How PMOs Creatively Challenge the Status Quo

The changes we have seen in recent years has forced all of us in project delivery to challenge previous ways of working and thinking. PMOs have also had to adapt to continue offering services and support in this new environment.

In this session, Sharon Williams looks at the benefits of the PMO challenging the status quo and supporting more creative thinking during delivery and how they can do that.

Through sharing of real-life examples from programmes and projects worked on, the session covers the changes that the PMO has had to make and what the outcomes were.

The session will also take a look into the near future and highlight which changes are here to stay and the impact both good and bad on the service the PMO continues to offer.

Sharon is a PMO Director at BW&C Consulting, has 15 years experience working across a range of sectors including transport, financial services, gaming, real estate, Data Analytics, an Advocate for PMO’s & Sharing Best Practice and she is also a podcaster and you can check out the Delivery Space here.

Recorded Session

Insights from the Session

In the 2017 Pulse of the Profession Report from PMI.  They highlight two types of organisations based on their success rates:

• Champions: are organisations that complete 80 percent or more of their projects on time and on budget, and that meet original goals and business intent. They have high benefits realisation maturity & embrace PMO’s
• Underperformers: are organisations that complete 60 percent or fewer of their projects on time and on budget, and that meet original goals and business intent. They typically have low benefits realisation maturity

“Champions have higher project success rates overall than underperformers—92 percent vs. 33 percent— and enjoy more successful business outcomes.”

There is often lack of understanding in terms of services PMO offer, some still think PMO’s are focused on reporting – however this creates a massive opportunity for any organisation wanting to become a ‘champion’

PMO Branding & Comms:  How you present yourself, Who are you as a PMO, What types of content will you share?,

Understanding your key audience, Tone of Voice, and Values, allows people to get to know who you are and how you bring value

Networking: Reed:  “Process of speaking to contacts & sharing information with them”

Internally:   Strengthen stakeholder relationships, access new info & ideas (observe additional support is needed in a particular area) and new perspectives

Externally: Share learning & expertise cross-sector

Show & Tells:  Showcasing how the work that we do supports the wider business strategy and understanding if there are any specific measures or indicators that the business would want to include.

PMOs are able to bring the business real insights on what’s being measured and the impact on dynamic decision-making – early warnings for example.  With risk management, it may drive a different direction of travel.  Team well-being & morale metrics have also become increasingly popular.

Community of Practice (CoP)

House of PMO says that “Communities of practice help share knowledge between people within the organisation and to also help them develop, using communities of practice as a form of social learning and social interaction.”

CoPs bring people together who all have an interest in the subject, want to participate, share stories and overcome challenges. CoPs are about creating an environment where people can speak openly and honestly. There are a number of different approaches and techniques that people use to engage participants, facilitate conversation, encourage learning and drive action and change such as: Training & Workshops, Focused Discussion Groups.

Continuous Improvement

The PMO always has to be thinking about improvements due to the dynamic environment we are often working in. This means improvements to the services we offer making the right call for controlled changes at certain agreed intervals.

As the PMO matures and the delivery environment matures, this will mean a change in the type and level of service offered.

This programme was part of a wider enterprise technology transformation. The objectives were:

1. Improve data quality property management system
2. Analytics & report development
3. Support business agility & better-informed decision making

Business Outcomes:   Aligning everything to business outcomes helped ensure engaged stakeholders.  The ‘So What’ was answered.

Right Delivery Framework: No fixed preconceptions; understanding the culture, people & context prior is important with any framework selected…this programme used a combination of frameworks. The frameworks enabled the business to change direction & reprioritise quickly with different reporting requirements that had to be changed quickly in the PowerBi reports used.

Onboarding Experience:  Set up remotely as it was at the start of the pandemic; everyone knew & understood business outcomes and met all key stakeholders so relationships could be built quickly – positive feedback that it was the best onboarding experience.  We made sure everyone understood the governance used on the programme and why.

Video Comms/ Visuals:  Helped people understand key messages, fun & engaging

Weekly Blogs; Gave different team members a chance to blog, share insights and contributions, had jokes of the week, with interactivity – spotlight on them, showcase everyone in the team, linked deliverables to the so what.

Continuous Improvement: Rapid improvements made based on feedback, dynamic

What did PMO Do?

• Different frameworks for each project.  Project developing reporting capability & enhancing data warehouse: Agile delivery framework – Rapid change & reprioritisation, as the business changed direction, backlog reprioritised.
• Videos, blogs, company intranet, chat features , changed the way interacted with the client
• Made it fun
• Set up  remotely as it was at the start of the pandemic, the best onboarding experience …..comms, stakeholder introductions
• Everything made visual
• Quick feedback loops
• PMO integrated into delivery – speak about what’s happening on project verbal comms
• When offices reopened organised Hackathon – support of Exec to solve a real business problem – help team building, stakeholder recognition
• PMO supports business agility effective comms, dependency management,  support change management so the business knows what to expect
• Support continuous improvement throughout – rapid changes, improve efficiency, growing & learning, change in next sprint (holistically)
• Business Outcomes – clear messaging, and right governance to support this.

What was the Result?

Programme adapted dynamically in a controlled manner as the business changed, which helped ensure they were on track to receive a return on investment.