Many companies are creating their own PMO using good methodologies, giving responsabilities to their team, designing good deliberables, etc., etc.
However, how can I spread info about the new PMO in the company? How can I 'sell' the new organizational entity?
I know is part of a Change Management methodology but, the CM meth. had to create all the procedure or the company need to take the control of it with their own procedures, policies and resources?
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Saving Changes...
Shawn BellingChief Technology Officer and Adjunct Faculty| Geno.Me/University of WisconsinFitchburg, Wi, United States
One of the best ways to proliferate information on a new PMO is through a community of practice. A community of practice is an informal gathering of like-minded practioners, in this case, project managers. I'll bet you have formal and informal project managers throughout your organization. Try getting them together over brown-bag lunch sessions to discuss common project management issues, and share with them how the new PMO could help them.
At my firm, I started a project management community of practice a year and a half ago. It's gaining traction slowly but surely. We do not have a corporate PMO, and may never have one, but we are spreading word on project management and getting more interest in how it could help the company. Saving Changes...
How is your PMO organised? That is very important in your communication and organisational change mgmt strategy.
As Shawn points out you need to identify the Enablers in your performing organisation -- these Enablers or Ambassadors can help you to bring the PMO into the organisations who can benefit from your service.
You need to get mgmt buy-in and this is more important the further down in the organisational hierachy your PMO is loacted - if you are at snr exec level you should have enough organisational weight to justify your existance and start insourcing the projects from your collague executives.
If you are situated 5 levels down you need to do a lot of communication foraml and informal and buy a pair of sneakers and visit potential stakeholders and sponsors and make them aware of the PMO existance and try and bring back some ideas for projects or schedule meetings for starting projects what ever process you have decided in your project methodology
good luck
Kasper Saving Changes...
Kenneth KlostermanDirector Strategic Initiatives| Premiere Global ServicesColorado Springs, Co, United States
Shawn. How did you go about creating your "project management community"? We too do not have a PMO, and probably never will. However, because PM's are spread throughout the various departments I think this sounds like an excellent starting point for consistency.
I'm curious if you encountered (and overcame) organizational political barriers. Was this community sanctions and supported by Sr. Management?
Just curious how you implemented and what the environment allowed. Saving Changes...
Shawn BellingChief Technology Officer and Adjunct Faculty| Geno.Me/University of WisconsinFitchburg, Wi, United States
Kenneth: I started the project management community of practice by getting the names of project managers and people with related duties from an HR person who at the time was tasked with researching project management in the company. I invited these people to an inaugural brown bag lunch meeting in which I explained the concept of a community of practice and established some basic working rules we'd follow.
The word spread after this meeting, and I have a substantial list of people who want to be invited to each meeting. We do not have senior management "sanction." However, we do have some director-level people who attend the meetings regularly and have offered to carry the message to senior management. The idea is to outline benefits of standardized and consistent project management practices throughout the company and to see if some corporate-level budget and other resources would be allocated for training, EPM tools etc. We have pockets in the company with PM culture and practices (IS, R&D) but the idea is to expand the reach of a common practice.
I attached the slide show I used at the inaugural meeting. I am indebted to Max Wideman's website for much of this. Saving Changes...
Kenneth KlostermanDirector Strategic Initiatives| Premiere Global ServicesColorado Springs, Co, United States
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