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In Good Company: Project, Program and Portfolio Management
 At the end of this month, Cloud Gate, a Taiwanese dance company, will celebrate its 40th anniversary with the performance of a new routine, "Rice." Its founder, Lin Hwai-Min, has received international recognition and awards, including the United States' Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award for Lifetime Achievement in Choreography in 2013, Germany's International Movimentos Dance Prize for Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009 and Time magazine's Asia's Heroes award in 2005. "Rice" looks to be a culmination of the company's past four decades of work. But it could not have happened without Mr. Lin's talents -- and his arts management team. Their involvement allows the choreographer to concentrate on his creative work. It wasn't always like that; in the early years, Mr. Lin was responsible for teaching and choreography, as well as staging, marketing and fundraising. This left him exhausted and unable to work creatively. Mr. Lin realized Cloud Gate had to develop a management team. Nowadays, the company has divided its operation into three parts. Firstly, the performance of the routines. Secondly, the training and cultivation of artists, whether dancers or choreographers. And finally, the promotion of dance and taking part in wider cultural activities. The three divisions overlap, forming a coherent program of work that defines Cloud Gate as an organization. This is very much like portfolio management, dividing organizational objectives into different projects or programs. All of Cloud Gate's managers know they're there to allow Mr. Lin and the rest of the company to work creatively. They know their work helps fund performances for artists and also keeps Could Gate -- and them -- in work. This makes them both sponsors and key stakeholders. And since theater work is beset by a multitude of details, the managers have become skilled in tackling issues appropriately, discerning what is important for the business or for art. However, because ultimately they are part of a creative process, they know they have to be flexible in how they work with artists. An impressive archive of routines also contributes to the survival of the dance company. Cloud Gate has accumulated over 160 dance routines. Combinations of these can be used to stage a performance anywhere in the world. Routines based on well-known Chinese literature or folk tales, such as "The Dream of the Red Chamber" and "The Tale of the White Serpent," appeal to Chinese audiences. Those in a more abstract style, such as "Cursive," delight European audiences. The inclusion of different routines into a performance helps Cloud Gate develop new audiences or maintain the loyalty of existing ones worldwide. Mr. Lin also guides dancers' careers, cultivates young choreographers, and contributes to Taiwan's arts and culture. For example, Cloud Gate is the first dance company in Taiwan to provide its dancers with a salary and routine training. The company also regularly holds open classes and performances in all parts of Taiwan, using scholarships and awards to encourage young people to take up modern dance and choreography. Mr. Lin has spent most of his life searching for this: a sustainable way to run an international contemporary dance company. And project, program and portfolio management have helped get him there, delivering inspiring results. If you work in a creative industry, what's the role of your management team? |
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? |