Tools and Techniques

Agile PMO – Tooling

In this session, Matthew was joined by another lodger, Nicole Reilly. Together they talked about the different Agile related tools that are available and what the PMO needs to know. There are literally hundreds of different tools out there that are used by Agile teams. There are also many different options to extract data which is then used by management teams to understand what progress is being made and what decisions and actions are needed to be taken.
Go to article

PMO Problem Solved – Too Much Admin!

PMO Problem Solved - “I have a problem as a PMO lead, the PMO analyst role is very admin heavy and we are having high staff turnover. The main issue is collating packs, taking minutes and chasing actions across all the forums. We are not allowed to recruit more staff and cannot push back on any of the admin. Can you suggest any way we can reduce the load or make it quicker?”
Go to article

Business Storytelling

The PMO needs people to make decisions and take action pretty much everyday. We provide reports, we have conversations, we try and influence yet still we struggle sometimes to make a message really land and even more so when it comes to people making critical decisions. You will have heard of storytelling in a business context - most likely you've heard it called data storytelling - it's the same thing. You can use storytelling structures, techniques and a whole myriad of plot devices and character details within your day-to-day work.
Go to article

Power PMO

In this session we had an introduction to Microsoft's Power Platform which includes PowerBi, Automate and Apps. Our lodger Nicole Reilly introduced the session plus we saw a demo from the PMO team at UK Parliament who showed how they have started using Power Apps.
Go to article

Dashboard and Reporting at PMO Learn!

We had a new event launched in 2021 as part of the PMO Conference. It was a one-day learning event called PMOLearn! which took place before the conference and was billed as the largest PMO classroom with 100 learners taking part. The day itself was split into 4 different topics - benefits management, resource management, portfolio management and this one, dashboards & reporting. In this post, you'll be able to see the main presentation or class. You'll not be able to see the interactive parts that the learners got involved in but you'll still take a lot away from the session itself.
Go to article

Is Demand Management Failing You?

Demand Management needs to be understood and managed in the context of the benefits of change, not in the context of local processes, subject to pressures that lead to an endless tweaking of low-value outcomes. In this article, Lodger Lain is back in the Heptagon and he shares insights that include PRUB, Impact Mapping, tactical and strategic things your PMO could be doing to improve demand management.
Go to article

PMO Models and Resourcing

We really love listening to other PMO practitioners' experiences and we know many of our members do too. In this session, we listen to Gary Heath, a long time supporter of House of PMO and luckily for us, vastly experienced in PMO. As he says in his opening introduction, he's worked in pretty much any type of role, for example, permanent, contractor, fixed-term, consultant, associate - you name it he's done it. A great session for anyone at any level in the PMO - it's always interesting to hear how other practitioners have managed their careers and the insights they've learnt along the way.
Go to article