PMO Flashmob

Last week's PMO Flashmob was a diamond - a real old skool PMO Flashmob night where there was lots of chat, debate, a few laughs, some brilliant thinking and ideas literally zinging around the room. We were back at Ticketmaster's bar (if they ever stopped supporting us I think there will be a collective howl and sobs from the PMO Flashmobbers - thanks again TM-mob!) and this time we were experimenting with 2x2 matrices/matrix. We see 2x2 matrices in lots of different places - a common one is the Stephen Covey time management one (to the right) that people in all walks of life have used (there's a big explanation of it here). We also see them within different fields of management, including project management. The stakeholder management matrix of power vs interest has long been a popular one and can be seen below. The aim of the evening was twofold. The first, for people to share the 2x2s, they really like or just wanted to show others to get the conversation going. The second part was all about creating new 2x2s specifically for the PMO world. Now, I thought the second part might be quite difficult, but how wrong was I. Let's share some of the ones from the evening and see what you think.

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We get asked a lot about how PMO Flashmob came to be. At the last PMO Conference in London, original co-founder Ralf Finchett returned from Australia and we grabbed a bit of time to have a chat. PMO Flashmob was created originally to get people together who work in PMO - to meet up after work to chat about the work they do. It started because we found that at all the conferences we had attended, it was the interactive and networking parts where you got to meet others in the same boat as you, that had long-lasting benefits. Five years on, I think its safe to say there are a lot of people who have attended different types of events we've had that have got real benefit from it. PMO Flashmob was always intended to be something that was aimed at individual practitioners rather than the organisation or corporates. It remains low cost and that allows us to offer both hospitality at events and also explore the different challenges that affect people working in PMOs day. If you're interested in how PMO Flashmob got started or perhaps looking for some inspiration for setting up your own community of practice within your organisation. Take a look at the video interview / having a catch-up PMO Flashmob style.

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On the 17th May, I attended my first PMO Flashmob, the event on this occasion was more specifically known as PMO Serious Play, held in Manchester. The idea behind this session is to learn and explore the mindsets and behaviours of the PMO supporting Agile based projects and programmes through playing with Lego. Upon arrival, at the event, I received a warm welcome and introductions all round. There was also a vast selection of drinks available including tea/coffee, orange juice, coke and even wine and beer! All included in the session. Before getting called through to our training room there was a chance to talk and network with others attending the course. This helped me get comfortable with the people I was with, something that I thought was important before a creative session like this. The first thing I noticed was how different everybody’s background in PMO was. There was also a wide range of industries represented by charities, law firms, and public sector. It was really interesting finding out how they operated their PMO within their industry.

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Had a conversation the other day with someone who wanted to come along to the PMO Hackathon event we're holding in October. They wanted to come along but it starts at 2pm - which of course means leaving work early and they didn't think their boss would be OK with that. I get it. They pay the wages they want you there. How many organisations these days talk about the performance and success of the business is based on its people? How being motivated, happy, appreciated and interested in their work makes a world of difference?

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Earlier this month we held the first ever PMO Flashmob in Scotland. It was held at SSE in Glasgow and the aim of the evening was to bring together PMO professionals together and have a chat about what is happening in this region. The evening was kicked off by Jennifer Band, PMO Lead at SSE by setting the scene and asking the all important question - what is a PMO and what does it mean to the people around the table. Here's just some of the things PMO do:

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