Your PMO Doesn't Suck, But Your PMO Manager Might...
I recently had a candid and energetic conversation with someone looking to bring me in to help change the way they deliver projects. This person talked at length about the PMO and what it wasn’t doing. The unit they described contained four people and its role is one of support, guidance and coaching – agile and waterfall – to those who have the responsibility to deliver.
Like most organisations at the minute, the PMO in question was implementing a new way of working and used words like agile, scrum, squads, stand ups and so on. All good words and approaches that are proven to work by organisations that are staffed by people with growth mindsets and a willingness to get things done in the right way.
This PMO is not that. It is beholden to its process. It doesn’t understand the mindset of getting things delivered. It pumps out reports that provide little value. It (collectively) sits at its desk with its headphones in and has no capacity for listening or evolution. And it is fighting progress every step of the way. In a word, my frustrated contact said, the PMO sucks.
I listened intently, made a few notes and then replied: ‘Your PMO doesn't suck, but your PMO manager might do.’
Like anything, implementing new ways of working in the wrong hands will very quickly become ‘existing ways of working with new names and job titles’.
PMOs (project/program management offices) became en vogue post-Y2K, when organisations were looking for consistency. At that time the PMO management community (of which I was part) learned the method du jour and duly created templates and guides for project managers telling them how to do their jobs.
Consistency became about application of a process rather than the behaviours and skills required to get projects delivered. It became about hundred page business cases to justify projects to ourselves. It became about filling in a plan document, but not creating it collaboratively and revising the estimates post-completion. And it became about sending everyone on a method course and expecting an immediate change.
In short, project management in the hands of the wrong person became about paperwork and bureaucracy, not leadership and culture.
The PMO was central to this and, in the right hands, great PMOs and the delivery functions they served flourished. The PMO anticipated changes in the way projects got delivered and were open to new ideas and behaviours.
They were implementing agile when it was still new (please note: it’s now 17 years old), provided development for project managers so they had a skill set fit for the future and ensured the support systems that were in place for those delivering projects were lean, fit for purpose and added value.
They didn’t engage in agile vs. waterfall type arguments or avoid performance management of people whose behaviours were at odds with the future ways of working. They recognised that on time/on budget delivery wasn’t as important as the service being provided or meeting customer expectations. And they understood that published was better than perfect when it came to delivering products.
These people are now in executive positions and are seen as role models for transformation. Unfortunately, they are few and far between.
There are still far too many PMO Managers who are beholden to their process, wedded to their templates and that don’t understand that theirs is a business of relationships, communication and getting things done.
They display old fashioned behaviours, get in the way of progress, engage in long-winded arguments of who’s right and who’s wrong and see any new ways of working as threats to their ‘power’ not opportunities for improvement.
They love nothing more than a method argument or to write War and Peace-style responses to LinkedIn articles that dare to suggest the PMO may finally have run its course.
Like any function in the business world, the PMO needs to change and evolve to meet the delivery needs of the business today. If it’s not going to do this, then it has no future and neither do the people leading them.
The PMO manager (or whatever it’s called) should be at the forefront of project management cultural evolution not stymying progress in the name of process consistency.
If your PMO manager isn’t doing that, then it’s not the PMO that sucks.
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Industrial Engineering | Supply Chain planning | Keen mindset for data visualization
6 年Motivating article! i have a new insight into what a PM should be equipped with...in terms of mindset and business responsibility. This serves as a lesson for someone like me who wants to venture into PM field without proper training or templates to follow. I felt much relieved and energised now. I believe I can do well if I remind myself of what value I should be bringing to the organisation.
Director: Programme Project Management t/a Benefits Management Excellence
7 年Great article Colin. Reading it was like watching a video playing out in my mind. A few simple questions may focus the PMO mindset. 1. Who are the key customers of the PMO? 2. What do these customers value? 3. What and how are you adding this value? 4. How is PMO performance measured? Recently a PMO of a large Govt organisation, when asked these questions responded that recent State Treasury review the program and PMO had scored their performance as excellent, as they had applied Prince2 fully in all dimensions and templates. The question of how they add value was not reviewed. Program and project managers experiences was diametrically opposed to review findings.. Unless PMOs offer customer services and products that make the "ship go faster in the right direction", and stop acting as custodians of methods and templates and enforce their use, they will inevitably be replaced or transformed by a value adding service. A last thought: The project community respects what you inspect and how you truly assist them.
Head of Technology: Directing all aspects of business technology innovation, project/program leadership, and IT operations management
7 年Great article, thank you! It is always about understanding your customer and their expectations, and is definitely not a ‘one size fits all’. Sometimes this means ‘on time and budget’ but, undoubtedly, this is not always the case. I have frustratingly observed several occasions where the expectation of perfection would get in the way of significant progress on projects. Although extremely annoying (on a personal level), the job of the PMO lead and PMs is to discuss the observations / concerns with the sponsors & stakeholders. Again, your customer may want perfection (or realistically near perfection) ……customer expectations. Truly understanding the context of a project (customer, environment, dynamics, culture, etc.) is, in my experience, where several PMs and PMO leads fall short. This information is not in the charter or scope document. It can only be gained by building and continuously nurturing relationships with your stakeholders. I do agree that several PMO leaders and PMs confuse means (process, tools, templates, reports etc.) with value (stakeholder satisfaction, faster decisions, progress, cultural evolution). However, the maturity of the PMO within an organization should not be disregarded in these debates. PMOs are often created because project management controls and processes are lacking. At this stage, the PMO and PMs are delivering value by establishing structure and defining and emphasizing practical processes. As a PMO matures the focus should shift to becoming more strategic and demonstrating tangible results and business value. However, if an organization’s leadership and culture is not aligned with this evolution, then the PMO will fail. Hence, ‘Displaying old fashioned behaviours in an old-fashioned organization might be the appropriate approach in the interim. This is my very long-winded way (sorry!) of saying, in my opinion, there is no silver bullet or magic formula. If a PMO (PMO Lead and PMs) is not aligned with the organization and the expectations of the stakeholders it will fail.
Business Transformation | Driving Operational Excellence & Digital Innovation | Head of Project Management | Executive MBA
7 年Thanks and very refreshing Colin D Ellis. Knowing your PMO not performing and determining the root case is crucial. Let's also not forget the role of the PMO sponsor!
Sought-after Organizational Performance Igniter, Author, Change/Project Manager, Speaker | Helping Organizations Exceed Performance Goals
7 年Something to consider here is the concept of the "growth mindset". (https://hbr.org/2016/01/what-having-a-growth-mindset-actually-means) Those who have it are more likely to drive successful projects and PMOs.