course it cannot represent everything) In mature organizations, the PMO is...
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...PMO: Project management office An organisational body or entity assigned various responsibilities related to the centralised and coordinated management of those projects under its domain. The responsibilities of the PMO can range from providing project management support functions to being responsible for the direct management of a projecti PMO Services:ii . Basic support services Administrative support for project managers Collating and reporting project status to senior management Providing standards, methodologies and a set of PM tools Managing project documentation (including risk registers, schedules, incident logs etc) Promoting project management within the organisation 2. Advanced specialist Services Consultancy and advisory services Strategic and governance services Developing competencies of personnel, including training and mentoring for project managers Advising project and programme managers Evaluating project managers’ performance Recruiting, selecting and/or allocating project managers Recording, analysing and disseminating lessons learned Identifying, selecting and prioritising new projects, including involvement in benefits management and business cases, contingencies etc Allocating resources between projects and programmes Providing advice and recommendations to senior management Conducting project health checks and post-project reviews Monitoring and reviewing PMO performance and its effect on project delivery SServuces Services Services ...
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...its PMO? 2. What should AtekPC have done to successfully implement its PMO? Industry Background Proliferation of mobile phones, PDAs and web-based applications slowed PC popularity. Industry was undergoing a wave of Director Application Development consolidation as cost control and scale Richard Steinberg became more important. Chief Information Officer John Strider Director Technology & Operations Company Background Established in 1984, 210 full-time employees, 200 part-time employees. 2006 sales = $1.9 Billion. Dealing with an industry moving from Growth stage to Maturing stage. Strategic Planning Office established to propose business changes. SPO initiated PMO effort, focused on IT projects, with plans to become Enterprise PMO. Sales Systems Manager Lead Analyst Linda Starr Manufacturing Systems Manager Steven Gardner Lead Analyst Financial Systems Manager Lead Analyst Workgroup Communications Manager Adv. Systems Replacement Project Manager Director Project Mgmt. Support Larry Field Lead Analyst Lead Analyst IT at AtekPC - PMO was introduced to provide standardization in managing IT projects. Project Manager Pre-PMO (2007) IT projects are managed by development staff (Lead Analysts). Used informal approach to projects = rapid response to user requests. Struggled with changing industry that required larger, more complex projects involving multiple functional areas, which was overtaxing current management methods. PMO Director...
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...PM4799 Essay 7.1 Role of Project Management Office October 31, 2015 Role of Project Management Office The importance of the project management office is to help businesses improve the probability of success. PMO is like an umbrella entity within an organization that overlooks project management activities, offering secure executions of projects. The project management office is the source of documentation, guidance and metrics on the preparation of project management. It is important to streamline PMO functions first by standardizing Project Management tools and techniques. This will help in avoiding overall project risks and failures. Eventually, how a project management office (PMO) is designed and staffed for maximum effectiveness depends on a variety of organizational factors, including targeted goals, traditional strengths and cultural imperatives. It is also found that by using established project management approaches increased success as measured by a project's key performance indicators of quality, scope, schedule, budgets and benefits. The Project manager’s job is to focus on the specific project objectives, while the PMO manages major program scope changes which may be seen as potential opportunities to better achieve business objectives. The survey indicates that operating an established PMO is one of the top three reasons that drives successful project delivery. The problems facing an organization, performing informal project management practices would hinder...
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...mission of a PMO? 1 What are the main challenges and obstacles in implementing a PMO? 5 What structures and governance mechanisms are critical to effective PMO implementation? 6 How much PM is enough PM? How much PMO support is enough PMO support? 9 References 9 What is the purpose and mission of a PMO? The purpose of a Project Management Office is to define and maintain projects management standards that must be implemented and adhered to throughout the organisation. The project management office must standardise the way that projects are executed by ensuring that policies, processes and procedures are repeated in exactly the same way in all of the projects that are performed in the organization. The Projects Management Office is the source of documentation, guidance and metrics on the practice of project management and execution. According to Taylor, J (2006) the idea of a Project Management Office is not a new concept. It is an old concept that was brought to live again as a result of the need to manage projects, and specifically Information Technology projects, better. Information Technology organizations have struggled to deliver projects on time and within budget more than any others. In the mid-1990s, approximately 80 percent of all IT projects failed, and of those that were restarted, about 50 percent failed. Therefore, the challenge to manage projects more closely has caused a resurgence of PMO implementations. The purpose of the PMO can be divided...
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...PMO Definition “An organizational body or entity assigned various responsibilities related to the centralized and coordinated management of those projects under its domain. The responsibilities of the PMO can range from providing project management support functions to actually being responsible for the direct management of a project”[1] “PMO is the administrative mechanism by which a focal point is provided for organizational project management activities”[2] “A project management office is a formal, centralized layer of control between senior management and project management”[3] Refer to the page on “PMO Functions” to see what responsibilities are typical of PMOs (e.g. Templates, Methodology, etc) Other popular names for the same type of entity are: Program Management Office, Project Support Office, Project Office, Center of Excellence, etc. The letter “P” in PMO stands for “Project” (and not Program or Portfolio). PMO also refers to a multi project office, that is, one PMO to oversee all projects in an organization rather than one PMO for each project. Those projects may be independent of each other, or they may be related and contributing together towards the same outcome as a single Program, or may be grouped in a Portfolio to facilitate their effective management towards meeting a strategic business objective. This definition is aligned with the PMI terminology used in PMBoK and to the PMO whitepaper by Hobbs[4] References: [1] PMI. (2003) Guide to Project...
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...THE Project Management Office (PMO) Prepared by: Dzingwa Madzima June 2010 1 Overview • • • • • • • The What and Why of PMO’s Starting a PMO Types of PMO’s PMO Roles and Responsibilities Executive Buy-In PMO Best Practices Telecel Zimbabwe PMO 2 The What and Why of PMO’s 3 Enhancing Your Bottom Line By Investing In Better Project Management Increasing Throughput Rate Strengthening the weakest link Achieving higher customer satisfaction Identifying the bottlenecks Reducing the program delivery interval Becoming the service provider of choice 4 What Is a PMO Exactly? 59% of respondents said PMO means project management office; 12% said it means program management office. Study by Brian Hobbs PMP and Monique Aubry “An organizational unit to centralize and coordinate the management of projects under its domain. A PMO oversees the management of projects, programs or a combination of both.” A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® guide), Third Edition © 2004, p. 17 In each organization, the definition of a PMO may vary in name and by function, but it essentially centralizes, coordinates and oversees the management of projects and programs. Article by Bud Baker, Ph.D. PMI Network, June 2007 5 The Project Management Office (PMO) A PMO is a centralized organization dedicated to improving the practice and results of project management. • • Some PMO initiatives are minimal, involving part-time staff. • Other initiatives involve huge infrastructure...
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...IDEA GROUP PUBLISHING 701 E. Chocolate Avenue, Suite 200, Hershey PA 17033, USA Tel: 717/533-8845; Fax 717/533-8661; URL-http://www.idea-group.com ITP5149 140 2005 IRMA International Conference Organizations Through Information Technology, Proceedings of the 2005 Information This paper appears in Managing Modern Resources Management Association International Conference, edited by Mehdi Khosrow-Pour. Copyright 2005, Idea Group Inc. Aligning Project Management Office and Strategy: A Brazilian Case Study Leandro Alves Patah, Marly Monteiro de Carvalho and Fernando José Barbin Laurindo Polytechnic School of the Univ. of Sao Paulo, Av. Prof. Almeida Prado, 128, Cid. Universitária, 05508-900, {leandro.patah@siemens.com} {marlymc, fjblau@usp.br} INTRODUCTION In the turbulence of the new economy, characterized by discontinuous, abrupt and sometimes unmanageable changes, companies should be able to make fast and responsive actions and innovative strategies in order to survive (Hamel, 1996). The great majority of companies already has this information and prepare themselves to compete in this new era through the elaboration of daring strategies, although feasible. According to Porter (1996), the strategy essence remains in choosing activities to be made in a different manner or in the execution of different activities in relation to the competitors. What happens, many times, is that the strategies are not put in operation because they do not arrive until the...
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...International Journal of Project Management 26 (2008) 38–43 www.elsevier.com/locate/ijproman Organisational project management: An historical approach to the study of PMOs Monique Aubry *, Brian Hobbs 1, Denis Thuillier Received 3 August 2007; accepted 9 August 2007 2 ` ´ ´ ´ Universite du Quebec a Montreal Business School, Department of Management and Technology, Montreal (Quebec), Canada, H3C 3P8 Abstract This paper aims at providing a grounded theoretical foundation on which to base a better understanding of organisational project management. This paper delivers empirical evidence that project management offices (PMOs) and organisational project management can be understood as part of an historical process within an organisational context, departing from the traditional boundaries of positivist project management theory. The history of PMOs in four organisations is documented and analysed. The evolution of the organisations and their PMOs is punctuated with events, tensions and changes. An historical process provides a better basis for the development of a theory on PMOs and more globally on organisational project management. Ó 2007 Elsevier Ltd and IPMA. All rights reserved. Keywords: PMO; Organisational project management; History; Process approach 1. Introduction Rethinking project management! This paper is aligned with the present vitality found in the movement to rethink the field of project management [1]. The project management research literature is opening...
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...Portfolio Management Case Report A Project Management Office, is a group or department within a business, agency or enterprise that defines and maintains standards for project management within the organization. The PMO’s objective is to standardize and introduce economies of repetition in the execution of projects. PMO’s mission is to reduce the risk of projects failing to deliver to time, cost and quality targets and to make more efficient use of project resources by using a “shared service” and improve corporate capability to launch products. ------------------------------------------------- Challenges in implementing a PMO * Formalization of PMO faces the issue of change implementation, which might disrupt already existing informal practices within the organization. * Finding executives with domain expertise and project management skills. * Obtaining complete and sustained top-management support for authority. * Managing a diverse range of related and unrelated projects to achieve the maximum organizational value within resource and funding constraints. * Deliver immediate improvements in project performance and justify the cost * Lack of standardized reports and reporting frameworks for all projects. * Manage the conflicts between new business critical initiatives and operations with incremental changes in the existing system. * Handle conflicts between line managers and project managers. * Evangelize the idea of PMO to induce...
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...What are the main challenges and obstacles in implementing a project management office (PMO)? At AtekPC, in early 2007 IT projects were mostly of operational and maintenance nature and IT department handles these project on the specific request of concerned business unit or functional area. Most of them are small to medium in terms of both length of project execution and size and they were handled informally without any standard practice. As per the Director of applications, they do have lot of operations project but very less number of enterprise applications. As per him, when they began to take a look at what they needed to do in the future, they realized that they had to really hone our skills to be able to move more aggressively and sure-footedly...
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...Maturing stage. To face those changes, AtekPC established a Strategic Planning Office to try to help the business keeping up with their fast growing competitors. Before AtekPC started implementing the PMO the IT projects were handled internally by the current staff members carrying project management responsibilities. The changes and new challenges within the IT industry forced AtekPC to focus on IT improvements, efficiency, how they use their resources, cost management, consulting, and training. The project goal was to have the PMO help the company executives string together their strategic planning process and the project management across the company. The goal was also to provide IT improvements in project performance, efficiency, and resource utilization to enterprise improvements in cost management and corporate capability to launch products. Strider was also trying to gain support of all senior executives by the explaining the value the PMO services. Not all of the senior executives seemed to understand what their new role would be after the PMO was implemented, and that is an issue. When people do not know their roles it is hard to keep everyone within the organization on the same page. The Scope of the project was to provide formal PMO which incorporates the PMO values while being mindful of the current culture of AtekPC. Also, to keep coordination and effective standards of projects performed within the organization in order for AtekPC to meet its revenue, expenses...
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...The AtekPC Project Management Office Case Study was assigned for this class to provide an overview of the challenges faced by management in the development and deployment of a PMO in an existing company. Based on the case study respond to the questions below incorporating not only the course reading materials, but any outside research that may be relevant. Be sure to cite the authority for any research included in your response. What were the changes in AtekPC’s business environment that caused the company to introduce a PMO? Based on your assigned readings and research, do these appear to be appropriate reasons for developing a PMO? Why or why not? “One might be cost reduction. Another motivation to get better on projects would be that we have to get more creative, adaptive, and agile in launching new products. “ [1] “The PC industry was changing, and AtekPC was engaged in dealing with dramatic pressure from larger competitors such as HP, Dell, and Lenovo. To compete in a changing industry in which consolidation was occurring, AtekPC had implemented a corporate Planning Office. Recognizing the role that IT would likely play in enabling AtekPC to respond to the industry pressures, the senior vice-president had supported the creation of a PMO within IT. “ [1] Somewhat true but not sufficient Here are some other reasons of why we should have PMO. (of course it cannot represent everything) In mature organizations, the PMO is the focal point for improvement and...
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...Available online at www.sciencedirect.com International Journal of Project Management 30 (2012) 608 – 620 www.elsevier.com/locate/ijproman The three roles of a project portfolio management office: Their impact on portfolio management execution and success Barbara Natalie Unger a,⁎, Hans Georg Gemünden a , Monique Aubry b a b Technische Universität Berlin, Chair for Technology and Innovation Management, Straße des 17. Juni 135, Sekr. H71, 10623 Berlin, Germany Université du Québec à Montréal, School of Business and Management, P.O. Box 8888 Downtown Station, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3C 3P8 Received 27 July 2011; received in revised form 29 November 2011; accepted 26 January 2012 Abstract Project portfolio management offices (PPMOs) are a subset of project management offices (PMOs) that handle collections of multiple single projects and programmes, i.e. portfolios. PPMOs are centralised organisational units that cater to the demands of various stakeholders by performing specialised tasks. They are initiated by their organisation's leadership in response to increasing management challenges originating from project portfolios. Although there has been considerable research on PMOs in general, not only a clear understanding of multi-project PMOs' activity patterns set in specific contexts like project portfolio management, but also both existence and mode of multi-project PMOs' contribution to successful performance are still lacking. By quantitatively analysing...
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