Good morning - I am working on a presentation that shows the value of my PMO. With my C level's they are interested in how a successful PMO has benefited other companys. Does anyone have some suggestions on a starting point for me to find this information? Saving Changes...
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Mark Price PerryBusiness Driven PMO Evangelist| BOT InternationalOrlando, Fl, United States
Hi Christina, great post and question. I gave a presentation in June at the 2009 Everything Channel Gartner Group PPM Summit. The theme of this year's event was "Putting Your House in Order with Project & Portfolio Management" and I gave a presentation titled "A Roadmap for the High Impact PMO." This presentation was largely based on my new book Business Driven PMO Setup: Practical Insights, Techniques and Case Examples for Ensuring Success, which addresses PMO value and of course examples of how PMOs have benefited their companies. We like to talk about this in terms of how PMOs meet the business goals and measurable objectives for which they were created to serve. Naturally, if a PMO has goals and objectives that are driven by the needs of the business (business-driven), then the PMO benefits the company as a matter of meeting and/or exceeding those objectives. And, it is quite normal for different businesses to have different needs and hence different kinds of PMO goals and objectives which in turn becomes value when achieved. And of course, this kind of value of the PMO is clearly and intuitively understood by the executives (no need to engage in "selling" the PMO). Conversely, if the PMO does not have such business-driven goals and objectives, then the value may or may not be understood and appreciated by the leadership team. I would be happy to liaise with you via email and/or talk to you directly. Feel free to click on my pic to send a message to my gantthead inbox. Based on what you are looking for, I might have a few slides from various PMO seminars that I have given that you might find helpful as a starting point. Great post and good luck. Saving Changes...
Hi Christina:
I've prepared presentations on this topic and have done extensive research. I've responded to this questions in several posting on gantthead.com. You can search my postings for this info.
Follow me twitter @califgirl232 to followup with more questions.
~Naomi Saving Changes...
Stuart DixonProject Office Manager| Xl CatlinCrowbrough, United Kingdom
Having had to do a similar job in the past about what value a PMO offers, an important thing is to bear in mind that any examples where a PMO can benefit need to tie in with what your level C executives want to hear.
For example some PMOs have managed to train their PM community, and done some great training for sponsors [making more projects succeed].
The mistake I see is that what can appear on the presentation is the first bit and not the bit in brackets, and this may be the bit that your executives want to hear.
You also need to watch how your words may be interpreted.
for example standardization could be translated as bureaucracy.
As well as the examples submitted by others, I have got some of my information from Gartner. In the company I work in then if you can add a quote from them (or there are other similar companies), then this adds a seal of approval on what you are saying.
Good luck with your presentation Saving Changes...
Elyse NielsenSenior Project Manager| Ascension Health Information ServicesHaines City, Fl, United States
Hi Christina,
Truth be told in today's tight economic times. Program Management Offices need to be proclaiming the business value they enable. I'm going to share a process I have been using for the past 6 months. It has had some success. I'm certain there are other techniques, and I would appreciate if you could share your experiences. After all there are many ways to accomplish this task.
First, as I'm certain you know we routinely report all project status's every two week in a project dashboard. This dashboard is in spotlight format with some key information as current status, previous status, completion percentage, project phase, anticipated completion date, executive sponsor, project sponsor, and finally key accomplishments for the past reporting period. This dashboard is email to our health system executives and directors.
Over the past 6 months we have added in mentioning the recently completed projects accomplishments and benefits realization. This has truly been a good marketing campaign.
Here is how it is done.
On the business case for the project capture the benefits to be measured.
Within the project charter, further vet the benefits stating:
What to measure beforehand
What to measure afterwards
Who is going to measure
How frequently (be sure to have some immediately after live and other a couple of months down the road)
Anticipated benefit metric. Ie a 25% drop in patient days under 30 LOS.
After closure have the immediate realized benefits sent to the PMO and the schedule of when the other benefits will be realized.
When the PMO emails out the bulletin board, include content regarding recently closed projects and the business benefits those projects are bringing the health system.
Follow up on longer realized benefits, and email those findings when realized.
All in all it is a simple process. However, diligence to the details is key, as is considering the audience, benefits should be explained in healthcare business terms - not geekspeak.
Peter TaylorVP Global PMO and Keynote Speaker/Author| DayforceNewent, United Kingdom
I strongly believe the PMO has a place in a project based organization, even in these times of restricted finances. In fact, I believe they have a place especially in these times.
On one hand, companies of all kinds face the global recession. On the other, we are part of a dynamic, resourceful and ever-evolving world that demands change as part of its survival. And change demands projects, and projects demand project managers.
History is littered with significant project failures, yet there are also spectacular project success stories linked to the ever-maturing profession of project management.
Those projects that will be commissioned in the future, as well as the ones that are allowed to continue in the current climate, will be expected to deliver higher business impact, endure closer scrutiny from senior management and face far more pressure to deliver.
And who will be under the most pressure? You guessed it, the project manager.
Right now our projects, and our project managers, need the help, support and guidance of a good PMO. Just make sure that your PMO’s focus is the right one for your business.
Saving Changes...
