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PMO Directors Should Think Like Executives
| Closing the gap between initiatives and strategy is a hot topic among PMO Symposium 2013 attendees and executives alike. But one of the creators of Balanced Scorecard -- keynote speaker Robert S. Kaplan, professor emeritus, Harvard Business School -- devised an elegant solution: Organizations should be able to describe their strategy in 50 words or less. Keeping it concise makes it easier to map out how that strategy connects to measures, targets and initiatives. That kind of focus on strategy should be happening right out of the gate. Ed Hoffman, PhD, CKO and APPEL Director at NASA, a PMI Global Executive Council member, suggested in a panel discussion that PMO leaders ask: "What's the problem we're trying to address in our organization and what are we doing that really helps?" "The solution doesn't have to be elaborate and high-tech," said Ruth Anne Guerrero, PMP, senior vice president, PMI Global Executive Council member TD Bank, N.A., and head of TDBNA PMO. Complex solutions may actually distract more than help, said Tony Gayter, vice president, IT and strategy, HP, a PMI Global Executive Council member. "Pick six metrics that really matter. Don't overcomplicate it." Taking a deeper dive into PMI's Pulse of the Professionâ„¢ In-Depth Report: The Impact of PMOs on Strategy Implementation, PMI's vice president, IT Frank Schettini said high-performing PMOs share three qualities:
The most successful PMO directors think and communicate like senior executives, Mr. Schettini said. Part of that comes down to a shift in language, said keynote speaker and author Daniel Pink. "This is where smart people often go awry," he said. "They use their own language instead of that of the people they're persuading. Use the language of the C-suite when you need to 'sell' up. Convince less technical people with less specialized jargon." Mr. Pink also recommended that PMO leaders learn to curb their power. "You'll get better results by understanding others' perspectives and finding a common ground." Read more from symposium. |
PMOs Help Connect Projects to Strategy
| "We're not forming PMOs for the sake of forming PMOs. It's about helping organizations deliver initiatives or change in a way that's aligned with strategy," said PMI president and CEO Mark A. Langley during a panel discussion at PMO Symposium 2013. And organizations could certainly use the help. While PMI research shows that 88 percent of organizations say strategy implementation is important, less than half say they're good at it. "There's a major disconnect happening in organizations," noted Mr. Langley. That's where PMOs have a role to play. "All strategic change within an organization happens through projects and programs, so our job is to connect what we do to strategy," said Mr. Langley. The need is greater now than ever for PMOs to step into that lead. The exponential acceleration of change today means nimble strategy matters more and more. Panelist Margo Visitacion of Forrester Research encouraged PMO leaders to translate tactical project elements into the language of the C-suite. "Aim for smart simplicity," added panelist Perry Keenan of Boston Consulting Group. "Don't serve up 300 activity reports to the senior leadership team. Serve up milestones and key metrics instead." In a later session, Mr. Keenan discussed how PMOs can serve as powerful change agents. For change initiatives to really take root, organizations require a "change delta" composed of:
"The world is changing at an unprecedented pace," Mr. Keenan said. "Almost every organization in almost every industry should be mindful of resisting temptation to think it's different for them." For more on PMOs, check out the PMI® Thought Leadership Series: Strategic Initiative Management - The PMO Imperative:
Read more from symposium. |
Wanted in the PMO: Strategic Thinkers
| Project management offices (PMOs) don't just change processes. They change their organizations, markets, industries and communities, said PMI president and CEO Mark A. Langley as he kicked off the PMO Symposium 2013 in San Diego, California, USA. The 600 attendees -- representing 406 organizations, 30 industries and 29 countries -- heard just how powerful PMOs can be during the 2013 PMO of the Year Award. The top honor went to Canada Health Infoway, a not-for-profit overseeing CA$2.1 billion in public funds. With a portfolio that has increased fourfold since 2005, the PMO acts as a strategic adviser on digital health-record projects. Proving the value of the PMO's strategic focus: Only 4 percent of projects in the portfolio have failed, and almost all of those failures occurred early in their life cycle, prior to significant expenditure. "Their PMO is a clear demonstration of how organizations can and should implement their strategic initiatives," said Mr. Langley. The other two finalists were:
The sessions that followed reinforced the growing focus on strategy. A PMO is the governor and facilitator -- the organization's glue, said Greg Miller, vice president at PMI Global Executive Council member CareFirst, Blue Cross Blue Shield. PMO staff should go in armed with a comprehensive understanding of the organization's strategy, accept the executive game plan, maintain an orderly and expeditious flow, and unify the organization. "PMOs must take center stage and they must operate strategically." Today's fast-paced project environment is accelerating the drive toward strategic alignment and change management at the heart of a successful PMO, said Michel Danon, senior vice president and CIO, Hawaii Medical Service Association independent licensee of PMI Global Executive Council member Blue Cross Blue Shield. "We need project practitioners who are really adaptable, who can understand and energize people and point them toward a common goal." That means finding and fostering the right project talent -- within or outside of a PMO. Ed Hoffman, PhD, CKO and APPEL Director at NASA, a PMI Global Executive Council member, said PMOs can support talent management by:
"A PMO should be wrapped around the notion of knowledge and development," Dr. Hoffman said. Lynn Batara, PMO director of Franklin Templeton Investments, spoke of the importance of developing project talent and engaging stakeholders: "The mystery of project success is people." Does your organization's PMO focus on strategy and talent development? Read more about the PMO symposium on this blog or on Twitter, #PMOsym. |
Adapting to Cultures, Lessons from my Father
| A few years ago, after I finished a presentation about multigenerational and multicultural teams in Mexico City, Mexico, someone in the audience asked me what kicked off my interest in these topics, which have become a bigger trend in the past decade. The first thing that came to mind was a proverb that my late father used to say to my brother and me: When in Rome, do as the Romans do. He wanted to remind us that we need to adapt to the conditions of our environment. My father was a member of the Silent Generation. He faced many challenges during his childhood and adolescence, but he was able to adapt to every circumstance and went on to explore opportunities in many fields: factory worker, amateur sportsman, mechanic, and opera and popular music singer. Through his interest in opera, he taught himself foreign languages -- he wanted to know what he was singing so he could add emotion to his act. Later, when he explored popular music, he learned to play guitar and created his own performance style. This is how he adapted to different environments -- by learning constantly and proactively. Despite being from the Silent Generation, my father was an extrovert in his own way, which led him to be a great relationship builder. During our Sunday strolls in Mexico City, he always looked for tourists who needed directions and took the opportunity to practice the languages he had learned and ask questions about their culture. Adapting is as much pushing yourself to learn on your own as it is learning from others. And while my father and that good old proverb inspired my interest in these topics, here's one piece of advice I can give you from personal experience: To master multicultural and multigenerational issues, it's pivotal to keep a positive attitude and accept the challenges that different environments offer. What sparked your interest in multicultural and multigenerational teams? Was it second nature, or did you need to do so for a project? |
Communicating Change
| To implement a successful change initiative, you must first create the desire for change within the affected stakeholder community. If stakeholders believe the message being communicated, the way they react and feel changes in response. Research in Australia, New Zealand and the United States has consistently demonstrated physical changes in people based on what they've been told. Studies report people Down Under and in Canada who are told wind turbines cause health problems actually experience health problems. Similarly, in a 2007 study, Harvard researchers told some female hotel employees that their usual duties met the U.S. Surgeon General's recommendations for an exercise regimen. Four weeks later, the researchers found improvements in blood pressure, body mass index and other health indices among the informed group compared to a control group of attendants who hadn't been so informed. What this suggests is the conversations around your change initiative will have a direct effect on how people experience the change. Gossip and scaremongering will cause bad reactions; positive news creates positive experiences. To drive success, you need to make the right conversations. Some strategies to help include:
Expectations tend to become self-fulfilling prophecies. You need to communicate the expected change your project is creating will be beneficial and good for the majority of the stakeholders. If this message is both true and believed (the two elements are not automatically connected), the experience of the stakeholders is more likely to be positive. Communication often can mean the difference between project success and failure. A 2013 PMI Pulse of the Professionâ„¢ in-depth report shows that executives and project managers around the world agree that poor communication contributes to project failure. Of the two in five projects that fail to meet original goals, one of the two do so because of ineffective communications. The study also reveals that effective communication is a critical factor in creating success. Given the stakes, it's time to ask: How much positive communication do you do each day? |