The project management concept is fairly new at my place of employment, a 250 bed acute care hospital in the Southeast. As the only IT Project Manager, I have seen a need to centralize project implementation efforts for various reasons. There is too much disparity between "types" of projects and the implementation methodology and structure each project receives. It's quite interesting, actually, how the same resources (people) are coordinated for varying projects that fall under different "sponsors." It just makes sense to streamline this by implementing a PMO. This way you get standardization, planning, resource tracking, communication channels and most importantly, the organization quites operating out of individual silos. The real question here is: How do you propose the idea of a PMO, centralized in IT with the idea of project management methodology only 6-months old, and in a healthcare facility?? Any suggestions? Am I on track here? Thanks to all! Saving Changes...
Mark Price PerryBusiness Driven PMO Evangelist| BOT InternationalOrlando, Fl, United States
Dear John, the best way to propose a PMO is to not propose a PMO at all. For one, most PMO proposals to management often fall upon deaf ears or ears pained by the noise of change of any kind. But the key point is that a PMO is an enabler to achieve an objective, not the objective itself. As a first step, one approach would be to focus the proposal not on the need for a PMO, but instead on the need and opportunity for improvement. Treat this like any project effort. After establishing goals, objectives, and a high level overview of requirements, then put forth a few options and pro forma business case assessments for management such as 1) do nothing, 2) implement a PMO, 3) implement a "virtual PMO", 4) implement a PM quality circle, etc. Focus on those Miller-Heiman "buyer types" and "win-win" results and let management choose. For many organizations, if management is truly committed to improvement, a great deal can be accomplished with minimal cost and organizational impact simply by empowering a talented and energic IT PM to set up a "virtual" PMO or head a PM quality circle to "get done" all of those things you mentioned. And based upon value, adoption, and on-going maturity this can easily and predictably evolve into a full PMO - via the request of the users and thinking of management (not those who want to manage or be in the PMO). Another good reason for this approach is that if management is not committed or if the organization is just not at the right maturity level, then proposing or pushing the PMO will likely fail. Conversely, if they are ready, then there is no need to push it through. If you would like, I would be happy to email you a "Virtual PMO" presentation intended for small to midsize businesses with IT typically less than 50 in staff. Best regards. -- Mark Perry, VP of Customer Care, BOT International Saving Changes...
