Voices on Project Management

By Cyndee Miller

It hit me about halfway through the cab ride from Heathrow to my hotel: London really does know how to rock a project. The Tower— still looking good some 946 years after the project closed.

 Granted, projects were on the brain as I was in town for my 21^st (!) PMI congress. But I also had the benefit of a running commentary from a concerned citizen stakeholder, a.k.a., my cabdriver. London’s cycle superhighway project? “It’s a horrible idea. It’s going to cause all sorts of problems.” (We shall see — look for a story on it in the July PM Network.)

The Shard, London’s latest high-rise billed as the “vertical city”? “It’s okay, but it looks like they didn’t finish it.” He was more impressed with the London Eye, and filled us in on the Ferris wheel’s history as a temporary attraction that proved so popular, the city kept it around. Talk about proving project ROI.

The impromptu lecture continued with a chapter on development projects on the East Side as we headed into Canary Wharf. Once one of the world’s busiest ports, it was reborn in recent decades as a major financial hub.

That kind of project vision has helped establish London as one of the world’s most magnetic and prosperous cities. It pulls talent and capital from around the world — and is a premier example of the giant metropolises that will increasingly define the global economy. 

“Cities are becoming so large that they are fusing together into what I call urban archipelagos,” keynoter Parag Khanna, PhD, author of How to Run the World: Charting a Course to the Next Renaissance, told congress goers. “These urban corridors are so large that they’re like countries unto themselves.”

It’s not just London, either. There’s also Abu-Dubai, Mumbai-Pune and Lagos-Benin City.

As the world economy continues to globalize at a ultra-fast clip, those corridors and the supply chains, migration patterns and markets that drive prosperity are morphing, he said.

That has huge implications for the project portfolios and talent management strategies of organizations competing in an increasingly connected and mobile world.

“We are in a truly unprecedented point in history,” Dr. Khanna said. “As of the last five or six years, most of the world’s population is now clustered in cities.”

So traditional diplomacy is being displaced by “diplomacity.” “The networks and relationships between cities form the circuitry of the economy, much more so than international relations,” he said.

Two things above all will define the countries and companies that thrive in the coming decades: connectedness and competitiveness. And Dr. Khanna predicted the gap between global infrastructure and defense project spending will continue to grow as more countries invest in connectivity — “the foundation of what globalization delivers.” Get ready for the Internet of Everything: 50 billion connected devices by 2020, blurring the line between the physical and digital.

But there’s a big risk in all this for global organizations looking for the right talent. In a hyper-connected and hyper-competitive world, people are on the move. The number of expats jumped from 70 million in 1960 to more than 250 million today, Dr. Khanna noted.

“People are becoming increasingly agnostic about where they live.” That growing rootlessness is part of what’s driving a global talent divide, he said.

In this crazy connected world, employees are going to want to know which organizations will help them see the world, Dr. Khanna said. That poses an interesting proposition for organizations competing on a global scale. “How are you going to find talent, train talent and retain talent in those fast-growing areas where you may not be operating right now?”

By Cyndee Miller

We all prefer the familiar. I gravitate to pizza and a big glass of red wine. I buy a lot of jewelry (usually with insects and/or skulls). And I tend to hire people who ask a lot of good questions without stirring up a lot of drama. 

That hardwired pull to what we know and like isn’t just human nature, it’s evolutionary biology. But it can also mean project practitioners are skimping on the critical thinking.

“What’s most familiar to you is you,” keynoter Margaret Heffernan told attendees of PMI^® Global Congress 2015—EMEA in London, England. “To the degree that we surround ourselves with people predisposed to agree with us, we are editing out the opportunity for challenges. And that’s dangerous because the people who are just like us won’t notice the early warning signs that we turn a blind eye to.”

She challenged the nearly 800 project practitioners in the audience to avoid such “willful blindness.”

London was a fitting venue for the gathering: It’s an ancient yet hypermodern city where people from around the world rub shoulders and help invent the future. And that future, said Ms. Heffernan, will reward organizations that help teams value diversity and avoid thoughtless conformity.

“Organizations don’t have ideas,” she said, “only people do.”

To build the teams that give them a competitive edge, organizations must foster connectedness and trust—what Ms. Heffernan called “social capital.”

“Teams that are highly connected can be more powerful and effective than teams that are highly funded,” she said. Yet that requires an organizational commitment to stop team churn. “The longer teams work together, the more effective they become.”

So how can organizations build their social capital and avoid being eclipsed by more forward-looking competitors?

Create an environment “where nobody has to ask permission to have great ideas,” Ms. Heffernan said. It’s not just about getting smart people in the same room. Three traits characterize top-performing teams, she said: Team members are socially empathic. All members have equal importance and influence. And the teams aren’t male-dominated.

The goal must be to see the threats and challenges “that we most desperately need to see, early,” Ms. Heffernan said.

Every project or program should express an organization’s strategy. It’s a fundamental truth, yet many executives misunderstand strategy, or fail to communicate it throughout the organization, said author Michael E. Porter, PhD, a keynoter at PMO Symposium 2014.

A strategy is distinct from a mission statement or goals; it defines an organization’s competitive edge, he explained.

“You aren’t competing to be the best. You’re competing to be unique. That’s where, ultimately, sustainable advantage comes from,” Dr. Porter said. “Every good strategy has a unique value proposition for the customer that you’re seeking to serve.”

Project portfolio choices are all about strategy in action — allocating the organization’s resources to achieve a distinct competitive position. And when project and program managers crystallize the connection between strategy and the portfolio, it has “a big impact on the ultimate power of whatever it is that you’re running,” he said.

So if the strategy is opaque, project practitioners must seek clarity. “If we don’t have a clear sense of the overall strategy, then it’s hard to connect a project or a program to what’s going on in the overall organization,” Dr. Porter said.

To maximize their value and deliver meaningful results, project and program practitioners must keep the big picture front and center.

“We talk all the time about project managers and program managers. But what organizations are really saying is that they want project leaders and program leaders,” said Mark A. Langley, PMI president and CEO. “Don’t just be a PMO manager — be a PMO leader.”

Closing keynote speaker Jason Young, author of The Culturetopia Effect, encouraged attendees to be servant leaders who foster an ideal work culture of high fulfillment and high performance.

“Our job is to get out of the way so people can do their best work,” Mr. Young said. “We want to create opportunities to help people inspire each other.”

He outlined six leadership best practices that drive high performance:

1. Clearly define expectations
2. Provide tools and training to ensure success
3. Get people to use their talents and strengths
4. Give frequent recognition and praise
5. Show care and concern for all employees
6. Encourage continuous learning and development

Symposium wasn’t all keynote speeches, though. Attendees also saw project and program management in action at local hotspots, including Marlins Park, Port of Miami and Jungle Island.

Feeling like you missed something? PMO Symposium 2015 will be 8-11 November in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Put it on your calendar today.

The war for project talent rages around the globe — and many organizations are paying a heavy price because they can’t execute strategy.

Talent deficiencies hamper 40 percent of all strategy implementation efforts, according to the latest installment of PMI’s Thought Leadership Series, Talent Management: Powering Strategic Initiatives in the PMO. Unveiled at the PMO Symposium 2014, the series features surveys conducted with The Economist Intelligence Unit, PwC and Human Systems International.

“We know that organizations cannot find the right qualified people. … There’s a capacity issue, and then there’s a capability issue,” PMI president and CEO Mark A. Langley said during the symposium’s opening session.

According to the series, more than 70 percent of executives recognize talent management as a driver of strategy, but just 41 percent of organizations have a clear approach to strategic talent development.,

And this is where PMOs have a key role to play.

Yet as PMOs shift from a “run the business” model to a “change the business” model, talent sources must shift as well, Anthony Gayter, vice present of global program portfolio management at HP, said during the opening panel discussion on talent management.

PMOs have typically been run by former project managers, but many organizations are now also looking to business schools to find strategic talent. But there’s a problem: Although programs and projects are at the center of most organizations, traditional business school curricula don’t train students in project management.

Business schools have “to realize that project management isn’t just a series of project charts — it’s a strategic part of business going forward,” Mr. Gayter said.

During his keynote address, NASA chief knowledge officer Edward Hoffman, PhD, outlined what he called the “4 As” of talent management

• Ability: Establish governance to demonstrate the organization’s commitment to growth and development.
• Attitude: Create a knowledge-sharing environment by providing access to senior leaders.
• Assignments: Leverage projects to increase experience.
• Alliances: Build internal networks to facilitate communication and collaboration.

Just because someone has valuable skills doesn’t mean they’ll be motivated to advance in an organization, Dr. Hoffman said. Organizations must cultivate talent by offering meaningful work and offering opportunities for them to grow and develop.

“Most successful people have had assignments that are increasingly challenging and complex, and that give them the courage to move forward,” Dr. Hoffman said.

During another panel discussion on Tuesday, David Perna of PwC said the CEO mood shift from survival to growth is spurring questions about capabilities, such as:

• Can you attract and develop leadership and project management capability globally?
• Does your enterprise have the agility to recognize and respond quickly to new opportunities for innovation and growth?
• Do you have enough people to lead and manage your strategic initiatives?
• Does your employee culture foster commitment from top performers and innovators?

To win the talent war, organizations must rethink their approach, said Mary Lyons of PwC during the panel discussion. And that will require broad leadership support, commitment to cultural change and a solid business case to sustain momentum.

Executives and human resources leaders must also join forces and govern the talent improvement effort together.

Project management offices (PMOs) must prove their value by transforming strategy into business results, said PMI president and CEO Mark A. Langley as he kicked off PMO Symposium 2014 in Miami, Florida, USA.

“It’s essential that PMOs take on a role in the organization that enables change in the organization,” Mr. Langley said.

Illustrating Mr. Langley’s point, this year’s PMO of the Year finalists provided 600 attendees with exemplary case studies showcasing how PMOs can deliver on strategy execution and drive organizational change.

WellPoint Inc. took home the coveted award for meeting its most aggressive growth goals ever — even as the U.S. healthcare industry underwent a massive overhaul.

After establishing a scalable, repeatable framework based on PMI’s A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide), the PMO implemented Medicaid contracts around the country. And those contracts helped deliver 40 percent annual revenue growth in both 2012 and 2013. WellPoint’s PMO’s project portfolio also included major change initiatives, including the large-scale integration of a competitor following a high-profile acquisition deal.

WellPoint now ranks as the largest Medicaid managed-care company in the United States. And as WellPoint grew, so did the PMO — a direct reflection of its strategic value. Since 2010, the PMO has grown from 17 to 58 practitioners, and its portfolio from 9 to 38 projects.

In accepting the award, Sarina Arcari, PMP, staff vice president for business solutions in the government business division, challenged audience members to raise their PMO to the next level. “The power to elevate our profession lies squarely in your hands,” she said.

The other two finalists for this prestigious award were the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic and DTE Energy.

• The Central Bank of the Dominican Republic chartered the PMO to standardize project processes across the organization and drive execution to the next level. Since 2009, the portion of projects in sync with the bank’s strategy jumped from 43 percent to 89 percent. Through those projects, the organization has been able to deliver on its mission of securing financial stability for the country’s businesses and 10 million residents.

• DTE Entergy, a Michigan, USA-based power company, launched its PMO in 2006 to make the right project investments in Detroit and surrounding areas. Since then, DTE’s project performance has dramatically improved schedule and budget management — saving more than US$100 million on one project alone. The team also credits the PMO with allowing the organization to respond with increased agility to an evolving regulatory landscape.

For more on these three extraordinary PMOs, check out video case studies of all the finalists on PMI’s YouTube channel and extended inside looks in upcoming issues of PM Network®.

Sarina Arcari (far left) accepts the PMO of the Year award on behalf of the WellPoint team.