Problem/Issue Statement
The
PC industry was changing, and AtekPC was dealing with remarkable
pressure from larger competitors.
To compete in a changing industry where consolidation was getting widespread,
AtekPC had implemented a corporate planning office to decide on selecting an ideal
PMO model for its company. Recognizing the role that IT would play in enabling
AtekPC to respond to the industry pressures, the senior executive had
supported the creation of a PMO within IT. The
AtekPC management is now faced with challenges in the development and
deployment of a Project Management Office in the company.
The
main challenges and obstacles in implementing a PMO at AtekPC was that a formal
documentation and plans for PMO did not exist. There was a shortage of PMO
expert resources, where staff consisted of a PMO director and three contract
project managers. Therefore leading AtekPC to a problem statement of selecting between
PMO-Heavy model and PMO-light model.
Situation Assessment
The changes in AtekPC’s business environment caused the
company to introduce a PMO. In mature organizations, the PMO is the focal point
for improvement and enhancement in project management through the implementation
of the enterprise-oriented functions. Enterprise-oriented functions are
intended to strengthen the overall capability of the organization for
long-range benefits. The enterprise functions provide the long-term stability
and backbone for the project management success. This mission is met by
establishing, and maintaining, a project historical database, by developing and
disseminating project management best practices, by providing training in all
project management knowledge areas, and by providing visibility for the value
of project management to the organization.
The decision criteria would be cost reduction and to get
better on projects which would mean getting more creative, adaptive, and agile
in launching new products.
Evaluation of Alternatives
A
PMO that is based throughout an organization in comparison to a PMO base in one department is
more likely to get the support from the senior executive. Project management
should not be a departmental strategy; it should rather be an organizational
strategy. The PMO must exist within Information Technology organization
and provide project support for all Enterprise IT projects and its clients
across the company. The specific duties of a PMO are typically divided into two
categories: project-focused and enterprise-oriented. Project focused
responsibilities such as consulting, mentoring, and training were services that
enabled the success of individual projects. On the other hand, enterprise
responsibilities addressed services that might improve all projects such as
portfolio management, PM standards, methods, and tools, and project performance
documents. The Enterprise PMO will oversee the management of all strategically
aligned projects. This leads us to further understand the selection
between the two models available to an organization. An ideal way is to note
the characteristics and limitation of the PMO heavy and PMO light models.
For
PMO heavy model:
Characteristics:
·
Organization will have full staff of
project managers who have an implicit responsibility for managing all IT
projects.
·
Hire project management experts, either
from internal or external sources, and use these resources to manage projects
under the direction of the PMO.
·
In extreme case for PMO-heavy model, none
of the project would operate outside the management and direct control of the
PMO.
Limitation:
·
There aren’t enough people to move
fast. Company wants to move fast to be competitive however there is resistance
among employees due to the culture and governance issues.
For
PMO light model:
Characteristics:
·
There is minimum number of staff who
are experts in working through internal project managers to perform the
responsibilities of the PMO.
·
This model focuses on the development
of skills of internal project managers who were not formally connected with the
PMO.
·
In the extreme scenario for PMO-light,
all projects operate outside of the PMO under existing organizational controls,
and the ownership of projects resided within the functional area and IT group
charged with execution of the project.
Limitations:
·
No one in the management wants to move
to PMO as people in the department and functions challenge the values of PMO.
This depends on the culture of the organizations.
·
The delays from the light approach
might compromise the ability to provide PMO services and to demonstrate its
worth to the functional areas of the business. It gets hard to acquire
resources and to find funding for PMO resources.
·
The functional areas don’t literally
understand what the PMO is & perceive it as a sort of a road block and an
obstacle to progress.
·
The fact that it creates a choice for
the management whether to add projects under PMO or elsewhere. If they add all
of them in PMO, it create a situation of being too aggressive which in turn may
violate the culture so much that you cause a big red flag.
·
Having the business resources available
is already becoming a problem for AtekPC. With a PMO-light they are lined up
better with the business side in terms of the number of resources, and it’s a
better balance.
Recommendation
PMO-heavy seems to be the best model for AtekPC, but the
management should recognize that they would not be able to gain acceptance
immediately from this approach. The demand for resources was more throughout
AtekPC, and the PMO would need to prove itself in order to earn the resources they
wanted. Therefore there is a need to build support for the PMO-heavy model
through project successes. As the PMO gains acceptance, AtekPC can implement a
PMO-heavy approach, furnishing project managers to the various groups.
Purpose and mission of a PMO:
The objective of implementing PMO is to deliver successful
IT projects, build project management maturity at the organizational level, keep
management and project audiences informed, and serve as the organization’s
authority on IT project management practices. The purpose and mission of PMO is
to have consistent project practices. The specific duties of a PMO were
typically divided into two categories: project-focused and enterprise-oriented.
Project focused responsibilities such as consulting, mentoring, and training
were services that enabled the success of individual projects. On the other
hand, enterprise responsibilities addressed services that might improve all
projects such as portfolio management, PM standards, methods, and tools, and project
performance archives. PMO’s are more effective and can better impact the bottom
line, when they are operating at the corporate enterprise-wide strategic level,
rather than at the departmental level. Departmentally based Project Management
offices are successful in their own silos but not accepted outside their span
of influence, and therefore, are unable to influence the organization as a
whole. This is because many project management offices started off from a grass
roots approach.
Structural and governance mechanisms critical for effective
PMO implementation:
In the current governance, there seem to be no
roadmaps or timelines for maturation of the PMO, people did not know who PMO
was accountable to, and there was weak support from the senior executives. There was resistance among employees which was not making the PMO a success. Keeping
in mind it is not possible to measure the performance of PMO and proving its value
was by having one which seems to be the only way that will work for AtekPC.
How much PM is enough PM? How much PMO support is enough PMO
support?
If the PMO is to be successful, there are several key issues
that must be assumed. The success of projects, in general, all rely on the factors
being implemented; i.e. the integration of client, implementer, and software
vendor goals and plans, constant management of the project’s scope, and finally
a method for gaining visibility into project health at all levels throughout
the life of the project. There is no definitive answer to the above question,
because it purely varies from project to project. To decide on what is needed is to analyse each situation,
evaluate whether the benefits are worth the cost and risk. When PM is
applied skillfully, in an appropriate way, it generally improves the probability
of project success and pays for itself. When we let fear and adherence to
inappropriate rigid standards that drive decision making then everyone loses. However
the key point to understand is that every project needs planning, controlling,
monitoring and again going back to planning when there are issues seen in the
controlling and monitoring phases. And it would be a quality and logical recommendation, if all the projects are handled through PMO.
Presentation
If I were to present this case I would include metrics that measure
the stakeholder’s expectation from PMO performance and relate it to the AtekPC’s
vision and mission statements.
I would make initial assessments based on assumption which will show the improvements in
project successes over time and further measure it through decreases in schedule
and budget overruns, and client responses. The Project Management approach can
be measured by quality and timeliness of project planning documents, accuracy
of time and cost estimates and effectiveness at mentoring and coaching project
teams..
I would show an analysis of moving from a single project
perspective to a more holistic perspective with the help of the following
factors critical to the success of the PMO; I.e. Executive Support, agreement to
requirements and scope, user involvement & collaboration, resource alignment
reflective of current need, management of expectations, strong project management
infrastructure and ability to measure and report.
Other
delivery considerations to keep in mind for the PMO at AtekPC are the cost and
budget function which requires an allocation method for funding. However the
long term benefits of implementing the PMO should be factored in to estimate
the future value added to the organization.
