PMO Lab: Clean, Consistent and Maintained Project Data

PMO Labs is our way of getting attendees talking about different PMO themes together. We know that every single one of the PMO Flashmobbers has a story to share, an interesting insight from their careers that others would get a great benefit from. In this PMO Lab, part of the session held at Parliament UK, we continued to look at the insights thrown up from the latest Inside PMO report on KPIs, Metrics and Measures.

In this lab, we looked at data. To gain the data needed to provide the measures and metrics results, well clear, consistent and well-maintained data is at the heart of it. In the report, the advice for those starting out in devising metrics and measures for the PMO is to start with this. If you can work towards getting good data first, all the other parts of KPIs, metrics and measures will become easier.

Let’s have a look at the outcomes: Number One: Converge towards certainty

Where we have uncertainty in our data, we need to think about flipping that to certainty. Looking at a portfolio, over the course of a year for example, the PMO needs to converge towards certainty and we need to understand the tolerances and errors. We also need to be comfortable with ranges in our data.

Number Two: Consistency

Drop-downs over free text are your friend! Top takeaway from the evening session!

Number Three: Trust the Project Managers to do it right versus police the living daylights out of it

In other words, this was the two poles apart views of the PMO Flashmobbers in the session. So depending on maturity; levels of trust and depending on history, those were the views of how the PMO might have to work in order to get good clear, consistent data.

Number Four: The PMO has to trust its instincts

Which is all about not relying totally on the data and to go with those instincts when it comes to seeing the data and knowing when something is not necessarily looking right.    

Other PMO Lab Sessions