Where is the PMO heading? As project management continues to mature and organisations increasingly use programmes and projects to manage big changes, the role of the PMO will also evolve and change to meet the demands of increasingly risky and complex strategy execution. At the helm of the PMO of the future, strong, senior leadership with a seat at the top table will be inevitable.
Taking a look back at historical changes in the PMO and considering the business landscape we work in today we can begin to understand the shape of the future. In this session we take a look at the future PMO where the focus is about delivering real value; being aligned with the business and being a real expert in change. The session discusses the contributing factors that will make the role of the Chief Change Officer a reality.
Is this the new PMO? The Enterprise Change Leadership Office headed up by a Chief Change Officer? Will we see a CCO at board level?
Takeaways:
How the PMO structure, functions and services today shapes the PMO of tomorrow
The driving factors that lead towards the eCLO and the CCO role becoming a reality
What makes a good Chief Change Officer
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Featuring four talks in an hour, PMO Flash Talks are about innovative, fresh thinking in PMO - new theories, research, different thinking or introducing new concepts and ideas.
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The majority of the PMO’s work has focused on strategy execution through portfolio, programmes and projects yet a PMO also has the knowledge and skills to oversee the creation of an organisation’s strategy. In this session, Richard looks at what exactly strategy is, how is it formed, and how is it executed. From this he shares what the role of the PMO is in driving strategy execution; the role of PMO in supporting strategy formulation and the PMO in the Board room (how to ensure that the Board understands the value the PMO is delivering). The PMO has additional value to add and Richard will share the mutual benefits in connecting organisation strategy and the PMO.
As Head of Strategy for a multi-million pound international law firm, Richard also shares real practical insights into how the PMO can successfully (and, unfortunately, completely fail!) communicate and present to the organisation’s most senior decision-makers.
Takeaways:
Understanding how to strengthen and build PMO capability to drive the firm’s Strategy
Understanding how PMO knowledge and skills aren’t just relevant to strategy execution, but also strategy formulation
Understanding how to present PMO materials to drive Board decision-making
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It has often been said that “One size does not fit all”. This is especially true in the case of developing PMOs. Companies are different product wise and cultural wise and industries require different approaches.
However, at the same time, traditionally PMOs have been employed by experienced people from the project management discipline often with certificates and exams documenting their knowledge and skills with in the whole P3O area. If this knowledge is applied generically to any given company, it may be difficult for the business units, outside the project organisation, to understand and fully grasp the idea behind a certain PMO activity. At the same time, we want to build on best practice and experience done by others.
How to tailor your PMO activities to fit your company and how do you find the balance between generic project management processes and the need to tailor your PMO activities, in order to facilitate the implementation and gaining the respect of your colleagues (outside the PMO).
This session will explore this dilemma via case stories.
Takeaways:
How have other PMOs dealt with this dilemma?
Clarifying your organisation’s need for tailoring the PMO activities
Which criteria can you use to define the need for tailoring
Specific examples of tailor-made PMO activities
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Knowledge is critical to the successful delivery of project and programmes. How best can PMOs support the identification, creation and use of the required knowledge?
This session will challenge your understanding of what knowledge is and provide an insight into the contextual considerations that are key to determining effective knowledge management activities for projects and programmes.
Takeaways:
A broader understanding of knowledge management
An insight into the contextual considerations key to determining knowledge management activities within a project environment
An understanding of how the PMO can support knowledge management across projects and programmes
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PMOs have a valuable role in supporting the creation of connections between projects and their stakeholders. The PMO should provide governance frameworks; facilitate stakeholder networks, and support the coordination of activities with role-based stakeholders. Its role with respect to agenda-based stakeholders is less clear. Without careful consideration, PMO interventions may result in the wrong behaviours and a disconnect between the project and its stakeholders.
Takeaways:
Good practices for the PMO in supporting stakeholder engagement with examples
The difference between role-based and agenda-based stakeholders and why it matters
What should the PMO be monitoring with respect to stakeholders
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This research-based presentation addresses the role of the PMO in the combination of governance as structure and governmentality as human agency for success at the project and organizational level.
Three stages are discussed: 1) the enablers of governance and governmentality; 2) the practices in terms of different governmentality approaches, governance paradigms and mechanisms, and project sovereignty; and 3) the consequences of and for governance and governmentality in terms of project results, ethical issues in projects, and the alignment of the organization to their particular context.
Real life cases will be discussed and tools for assessment and profiling of governance and governmentality approaches will be presented.
Takeaways:
The role of the PMO in establishing organizational enablers and practices for governance and governmentality
The link between governance approaches and its consequences
Tools for PMOs to assess and profile their own organization
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Next generation project portfolio management (PPM) is coming as organisations look for new approaches to deliver better results than the incremental improvements to existing portfolio management practices can offer.
It will fundamentally change the way organisations view projects, programs and the portfolio and will deliver a cohesive, integrated approach that involves all business functions and provides a single, portfolio driven alignment for all projects.
Takeaways:
A new way of thinking about portfolio management and an appreciation for how their organisation can improve
An awareness of the conversations that need to happen with other ‘non-traditional’ departments (HR, Finance, etc.) about the roles they need to play in a successful portfolio
A roadmap to evolve the PMO to prepare for this new philosophy of top down, all-encompassing project delivery
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