First Time PMO Management - Tips, tricks, resources
Patrick DiceyManager, Customer Project Management| CentralSquare TechnologiesOrlando, Fl, United States
Hello everyone! I accepted a promotion as a PMO Manager this week.... Just wanted to reach out and see if there were any tips, tricks, or resources (webinars?) here that anybody would like to offer.
There is an existing "larger" PMO but there was a recent re-organization and the team I am leading is new as a part of this, and will be responsible for providing some processes/tools to the larger PMO organization within the business area. I have some other specific topics on this I will be posting related to initiatives. Saving Changes...
What is the scope or mandate of services provided by your PMO? Remember that there is no "one size fits all" when it comes to PMOs.
In general, I'd suggest understanding what value means through the eyes of your stakeholders and focus on delivering that - I've seen (and been at the helm of a few) many PMOs shut down when what they delivered was of value but just not to key stakeholders...
Kiron
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1 reply by Patrick Dicey
Dec 12, 2019 6:29 PM
Patrick Dicey
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Good tip... I plan to develop a sort of mission statement/charter for the group so we are aligned with the organization's expectations as you suggest.
Well it's a bit of a mix. The PCs/PMs in my group will be focused on execution of smaller projects ($50K), but supporting the larger PMO working on the larger projects ($50K-$50M). What services exactly we provide to the larger group are the details to be ironed out. One specific topic I posted a separate thread on for example, is the monitoring/reporting of PM capacity throughout the PMO and assignment of all projects among the team based on capacity.
Saving Changes...
Patrick DiceyManager, Customer Project Management| CentralSquare TechnologiesOrlando, Fl, United States
Dec 12, 2019 4:23 PM
Replying to Sergio Luis Conte
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Sorry for asking but I did not understand. Are you looking for a provider to give you some type of service?
A provider? No... just looking to compare notes with other PMO Managers or the like. Saving Changes...
Patrick DiceyManager, Customer Project Management| CentralSquare TechnologiesOrlando, Fl, United States
Dec 12, 2019 5:25 PM
Replying to Kiron Bondale
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Patrick -
What is the scope or mandate of services provided by your PMO? Remember that there is no "one size fits all" when it comes to PMOs.
In general, I'd suggest understanding what value means through the eyes of your stakeholders and focus on delivering that - I've seen (and been at the helm of a few) many PMOs shut down when what they delivered was of value but just not to key stakeholders...
Kiron
Good tip... I plan to develop a sort of mission statement/charter for the group so we are aligned with the organization's expectations as you suggest.
Well it's a bit of a mix. The PCs/PMs in my group will be focused on execution of smaller projects ($50K), but supporting the larger PMO working on the larger projects ($50K-$50M). What services exactly we provide to the larger group are the details to be ironed out. One specific topic I posted a separate thread on for example, is the monitoring/reporting of PM capacity throughout the PMO and assignment of all projects among the team based on capacity. Saving Changes...
Melvin WangManaging Director| Front To Back CultureSingapore
First thing you got to think of is how to deal with all the data you need to manage as a PMO and how you can operationalize it to reduce the amount of grunt work there is to come. In my past life as a project manager, I always see the PMO struggling in consolidating data, massaging it for reports and dealing with inaccurate data. And try not to start your thought process on what you want to see on a weekly, monthly or quarterly basis. Start with the objective of having reports and dashboards available daily and used that to define your process. That would prevent you from introducing inefficient processes that eventually, you will get stuck with and results in a lot of manual effort. You may not be achieve daily availability at the start but it should be an objective that guide your decision process and eventually you can reach that stage.
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1 reply by Patrick Dicey
Dec 12, 2019 6:45 PM
Patrick Dicey
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I agree with your idea of real-time dashboards being most effective. I definitely don't want to get sucked into an endless reporting rut.
Saving Changes...
Patrick DiceyManager, Customer Project Management| CentralSquare TechnologiesOrlando, Fl, United States
Dec 12, 2019 6:33 PM
Replying to Melvin Wang
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First thing you got to think of is how to deal with all the data you need to manage as a PMO and how you can operationalize it to reduce the amount of grunt work there is to come. In my past life as a project manager, I always see the PMO struggling in consolidating data, massaging it for reports and dealing with inaccurate data. And try not to start your thought process on what you want to see on a weekly, monthly or quarterly basis. Start with the objective of having reports and dashboards available daily and used that to define your process. That would prevent you from introducing inefficient processes that eventually, you will get stuck with and results in a lot of manual effort. You may not be achieve daily availability at the start but it should be an objective that guide your decision process and eventually you can reach that stage.
I agree with your idea of real-time dashboards being most effective. I definitely don't want to get sucked into an endless reporting rut.
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1 reply by Melvin Wang
Dec 12, 2019 7:14 PM
Melvin Wang
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There is a caveat to this though :), depending on the size of the programmes you are running its easier said than done. But it’s all about the target end state and how you get there. And it’s also about balancing pragmatism with idealism.
Glad we are on the same page.
Saving Changes...
Melvin WangManaging Director| Front To Back CultureSingapore
Dec 12, 2019 6:45 PM
Replying to Patrick Dicey
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I agree with your idea of real-time dashboards being most effective. I definitely don't want to get sucked into an endless reporting rut.
There is a caveat to this though :), depending on the size of the programmes you are running its easier said than done. But it’s all about the target end state and how you get there. And it’s also about balancing pragmatism with idealism.
Glad we are on the same page.
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1 reply by Patrick Dicey
Dec 13, 2019 8:53 AM
Patrick Dicey
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Pesky pragmatism gets in the way sometimes... Anything is possible but comes at a cost!
Patrick DiceyManager, Customer Project Management| CentralSquare TechnologiesOrlando, Fl, United States
Dec 12, 2019 7:14 PM
Replying to Melvin Wang
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There is a caveat to this though :), depending on the size of the programmes you are running its easier said than done. But it’s all about the target end state and how you get there. And it’s also about balancing pragmatism with idealism.
Glad we are on the same page.
Pesky pragmatism gets in the way sometimes... Anything is possible but comes at a cost! Saving Changes...
Patrick DiceyManager, Customer Project Management| CentralSquare TechnologiesOrlando, Fl, United States
