PMO

PM
Access Granted: Biometrics Projects PAGE 18 Transforming Tech Projects in Afghanistan PAGE 20 A Healthy Dose of Change Management: 2013 PMI Project of the Year Award Finalist PAGE 50 Creating Quick Team Cohesion PAGE 58
DECEMBER 2013 VOLUME 27, NUMBER 12
NETWORK
MAKING PROJECT MANAGEMENT INDISPENSABLE FOR BUSINESS RESULTS.
A special section on strengthening, stafng and starting a PMO

PAGE 28
PMO!
READY, SET,
Lead
DECEMBER 2013 | VOLUME 27, NUMBER 12
Gina Altieri (left) and Susan Voltz, PMP, Nemours Childrens Hospital, Orlando, Florida, USA
PHOTO BY PRESTON MACK
It Takes a Village The Nemours Childrens Hospital team knew stakeholders needed to be heard so it used strict change management to keep the project on track.
By Louis La Plante
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Features
28
30 36 44
READY, SET, PMO!
A special section on strengthening, stafng and starting a PMO. Plus: advice and insight from inside the trenches.
Four Steps to a Stronger PMO

The goal is contributing business value.
By Sarah Fister Gale
The Right Crew Wanted

By Sarah Fister Gale
How to staff a PMOwhether it has three positions or three thousand.
No PMO? How to Know When You Need One
A PMO can improve project results. But organizations must rst recognize the signs that they need one.
By Samuel Greengard
58 64
Come Together, Right Now
Whether theyre traveling around the world or inside an organization, project managers must build team cohesion quickly.
By Amy Merrick
Touchdown
A new sports stadium aimed to be what everyone desired. And thats where it got tricky.
By Meredith Landry
28
64
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Also
THE EDGE
8 Crowd Control The next big wave in crowdfunding: civic projects 10 Hot for Hotels Africa sees a boom in hotel construction. 11 After the Shutdown For the U.S. governments contractors, the effects of Octobers shutdown live on. 12 Indias US$1 Trillion Skills Gap To support projects, the country must counteract a shortage of skilled project managers.

MAKING PrOJecT mANAGemeNT INdISPeNSAbLe FOr bUSINeSS reSULTS.
ALso iN this issUe

7 Feedback The characteristics that make a project leader 18 Metrics Privacy concerns and security glitches plague biometrics projects. 68 Marketplace Understanding the work breakdown structure 71 Directory of Services Project management resources 72 Closing Credit Soaring past a budget gap
VOICES
20 Inside Track The Social Change Network Roya Mahboob, CEO and president, Afghan Citadel Software Company, Herat, Afghanistan 22 Project Toolkit Sound Advice 24 In the Trenches No Time to Delay By Nick Regos
11
14

Predictive Projects The next trend in mobile are apps that can predict the users every need. Unwelcome Guests To keep native ecosystems intact, three project teams aim to eradicate invaders. Solar Power on the Rise A solar-energy project harnesses the suneven after its set. Moroccan Express Project sponsors would be wise to consider this stable project powerhouse.
15 16 16
CoLUMNists
26 The Portfolio Track Present Perfect By Terri Knudson, PMP, PgMP 27 Managing Relationships Trust Funds By Sheilina Somani, FAPM, RPP, PMP, Contributing Editor
22
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Trusting Tests
Ahmed Khan: Should project managers consider results from personality tests when managing large and diverse teams? Irwan Yulianto, PMP, responds: Im generally against using any personality test as hard rules in managing my team. It sounds good knowing which prole your team members fall into. You know how to handle them. But once you start stereotyping them and putting them into boxes and categories, you may (whether you realize it or not) judge them. A person can [demonstrate signs of one personality] on the test result but act as [a different personality] while working on the project. The team member could be exhibiting this different behavior due to differences in team dynamics. Or, after all, people do change. Bottom line: Humans are more complex than 16 boxes. Use any personality test for a general guideline, but use it exibly.
Leadership Survey
PMI asked project practitioners:
What kinds of skills does a project manager need to become a project leader?
Requirements gathering 5% Time management
12%
Communication
29%
[VOICES ON PROJECT MANAGEmENT BlOG]

In Bloggers Sound Off: Emerging Critical Skillsets, four bloggers discuss three critical project management skillsetstechnical project management, leadership, and strategic and business management skillsas found in PMIs Pulse of the Profession In-Depth Report: The Competitive Advantage of Effective Talent Management. June Jewell responds: I dont think most companies realize the number of different skillsets that their project managers need to be successful and drive protable projects. From marketing and estimating to budgeting to hiring and managing employees, project managers are often thrown into new roles with little guidance and training. Just think what a competitive advantage it would be to have training on these skills.
Leadership
12%
16%
Strategic
26%
People
Be HeaRD Want to share your thoughts on project management? Look for discussion topics posted on the PMI Project, Program and Portfolio Management LinkedIn Group by editors of PMI publications. Your response could be published in a PMI publication.
DECEMBER 2013 PM NETWORK
theEd
Luchtsingel, a pedestrian bridge in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, is being paid for through crowdfunding.
1,000,000 100,000
The project funding raised via civic crowdfunding site Spacehive since 2012
8 PM NETWORK DECEMBER 2013 WWW.PMI.ORG
PHOTO COURTESY OF ZUS
The amount raised for a Dutch pedestrian bridge through crowdfunding
The smallest amount a donor could contribute to the bridge
25
ge
Crowd Control
Move over, Kickstarter. Among the latest innovations in project funding are crowdsourcing sites dedicated to civic projects. Platforms such as Citizinvestor, Neighbor.ly and Spacehive are doing for cash-strapped local governments what Kickstarter and Indiegogo did for artists and entrepreneurs: helping to bridge funding gaps by using mass appeal to find monetary backers on the Internet. Crowd-funded civic projects range from a 792,021 community center in Glyncoch, Wales to a 36,850 Wi-Fi hot spot in Mansfield, England and a US$419,298 bikeshare program in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. Spacehive hopes crowdfunding will offer access to a more diverse swath of citizenry than the typical people who show up at public planning meetings. Theyre either retired or there to stop the project, says Andrew Teacher, policy director, Spacehive, London, England. Civic crowdfunding works by allowing anyone to submit for public review a project proposal and detailed budget for use of a public space. People then vote with their donations. But there are limits: The leaders must be able to demonstrate permission from authorities if projects are to be built on government land, for example. And pledged funds are collected only if the fundraising target is met. This all or nothing approach, says Mr. Teacher, ensures project leaders take the initiative in promoting their ideas. Spacehive has so far helped fund more than 1 million in projects since its 2012 launch. The organization has also forged relationships with city governments and large businesses. In Rotterdam, the Netherlands, urban design group Zones Urbaines Sensibles Eric Engelman, LeSar (ZUS) and the International Architecture Development Consultants, Biennale Rotterdam are attempting to San Diego, California, USA create a 350-meter (1,148-foot) pedestrian footbridge connecting two parts of the city that have long been separated by an eight-lane highway. Bank funding wasnt available, so the project team turned to citizens: Crowdfunding donors could buy planks of the footbridge for as little as 25 or larger sections for as much as 1,250. Our alderman, who bought the first piece, loves to
Any change is scary to local governments. Concerns that come up include cost overruns. Who pays if a projects budget goes over? Whos on the hook for making up the difference?
theEdge
HOT FOR HOTELS
Hotel-construction projects are checking into Africa. More than 200 new African hotels were in the pipeline in early 2013, up about 37 percent from two years ago, according to W Hospitality Group in Nigeria. In Nigeria alone, 49 projects were under development. The potential [for Africa] is evident, Deloitte travel analyst Nick van Marken told the Associated Press. The emerging middle class, rising GDP, all the numbers point in the right direction. By 2060, Africas middle class is expected to grow threefold to 1.1 billion people. Global tourism and business travel to the continent are also on the rise. Before the rst guests can check in, however, Africas hotel projects must overcome a spate of challenges: a lack of skilled construction workers, limited infrastructure, border delays, corruption and violenceall of which can lead to protracted timelines. A hotel project in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia has been developing since 2006; meanwhile, an Intercontinental hotel in Lagos, Nigeria only recently debuted after more than nine years of planning and construction. This is not a continent where you can claim you plan to roll out 50 hotels in ve years, Marcel von Aulock, CEO of hotel company Tsogo Sun, Bryanston, South Africa, told Hotels magazine. Becky Maughan
The proposed Mokola Hill Hotel & Conference Centre, Ibadan, Nigeria
use Twitter, and we use social From modest to mighty, these civic media so soon it was all out in projects rely on crowdfunding for the media, and that helped, project funds. MIGHTY ZUS founder Kristian Koreman told Civil Engineering Glyncoch Community Centre: Magazine. In three months, 792,021 to build a multipurpose the Luchtsingel project raised community center in Glyncoch, Wales almost 100,000 and sold Kansas City B-Cycle: US$419,298 to more than 4,000 planks. Each provide 90 shareable bikes at 12 docking of 17,000 planks bears the stations in Kansas City, Missouri, USA name of a donor or the donors Joan Littlewood Sculpture: 128,206 so requested message. The second far toward a sculpture based on an iconic phase of construction was photo of legendary theater director Joan completed in July 2012. Littlewood in London, England Mr. Teacher cautions Playground for All Children: project teams to make sure US$164,235 to build an inclusive playtheyve got a good groundswell ground in Parsippany-Troy Hills, New of support before they post Jersey, USA for children with and without disabilities a plan on a crowdsourcing site. During early fundrais Grow an Entrepreneur for Tomoring stages, successful project row: 51,369 to transform an empty storefront in High Wycombe, England leaders generally update and into a hub of innovation for young engage with donors through entrepreneurs social media. If local events I Heart Evanston Trees: US$6,480 to affect the projects proposed plant 25 trees in Evanston, Illinois, USA, a schedule or the project team city suffering from Dutch elm disease and experiences turnover, leadan emerald ash borer infestation ers should be open about the Whitaker Park Picnic Area: 4,024 to change, he says, adding: The transform a former animal enclosure into best way to hedge the risks of a community picnic area in Rossendale, engaging so many stakeholdEngland ers is to do the legwork up The Porty Light Box: A 1,649 renovafront and be transparent. tion of a decommissioned phone booth Project leaders should in Edinburgh, Scotland into a gallery for understand that, despite paslocal artwork MODest sionate stakeholders, common obstacles in local government operations can still be project hurdles: budget change, scope creep, permitting and oversight. Any change is scary to local governments, Eric Engelman, a former policy adviser for the San Diego, California, USA mayors office and now director of innovation and research at LeSar Development Consultants, told The Daily Dot. Concerns that come up include cost overruns. Who pays if a projects budget goes over? Whos on the hook for making up the difference? While some crowdfunding platforms contact funders to approve major scope changes, others require local governments to make up overruns. Those questions are a reminder that, even with this innovative model, project funding is but one phase of a successful project. As Yaron Sinai, founder of Elementool, told the news site Crowdsourcing.org: If all a team focuses on is a well-marketed pitch, once the money lands, there may be mass chaos in the attempt to execute. Kristen Lund
And the Crowd Goes Wild
G1 ArCHiteCtUre 10 PM NETWORK DECEMBER 2013 WWW.PMI.ORG
AFTER THE SHUTDOWN

The two-week U.S. government shutdown finally came to an end when lawmakers managed to ink a midnight deal on October 16. But the damage done to projects fueled by the US$500 billion government contract industry wont be as short-lived. Projects defined by tens of thousands of federal contracts employ 7 million people, ranging from cleaners in federal buildings to NASA researchers. When federal agencies shuttered large parts of their operations, many of those contractors had no place to report for work. And companies with federal awards had no place to submit invoices. Even at the best of companies, the shutdown created a collision course between their human capital culture and the realities of the business environment, says Stan Soloway, president and chief executive of the Professional Services Council, a trade group based in Arlington, Virginia that represents 370 contractors, including IBM, Deloitte and Accenture, all PMI Global Executive Council members. Projects that had already received government funding were able to continue work during the shutdown, but many had to halt operations and furlough staffeven though their workers, unlike federal employees, would not receive back pay as part of the congressional deal to reopen the government. Lockheed Martinthe largest U.S. government contractor with nearly US$37 billion during fiscal year 2012put 2,400 employees on leave. The company had to scale back operations to caretaker status at three Antarctic scientific stations where it coordinates logistics for the National Science Foundation, a US$2 billion project. URS Corporation, an engineering company based in San Francisco, California, furloughed 3,000 workers, while BAE Systems, a British defense contractor, furloughed 1,200. Bringing projects back online hasnt been as easy as flipping a switch. While agencies were closed, contractual payments and approval permits were stalled. Companies face a backlog of invoice processing and delayed payments, says Mr. Soloway. With the U.S. Congress headed toward another showdown on 15 January, when the three-month deal to fund the government expires, contractors can expect more of the same. I think Congress will again get a plan to move the government forward for a temporary period of time, says Peter Arment, a defense analyst with brokerage firm Sterne Agee & Leach, Birmingham, Alabama. I think well get a plan thatll likely get them through most of calendar year 2014. But that still doesnt address the sequester cuts, which are on a different path. Ambreen Ali
Lockheed Martinthe largest U.S. government contractor with nearly
US$37 billion
during scal year 2012put
2,400 employees
on leave.
11
theEdge
Indias US$1 Trillion Skills Gap

After a decade of spectacular growth, Indias once-vaunted economy fell back to earth in 2013. GDP growth in the worlds tenth-largest economy hit a ten-year low (5 percent in the 2012-13 fiscal year), while the rupee fell to an all-time low against the U.S. dollar in August. But Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has a solution to revive investors sagging spirits and his countrys economy: heavy investment in infrastructure, to the tune of US$1 trillion over the five-year period ending in 2017. Half of that is supposed to come from private companies. Indias infrastructure sector, Mr. Singh told U.S. CEOs during a September visit to New York, offers long-term opportunities, and government will remove impediments blocking major projects. Those impediments are all too familiar to organizations building things like steel mills or oil refineriesand the project managers tasked with bringing such massive projects to the finish line. These managers see up close the bureaucratic (and democratic) forces that frequently cause multi-year delays in infrastructure, energy, steel and telecom projects. For example, India ranks 182 among 185 economies in the ease of obtaining construction permits, according to the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation. And it takes on average twice as long to lease public land, and 60 percent longer to acquire private land, in India compared to the rest of the world. (Thats a big reason road projects are on average completed 22 months late.) Scope changes during the execution stage, long regulatory approval periods, land-handover problems and poor decision-making by stakeholders all contribute to frequent budget overruns and schedule delays on projects in India, says Tapan Agarwal, PMP, associate, transit and railways, transportation at technology and transportation firm AECOM India, Gurgaon, India. But a lack of effective project managers is also a major driver of delays: Its challenging to locate an adequate number of skilled proj-
The need of the hour is to create a skills ecosystem with partnerships to ensure mutual support and enhancement of collective benets.
Neeraj Bansal, KPMG India, Mumbai, India
In Bhalukpong, India, workers break boulders for use in the construction of the main road connecting Assam in the south with Tawang in the north.
12
PM NETWORK DECEMBER 2013 WWW.PMI.ORG
among 185 economies in the ease of obtaining construction permits.
ect managers in the country to handle current and planned infrastructure projects, he says. Mr. Agarwal isnt alone in noticing a dearth of trained project managers. According to a new report requested by the Indian government and jointly produced by PMI and global consulting firm KPMG, a PMI Global Executive Council member, lackluster project planning and monitoring is the root cause of time and cost overruns. While regulatory and other external challenges are significant, eliminating internal problemsi.e., insufficient project management trainingcould mitigate Indias world-renowned project bottlenecks. Survey data in the report indicate that companies are well aware of the problem. The vast majority of survey respondents working across the infrastructure sector79 percentbelieve the field has a major shortage of skilled project managers. In fact, according to KPMG/PMI, the sector will by 2022 have a shortage of about 3 million project professionals, which include project managers, civil engineers, planners, surveyors and safety professionals. To fill this huge gap, the report recommends that the government reform its vocational education and training system to better respond to market needs. It also says the time has come to formalize professional training for project managers, both in schools and at companies, where in-house academies could ensure employees have the skills to get the job done right. There needs to be a genuine collaboration between project owners, contractors, governments and training providers to attract more graduates to the infrastructure industry, says Neeraj Bansal, co-author of the report and partner with KPMG India, Mumbai, India. The need of the hour is to create a skills ecosystem with partnerships to ensure mutual support and enhancement of collective benefits. AECOM currently offers professional development to employees in India. We offer professional Source: World Bank, International Finance Corporation development and training for project managers to ensure theyre prepared for new challenges, Mr. Agarwal says. The company has an online training portal where employees can create their own plan to enhance skills; during annual performance reviews, supervisors discuss specific needed training with them. But even a top-notch project management team is bound to run into delays, given Indias regulatory minefield. Dozens of agencies operate at different levels of government, and approval processes often lack defined timelines. The top recommendations of the KPMG/PMI report put the onus on Indias government to clean up its act: first, by providing a single point of contact for project personnel throughout the regulatory process to centralize applications
India ranks
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and expedite the permit approvals. And second, by creating a three-tier project/program management office (PMO) that would provide centralized oversight for all large infrastructure projects. Its hard to imagine such seemingly intractable problems disappearing anytime soon, but somethings got to give if India is to achieve anything close to the doubling of infrastructure investment the country calls for in its current five-year economic plan. (The previous 2007-2012 plan called for a US$500 billion investment, 95 percent of which occurred.) The government knows it must streamline the project approval process so the infrastructure sector can unlock its potential to power a new era of economic growth. Without improvements, its unlikely private companies will step up to provide half of the US$1 trillion investment the government wants through public-private partnerships by 2017. But with the governments fast-track approval of US$28 billion worth of infrastructure projects in late August, some are seeing cause for optimism. The senior political leaders of all major political parties understand that for people and industries to prosper, and to increase foreign investment, the bottlenecks need to be removed, says Lalit Dhingra, Atlanta, Georgia, USA-based president of NIIT Technologies Inc., a global IT solutions firm headquartered in New Delhi, India. If private companies believe the government is strongly invested in completing infrastructure projects, it will increase the appetite for public-private partnerships. Jeremy Gantz
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theEdge
PREDICTIVE PROJECTS
Imagine an app that reminds the user of an upcoming appointment, then suggests the fastest route to get there and the best place to grab coffee afterward. The next wave of mobile-technology projects is making this sort of mobile personal assistant a reality. Predictive apps use passive inputs such as email content and web-search activity to send alerts, suggest activities and even update calendar appointments. We cant go on with eight meetings and 200 emails a day, N. Rao Machiraju, CEO of app developer reQall, told The New York Times. Instead, predictive technology isnt waiting for you to ask it a question, but is anticipating what you need and when is the best time to deliver that. As organizations clamor to adapt the technology, this emerging field presents a gold mine of project opportunity. In 2012, nearly 20 billion apps were downloaded from the Apple app store alone. Revenue from apps is expected to reach 10.6 billion by 2017, according to market research firm Berg Insight. Predictive search is expected to be a growing part of future apps. While the technology presents great opportunities for companies, the fastpaced and competitive nature of the mobile marketplace requires that app developers roll out deliverables quickly, says Nathalie Udo, PMP, founder of consultancy firm InDepth Strategies, San Francisco, California, USA. The market changes so fast, you have to stay on top of it, she says. When you develop an app, you have a limited time frame to get the app to the market. Mobiquity, which develops business apps, has also seen an uptick in predictive-app projects in the past year. Andy Norman, the firms senior vice president for service delivery, says project managers can help organizations harness the power of the nascent technology. Its really early days, says Mr. Norman, Wellesley, Massachusetts, USA. Project managers will be key to helping the customer flesh out his or her requirements of this technology on any predictivesearch projects. Ms. Udo has seen how a companys processes can hamper its ability to launch apps quickly Andy Norman, Mobiquity, enough. Telecommunications firms accustomed to Wellesley, Massachusetts, USA projects that require compliance with federal regulations and multiple layers of overhead can struggle with the agility and fast pace needed to compete in the apps marketplace. Organizations may not be accustomed to working with users throughout the project, which is especially necessary with predictive apps. Since this is a rather new market, users most likely will not know exactly what predictive information they will need to make their work more effec-
An Eye on the Future

Predictive capabilities arent only shaking things up on consumer-facing projects. They could be a vital new part of project management software systems. For example, a system might be able to predict that a set of deliverables will be late because of reports logged in a bug-tracking system, says Alex Bratton, CEO of custom mobile app developer Lextech, Lisle, Illinois, USA. Or software could suggest adjustments to team estimates based on how accurate previous members estimations were. For the software to make useful predictions, project managers will have to dene what a normal project window looks like, what elements can change that workow result, and when and how a system should alert the project managers or project team members. Mr. Bratton says risk management must be included in the software, so the system can understand what can go wrong and what the impact would be.
Project managers will be key to helping the customer esh out his or her requirements of this technology on any predictivesearch projects.
tive. Agile development processes and prototyping might help provide this clarity, she says. Alex Bratton, CEO of custom mobile app developer Lextech, Lisle, Illinois, USA, says predictive apps make users wonder who is doing what with all their data. By helping app developers articulate the ways that their products collect information, project managers can help develop clear communication for the consumer. Project managers have to ask intelligent questions on the projects they are executing, says Mr. Bratton. Ambreen Ali
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1 CHaLLEngE 3 PRoJECTs
Unwelcome Guests
From re ants to sh, non-native species pose ecological and economic threats across the world. When these species enter new environments, often through human activity, they face no natural predators and can spawn large colonies that degrade the environment and put native plants and animals in danger of extinction. Three teams of researchers and scientists are designing projects to control or eradicate these relative newcomers and keep native ecosystems intact. Rekha Radhakrishnan
Northern pike, an invasive predator illegally introduced in the 1950s into the Clark Fork and Flathead Rivers in Montana, USA, were decimating native salmon and trout. Fish surveys showed the northern pike population had skyrocketed, from 500 adult pike in 2006 to 5,500 by 2010. Biologists worried that continued proliferation might threaten salmon and steelhead fisheries downstream that government officials are spending billions to restore. To control the invaders, the local Kalispel Tribe of Indians and the state of Washington partnered on a pilot project in 2011 to determine the feasibility of collecting northern pike with nets. After the pilot proved successful, the two groups launched a netting project in 2012. The rst step: getting local communities to understand the threat posed by northern pike. Jason Connor, the tribes sheries management program manager, says that was crucial. We didnt go into this blind. This has been a controversial project, but we were able to address the public concerns and move forward. The net-
Net Gain
Though theyre a mere one-sixteenth inch (0.16 centimeters) long, little re ants (pictured beside a regular-size re ant) deliver a painful sting. The pests can blind animals, damage crops and reduce biodiversity and tourism. On the island of Kauai in Hawaii, USA, little re ants infested a small area. As part of eradication efforts, a government-funded team launched a project in 2012 to develop bait for private landowners to use on their properties. Casper Vanderwoude, manager of the University of Hawaiis Hawaii Ant Lab, said the project teams largest challenge was access to information. Each organization typically has their own secured data systems that are not accessible by non-employees, he says. The project team overcame this by centralizing a database where key stakeholders could deposit and retrieve information easily. Monitoring levels now show little re ants have been virtually eradicated in Kauai.
Open Access
ting project, estimated to cost US$180,000 annually, has removed almost 90 percent of the adult northern pike population.
Rats introduced by sailors in the 18th century to Pinzn Island in the Galapagos, Ecuador feed on the eggs and hatchlings of tortoises, lizards and birds. With the islands rat population burgeoning and covering all habitats, native species were inching closer to extinction. Project Pinzn, a partnership involving Galapagos National Park Directorate, Island Conservation, Charles Darwin Foundation and Galapagos Conservancy, aims to reverse that devastating trend. The rst phase of the experimental project involved testing rat bait on local tortoises and following them over two weeks to ensure it wouldnt harm them. Then, in late 2012, bait pellets containing poison were delivered from helicopters in a grid pattern. So far the project has seen significant success, with tortoise hatchlings reappearing on the island. Linda Cayot, Galapagos Conservancy science adviser, says lessons learned from Project Pinzn will inuence future Galapagos projects, paving the way for mass rodent eradication. Nearby Floreana Island is the next target for a similar project.
Bait and Switch
Fish surveys showed the northern pike population had skyrocketed, from 500 adult pike in 2006 to
5,500
by 2010.
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theEdge
SOLAR POWER ON THE RIsE
The Solana Generating Station near Gila Bend, Arizona, USA has managed to collect solar power even when the sun isnt shining. The countrys rst solar plant with thermal energy storage, Solana can stockpile six hours of energy at maximum power. That allows the states largest utility provider, Arizona Public Service, to go full tilt even after dark. When the organization that built and manages the facility, Abengoa Solar Inc., based in Seville, Spain, faced a funding gap resulting in a two-year delay, the U.S. government stepped in with a US$1.5 billion loan guarantee. Now in its nal testing phase, the US$2 billion plant will generate up to 280 megawattsenough to power 70,000 households. Solana is a monumental step forward in solar energy production, Don Brandt, president and CEO, Arizona Public Service, said in a statement. Meanwhile, Abengoa has been lighting the way in its home country: With 200 million in non-recourse nancing, it has begun operating two final plants for the Extremadura Solar Complex in Extremadura, Spain. With a 200-megawatt capacity, it is the largest solar complex in Europe and can power 104,000 households. Another solar plant has set its sights even higher. When fully operational this month, the US$2.2 billion Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System in California, USA, overseen by BrightSource Energy, Oakland, California, will generate more than 370 megawatts of powerenough for 140,000 homes. The power source shouldnt be a problem: The facility lies in the Mojave, where its sunny most of the year. Becky Maughan
The Renault-Nissan plant near Tangier, Morocco
MOROCCAN EXPReSS
Morocco is emerging as a quiet project powerhouse, contrasting the political turmoil that has consumed its North African neighbors Algeria, Libya and Egypt. Moroccos economy has picked up in the last few years, so there are many opportunities here, says Jalal Rabbah, PMP, a mediation and traffic control expert at telecommunications firm Meditelecom, Casablanca, Morocco. Morocco has averaged economic growth of 4.9 percent over the last five years, but that momentum is only one attraction for project sponsors: Organizations favor the Arabic countrys political stability; relatively inexpensive, multilingual workforce; and proximity to both Europe and the emerging markets in Africa. Projects are popping up in multiple sectors, from automotive and oil to IT and energy. Last year, French carmaker Renault completed a US$1.5 billion factory near Tangier. Oil
16
companies plan to have up to 10 well-drilling projects in Moroccan waters in 2014double the number drilled between 2000 and 2013. But there are downsides. Despite rapid development, organizations may find that Moroccos project management practices are inconsistent. The biggest challenge is stakeholders lack of awareness when it comes to risk management, says Loubna Hidraoui, PMP, a project manager at Hightech Payment Systems, Casablanca. The concept is still in its embryonic state here; its secondary when we talk about projects, deadlines and quality. Project management is still struggling to take off as much as it deserves, says Abdessamad Moatassime, PMP, an electronic delivery prime at Alcatel-Lucent, Sal. Public and government administrations have been slow to recognize project management skills as a must for their projects. These practices are now being recognized by stakeholders. In the next five to 10 years, businesses are going to see project managers as a must. Nicole Frehsee
The biggest challenge is stakeholders lack of awareness when it comes to risk management. The concept is still in its embryonic state here; its secondary when we talk about projects, deadlines and quality.
Loubna Hidraoui, PMP, Hightech Payment Systems, Casablanca
PROJECTS ACROSS MOROCCO

A Country in Motion
The governments planned US$4 billion high-speed railway promises to improve Moroccos infrastructure, providing an additional draw for outside organizations. The railway, slated for completion in 2015, will link Casablanca with the capital city of Rabat and Tangier. It answers a true need of Morocco, Mohamed Rabie Khlie of the national railway ofce told Al Arabiya News. In later phases, another branch will connect to Oujda, a city near the Algerian border; the railway could eventually extend to other North African countries, according to Oxford Business Group. Other transportation projects are also on the docket: The National Airports Authority planned to spend MAD2 billion this year on construction projects in ve cities, and the Tanger-Med ports expansion continues until 2015.
Culture Calling
Bab Al Bahr, an eight-year, US$800 million urban development, is under construction in Rabat. The largest mixed-use development in Morocco will feature seven districts, including an arts district, home to galleries, museums, apartments and restaurants. Project plans also include two marinas, ofces, a school, stores and hotels.
Warm Welcome
Morocco welcomed nearly 10 million visitors in 2010, up 210 percent from ten years earlier; the country is aiming for 18 million a year by 2020. To host the inux of people, 35 hotel projects, including those launched by luxury brands Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton, were in Moroccos pipeline as of last yearthe most in Africa after Nigeria. To encourage more development, the government plans to invest MAD3.6 billion to enhance
ecotourism spots and will build up to 10 affordable vacation locales catering to Moroccan tourists, according to Oxford Business Group. The US$40 million Marrakech Health Care City project, launched in 2012, will be aimed at medical tourists. Wealthy Arab travelers are another potential audience, says tourism minister Lahcen Haddad. The places where they used to go, Egypt and Lebanon, they cant now because of security reasons, so they are coming to Morocco, he told the Associated Press.
Sunshine, Blue Skies

Renewable energy projects are particularly appealing in the country, given its sunny, windswept desert and proximity to energy-hungry Europe. Morocco plans to generate 2 gigawatts of electricity from solar power by 2020. That level of production would rst require project investments as high as US$9 billion. We are counting on mobilizing all our efforts
to reach this goal, Mustapha Bakkoury of the Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy told the Associated Press. In May, the construction phase began on Saudi Arabiabased Acwa Powers MAD7 billion solar-power plant near the southern city of Ouarzazate. The ambitious project, slated for completion in 2015, is the rst phase of a project expected to cover 3,000 hectares (7,413 acres) and have a generation capacity of 500 megawatts (MW), meeting the energy needs of the citys 50,000 residents. Yet thats just one of the solar plants that will soon dot the desert. State power utility ONEE announced plans to build 10 solar photovoltaic plants around the country, each generating 30 MW of energy. In September, the government issued contracts to build two additional plants of 200 MW and 100 MW. The World Bank, the European Investment Bank and German state-owned KfW Bank have agreed to help nance the project.
PHOTO COURTESY OF RENAULT
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THE LAtESt StAtIStICS, SURVEYS AND StUDIES
MORE THAN SKIN DEEP
From ngerprints to the veins in our eyes, our physical traits are unique. Using these identiersor biometricsisnt a new phenomenon, but technology is allowing for increasingly precise applications, and huge project potential. Yet despite the biometrics boom, privacy concerns and security glitches plague many of these projects. Margaret Poe
A BRIEF HIstORY
RECENt ANd CURRENt PROJECts

2006 2008
The United Kingdom launches a compulsory identity-card project with ngerprints and other biometric data. Budget: A hospital network in Tampa, Florida, USA begins to register patients by scanning hand vein patterns. Budget: Access: Granted: Staff feedback led the project team to revise its plan, adding patients family members to the palm recognition system.
500 B.C.
Babylonians record ngerprints in clay tablets to verify business transactions.
4.5 billion
Access: Denied: Following a public outcry over privacy concerns, delays and budget overruns, the project is aborted in 2010.
US$1 million
1300
Chinese merchants track people by printing their footprints in ink.
2006
2007
2008
1901
The Henry ngerprint classication system is developed. It becomes the standard in English-speaking countries.
2008
1924
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation begins sharing ngerprint databases nationwide.
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation launches the Next Generation Identication Program to collect ngerprint, iris, palm print, facial recognition and other identiers for an integrated national database. Budget:
US$1 billion
1987
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Patent awarded for iris identication.
Access: Granted: The project is being executed in seven phases, with several pilot programs to iron out privacy protections and procedures.
A RAPIDLY GrOWiNG MArKET
Market for ngerprint scanners
Market for face, voice, vein and iris recognition
Global health care biometrics market
Global biometrics market

US$3.5 billion
2008
US$5 billion
2012
US$10 billion
2015
US$2 billion
2010
US$5 billion
2015
US$1.2 billion
2012
US$5.8 billion
2019
US$20 billion
2018
2009
2012
Israel initiates a six-year project to create IDs and passports embedded with ngerprints and other biometric data. Budget:
NIS270 million
Access: Pending: After protests from privacy advocates, a pilot program nally launched this year but has met with concerns over security aws.
European research organizations launch the Biometrics Evaluation and Testing project to standardize biometric systems for academic and commercial use by 2016. Budget:
5 million
Access: Pending: The project team has to develop the system to withstand increasingly sophisticated attacks on biometrics technologies.
2011 2012 2013
2009
2010
2009
2013
India launches the worlds largest biometric ID program, collecting ngerprint and iris scans to issue every citizen a unique 12-digit ID number by 2015. Budget: Access: Pending: Citizens have encountered long lines at card enrollment sites and delays in getting government food and gas subsidies through the card, prompting court action.
Apples iPhone 5S with ngerprint scanner Budget:
Unknown
Access: Hacked: While Apple touted the sensors security, within days hackers announced theyd found a way to circumvent the system.
INR180 billion
Sources: Government Technology; U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation; The Telegraph; Health Management Technology; The Wall Street Journal; European Commission; Biometrics Research Group; Wired; MarketsandMarkets
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Voice
Inside Track
CEO and president, Afghan Citadel Software Company, Herat, Afghanistan
The Social Change Network

Roya Mahboob is trying to transform Afghanistan, one IT project at a time. She graduated from college in 2009 and, just a year later, founded the Afghan Citadel Software Company. Since then, Ms. Mahboob has developed custom software and proprietary mobile applications for organizations such as the U.S. government and Afghanistans Ministry of Education. Yet Ms. Mahboobs portfolio of projects extends beyond tech and into social activism. She launched the Womens Annex, a blog and video site, and the Afghan Development Project, which is outfitting schools in Afghanistan with Internet-connected classrooms. Her company not only employs developers in the countrys growing IT industry, but also focuses on hiring women and empowering them through technology.
How difcult was it to get into the technology industry in Afghanistan?

It was very difficult for us to break into the Afghan business environment. Most of the people working with me were friends from university. We didnt have any financial support. We couldnt get a loan from a bank, since we had no savings. To get a loan, you need to have property or a large sum as a guarantee. Another problem was that IT jobs were a new concept in Afghanistannot only for women, but for men as well. And to tell people that, as a woman, I worked in IT infrastructure or software development was unacceptable, especially for male customers. I remember a potential project sponsor saying to me, Oh, you are a 25-year-old girl? You cant have money to do this project. You should get married and have children. But as a woman, I also have had some opportunities. Women in IT here love to share and follow up on ideas. And I have had fewer competitors, since its risky and difficult to work on women-empowerment issues.
How did you roll out the Internet-connected classrooms?

With the help of the countrys Ministry of Education, we targeted 40 schools in Afghanistan. For now, we have had to select schools located near the Afghan Telecom fiber-optic network. Then for each school, we talked with the village about the ways they felt they were not prepared for these computer classroomswhether it was the risk of equipment being stolen or the lack of resources and power to maintain such a space. That helped us outfit each classroom according to the communitys concerns. The final step was to build outpaint the rooms and get new doors for securityand then bring in the computers and do the installations.
Roya Mahboob,
What were the potential challenges of completing this project?

Most of the difficulty is not the implementationits after. The project wasnt as simple as a school getting an IT center. It was after the installation that the work really started, because wed provide training for all the students. Also, if the teachers or school manager lose interest, then the project is not a successso we have had to be involved all the time. Another issue we faced was electricity. Most of the time here, we dont have very much power. You can only turn on two or three computers at the same time. We treated this issue on a case-
20
Heart and soul are part of my management. I strive to create an atmosphere in which we all engage and communicate with each other in a kind and patient manner. Thats what motivates people to work for and improve your organization.
a product thats good quality. In our case, we need the political support of the government and the local community. Its also very important to watch how the project environment changes, and reflect that in your work. Coming in on time and under budget is a challenge not just for IT projects here in Afghanistan, but for all projects. In the end, our First project you managed? greatest success is when we Checking technical systems see new students connect to for the U.S. military. We the Internet and correspond didnt have ofce space yet, with our friends and partners so we worked in coffee shops. around the world.
Small Talk
ILLUSTRATION BY JOEL KIMMEL
by-case basis, using voltage stabilizers to help us manage the flow of power, for example.
What project management skill have you found difcult to master?
What do you love most about Afghanistan? My people and my beautiful land.
What is the countrys major IT roadblock?

Education. Educating people about how technology can help make positive changes in their lives. Most of them think the Internet is only Facebookthat its for making friends and chatting. They dont know the power of it. Until recently, we also havent had many people who know about IT in a formal sense. Now, many universities offer computer science courses, and there are institutes that offer IT training. But this is happening in the big cities. Out in the provinces, they still dont have IT hubs.
What lessons have you learned from managing projects in environments of high volatility and risk?
For a project to be successful, its not enough to simply deliver
Talent management. The Whats your favorite book? hardest thing is to pick and Lean In: Women, Work, and retain talent. Some dont the Will to Lead by Sheryl want to work for a woman. Sandberg, COO of Facebook. Im also young, and some people dont like being older Where was the last great than their manager. meal you had? The thing that keeps my At Persepolis, a fantastic team going through our most Persian restaurant in New difficult projects is my heart. York City. Heart and soul are part of my management. I strive to create an atmosphere in which we all engage and communicate with each other in a kind and patient manner. Thats what motivates people to work for and improve your organization. PM
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VOICEs Project Toolkit
Sound Advice
Play the Game
In my mid-twenties, I thought being open with stakeholders and coworkers was the right thing to do. Unfortunately, those who are politically motivated will throw you under the proverbial bus if it is to their advantage. In my case, a charismatic someone suggested to executive-level stakeholders that a project I had developed the business case for and was managing didnt have merit. The project was canceled. That same person waited about six months, rebranded the project and implemented to great accoladesexactly what my team had been executing months earlier. All these years later, ofce politics is still not one of my strong suits, so I need to keep reminding myself that trust is earned.
Leyton Collins, PMP, project manager, medical imaging company Agfa HealthCare, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
Lessons learned help practitioners manage project specics, but the wise words of peers can help with everything from ofce politics to scope creep. We asked practitioners:
What is the one piece of project management advice you have carried throughout your career?
Keep Eyes on the Prize
Someone once said to me that IT projects are like hitting a fast-paced moving target. The trick is to keep an eye on how a changing environment shifts the goalposts. The information and communications technology industry in particular is one where technology changes rapidlynew security threats arise every day and business goals evolve quickly for companies to keep aoat. A project manager needs to build in a project process that allows making these changes easy.
Partson Mururi, PMP, service delivery manager, telecom provider Gemalto, Johannesburg, South Africa
Learn From Everyone

One piece of advice that took me a long time to listen to was: Dont get overly upset when you are convinced that youre right and others are wrong. It does not get you anywhere to insist youre right. Rather, compromise and discussion are mandatory to nd the path to project success. Identify what you can learn from others. One of the most important things a project manager can do is listen to opposing viewpoints and understand the rationale behind them.
Marc Burlereaux, PMI-RMP, PMP, PgMP, global program manager, HSBC Private Bank, Geneva, Switzerland
Think Before Acting

My mentor on my rst assignments said I needed to understand the needs and concerns of team members and stakeholders. People do not refuse to do what you ask of them without a reason. I repeatedly skipped over getting to the real cause of the problem and failed, especially when I did not have the patience needed. For example, in one of my projects, there was a very easy task I had asked a team member to do, and it seemed like he was just being stubborn and refusing to do it. I later discovered he was afraid to commit to it because he had a good reputation and lack of knowledge in that areaand didnt want to seem foolish.
Lili Yankulova, CAPM, PMP, project manager, microelectronic integrated systems company Melexis, Soa, Bulgaria
Look Within
Be ready to answer this question truthfully: Do you think it or do you know it? Just thinking something will work is an assumption. Its not until you know you have the commitments, resources and risks well in hand that the project is on solid footing. Its really surprising how
22
Take It or Leave It
Three pieces of unconventional advice to try:
Clear the mind daily. For the past seven years, U.S. food corporation General Mills has offered meditation exercises and boosted efciency in the process: 89 percent of employees who practiced mindfulness reported improved decisionmaking skills, and 89 percent reported enhanced listening skills. Mindfulness is also being baked into organizational practices in Silicon Valley, with tech titans like Google establishing meditation programs in recent years.
many problems and risks can be eliminated by knowing as many answers as possible and obtaining the specic commitments necessary to execute the project plan with condence.
Marshall Wilson, PMP, assistant director for renovations, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA
Time and cost are the least flexible, in my opinion. You can throw resources at a project to some extent, but at a certain point, a large team becomes ineffectual and you then need to reduce scope or phase better. This rule is easy for stakeholders to understand.
Pamela Smith, PMP, PgMP, systems development manager, hospitality group Tsogo Sun, Johannesburg, South Africa
Mind the Business

My rst boss said this, and it has stuck with me regardless of my title or role: It is our job to understand the language and needs of the business (i.e., the clients) and to serve as their champion. It is never acceptable to expect clients to learn our language to communicate their needs to us.
Simone Rosa, PMP, senior project manager, The CocaCola Company, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, via the PMI Project, Program and Portfolio Management LinkedIn Group
Steady Wins the Race

Dont let perfection get in the way of good enough. Please do not misinterpret this advice. Its not to excuse poor quality, but rather to motivate delivery. In too many organizations, teams seem to be afraid to deliver something until it is perfect. This results in extended schedules and budget overruns. Stakeholders, including project team members, become a lot smarter about the specifics of a project as it moves along. You can deliver in small chunks, which is more economical and ultimately delivers a better-quality product with reduced rework.
David Bartholomew, PMP, partner, nancial management consulting rm Bank Solutions Group, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Take a quick break before making a tough decision. A 2013 University of Toulouse study revealed that people were almost twice as likely to correctly answer a complex decisionmaking problem if they had been distracted by a simple three-minute task before giving their answers. According to researchers, such easy distractions help people get to the root of the problem. Rein in by cutting slack. An analysis of 42 studies in 2013 involving a total of more than 22,000 participants revealed that people are twice as likely to comply with requests that end with the phrase, but you are free to accept or refuse. Try that persuasion method in your next projectthat is, only if you want to.
Somethings Got to Give

A former mentor and one of the greatest IT managers I have ever worked for gave me advice that has proven reliable over time: In the triangle of scope, time and cost, if one is xed, one or both of the others need to give. For example, if scope is xed, you need to take time and spend money to deliver.
23
VOICES In the Trenches
No Time to Delay
EVeRY DAY, it seems as if a new headline appears about a devastating hurricane, tsunami or other powerful natural disaster. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that in the future, storms will be fewer, but stronger. While project practitioners cant prevent natural disasters from intensifying, they can help a community recover.
A post-disaster recovery plan must shine with vision and promise to boost investor condence in rebuilding projects.
By Nick Regos
At the Ready
Recovery has multiple definitions, but it always fits into these phases: emergency, restoration and reconstruction. Reconstruction means rebuilding so that the affected region returns to the near equivalent of predisaster levels, or launching major construction projects that make the community better than it was. The major difficulty in reconstruction is investor confidenceor the lack of it. Recovery projects need a mass influx of funds quickly, and such a large sum cant and shouldnt come solely from government resources. Private, philanthropic investors also must see the value in the projects you propose. Heres how you can help them do so.
The Need for Speed

To ease the concerns of potential backers, clarify
The scale of devastation, the ongoing disruptions caused by aftershocks in an area and our lack of community consultation were working against us. But the latter, at least, was well within our control.
what the projects will and will not deliver. The New Zealand government broadly understood this issue after a series of earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 left 185 dead, buildings damaged or destroyed and power supplies cut off in the city of Christchurch. The Christchurch City Council developed a recovery plan for the citys central business district. It focused on two components: developing an integrated and inspirational vision for Christchurch, and providing the framework and strategy for how the city would be rebuilt and developed over a 20-year period. Included in the 65-person planning team were construction, infrastructure and other subject-matter experts (SMEs). But it was project management expertise that would immediately shape the plan. Because recovery is a lengthy process, council members initially defined the project schedule as a marathon. However, as the project manager, I realized we did not have time for a longdistance run. The government wanted a recovery plan in nine months. But for the community stakeholders affected by the earthquakes destruction, the sooner we had a plan, the sooner we could rebuild. Therefore, the need for speed was always foremost on our minds. Due to the tight time frame, we refocused the plan from big-picture milestones into a series of smaller sprints. This allowed us to adapt to SME-suggested changes and create the first draft within five months, enough time for public consultation. For example, the budget for the final plan was a number we could figure out only with the help of SMEs. I consolidated their recommendations to identify duplication and interdependencies. Then, we held monthly cross-expertise workshop reviews to discuss where feedback overlapped. For instance, several roads needed repair, as did parts of the sewer system. What we found is that often, these types of projects could work in tandem. If we were planning to reconstruct a road, we would ask ourselves, Is there a sewer project beneath it? The answer often helped us control costs and deliver a budget with substantial savings.
All for One

We also used lessons learned from other recovery projects to pave our plan. The need to incorporate lessons learned became more clear when a
Cranes dismantle buildings that suffered earthquake damage in Christchurch, New Zealand.
delegation from our team visited San Francisco, California, USA to meet with disaster-recovery experts. After they reviewed our working recovery plan, we were told the timescales given to deliver it to investors were impossible to achieve. The scale of devastation, the ongoing disruptions caused by aftershocks in an area and our lack of community consultation were working against us. But the latter, at least, was well within our control. Instead of trying to retrofit community feedback, we pushed forward with public-stakeholder initiatives, such as 48-hour design competitions for smallscale construction projects. This provided a forum for design professionals outside of our team to contribute.
And One for All

With one month to spare, our team delivered a 1,195-page recovery plan. It incorporated 56 individual projects and initiatives, and was the largest public consultation program in New Zealands history. The feedback we received from philanthropic investors showed they felt confident about where the plan would take us. And with the implementation of a robust project management framework, they were also confident we knew not only how to recover but also how to emerge stronger than before. PM
Nick Regos, based in Christchurch, New Zealand, won the 2012 PMI New Zealand Chapter Project Manager of the Year Award for his work on the Christchurch Draft Central City Recovery Plan. He is a director of earthquake and structural engineering company Miyamoto Nexus and Nexus Projects, a project management consultancy.
Visit PMI.org/pmief to learn more about project management following crises and Project Management Methodology for Post Disaster Reconstruction.
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS No one knows project management better than you, the practitioners in the trenches. So every month, PM Network wants you to share ideas, experiences and opinions on everything from sustainability to talent management, and all project topics in between. If youre interested in contributing, please send your idea to pmnetwork@imaginepub.com.
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THe portFoLio Track
PRESENT PERFECT
Give organizations the gift that keeps on givinga portfolio that generates wide-reaching value.
P
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BY TERRI KNUDSON, PMP, PgMP
Portfolio managers are in the gift-giving business.
After all, it truly is a gift when a portfolio realizes its intended benefits and the organization receives value. While giving a present to an organization isnt as easy as giving a gift to a loved one, there are striking similarities. The two often begin with a wish list of what is needed or desired by others. Gifts for family and friends may have a specific style, size and color. For our organizations, the requests are typically for strategic results, product quality or ROI. In both instances, were aiming for customer acceptanceassurance the recipient appreciates the present.
POINT OF NO RETUrNS
Yet, when it comes to portfolios, customer acceptance can sometimes seem like a moving target. Even when you allocate significant time, effort and resources to the portfolio using best practices, results may not turn out as expected. Thats because stakeholders often have varying perspectives on what constitutes a successful portfolio deliverable. But if we give the wrong store-bought gift to a family member, he or she can return it for an exchange or refund. If a portfolio gift isnt what was expected, theres no return policy.
is headed the right way. These check-ins monitor a variety of metrics that can measure strategic alignment, resource requirements and risk appetite. The breadth of metrics ensures more executives are satisfied with the portfolio. For example, the CEO wants to know the success of high-priority initiatives in the market while the CFO wants information on the cost and expected ROI. A multitude of metrics also lets stakeholders see the portfolio is providing the appropriate balance to obtain the best results possible for their organization. These numbers not only help executives understand the power of the portfolio, but they also help the portfolio manager ensure the right work is being completed. As U.S. business consultant Tom Peters says, What gets measured gets done. Whether giving the perfect gift to our organization or a significant other, we always hope the results of our efforts will be treasured. With the right combination of skills, attention and approaches, we can produce gifts from our portfolios that can be extensively used, provide significant value and be remembered for years to come. PM
Teresa (Terri) Knudson, PMP, PgMP, is the director of the enterprise portfolio management ofce at the Mayo Clinic, a PMI Global Executive Council member, Rochester, Minnesota, USA. She can be reached at knudson.teresa@mayo.edu.
OBJECTS OF DESIrE
Portfolio managers must ensure the outcome is wanted and appreciated by executives, customers and all other stakeholders. Such a task, of course, takes considerable more time than asking loved ones for their wish lists. For executives, it begins with communication. I prefer the intimacy of in-person discussions, which help build trust among all parties involved. I ask executives about their needs, address their questions and provide updates on the portfolio. What they requestoftentimes increased revenue, growth in customer market share or development of a new productbecomes the guideposts for the portfolio. Then, portfolio managers must be constantly vigilant and provide proper oversight via regularly scheduled status updates, benefits realization reviews, risk assessments and, of course, more communication to ensure the portfolio
Read more about PMIs new Portfolio Management Professional (PfMP) credential at PMI.org.
MANAGING Relationships
TRUSt FUNDS
Invested wisely, trust can be a powerful commodity.

BY SHEILINA SOMANI, FAPM, RPP, PMP, CONTrIBUTING EDITOr
Trust exists in multiple dimensions and perceptions. In my assessment,
I tend to operate in two specific planes: professional and personal trust. In the project environment, we create superficial relationships that can deepen into friendships. Making judicious choices on where to place trust boundaries protects your personal and professional life and emotional well-being. For example, working closely with a senior colleague and sharing a friendship that extends to socializing beyond the workplace may reflect a really good relationship. However, what happens when the relationship experiences a fracture? In relationships where personal trust exists, honesty, mischief and celebrations will probably continue socially. But in some cases, a complete dissolution of the relationship occurs, and theres no further communication either personally or professionally. That doesnt have to be the case, if project practitioners build trust with stakeholders wiselyand consciously.
EXPLORING BOUNDARIeS
As we approach working relationships from different perspectives and experiences, it is worth consciously evaluating the boundaries of personal versus professional trust. Project practitioners lead a diverse group of team members, and differing business environments and varied geographies and cultures make determining trust boundaries difficult. Personally, I work on the basis that: n For a project manager, ethics demand that information must be disclosed to the affected stakeholdersincluding information that may impact my position or the related work, such as escalating risks. n With personal issues that have the potential to affect my working capability, such as a death in the family, I have to trust senior sponsors with that information and for them to use it discreetly. n Anything intensely personal, such as romantic relationships, should remain outside the project sphere.
BUILDING THe ReSeRVeS

Sometimes, trust is forged instinctivelyand other times, through observation or experience. But what strategies help you consciously and actively facilitate building trust? For example, a change of project sponsor brings a new person to answer to, someone whose preferences must be learned and whose trust must be
attained and sustained. Placed in that position recently, I had to assimilate an alternate style from my normal communication methods. So I initially met with my new sponsor briefly and inquired about her: n Background n Preferred styles of communication (in person, email, meetings) n Required volume of content and style in those communications n Need to access archives or project repository n Ideal frequency and timing of meetings Each of these factors engenders respect and a working alliance that can facilitate an environment where trust can be established. With the project launch looming, it was a case of learningfast. Initially, I found it challenging to assess whether my approach was working for the sponsor. I sought guidance from other senior staff members for their experiences with the sponsor, and recommendations to help augment my thoughts, intuition and observations. The feedback and commentary helped me learn what the sponsor typically expected from project managers and how she preferred to communicate. The trust I had already established with senior managers provided sounding boards for me to reflect on my understanding of the sponsor and gain confidence in my assumptions on whether I was meeting her needs. Before long, we settled into a good working relationship. My sponsor appreciated the swift responses and my understanding and ownership of my existing project. Undoubtedly, there was a reciprocal evaluation taking place, and up to this point, it appears to be mutually agreeable. Now, with our project launch imminent, I feel positive that we trust each other to succeed. PM
Sheilina Somani, FAPM, RPP, PMP, is the owner of the U.K.-based consultancy Positively Project Management, a senior project manager, a speaker and a mentor.
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READY, SET,
PMO!
A SpeCIaL seCtIon on strenGtHenInG, StaFFInG anD startInG a PMO. PLUS: ADVICe anD InsIGHt From InsIDe tHe trenCHes.
ILLU ST R A T ION BY Sbast I en T HI bauL t
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SPECIAL SECTION
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Four Steps to a Stronger PMO

The goal is contributing business value.
BY SARAH FIsTER GALE
roject management offices (PMOs) completed an average of US$100 million worth of projects in 2012 and delivered roughly US$71 million in value in increased revenue and cost reductions. Yet only one-third of PMOs say theyve realized their full potential in contributing business value to their organization, according to PMIs Pulse of the ProfessionTM In-Depth Report: The Impact of PMOs on Strategy Implementation. Time may be one factor in a PMOs power: Established PMOs deliver projects with higher quality and greater business success, according to a PwC survey. The longer these PMOs are around, the stronger they becomeand the more successful the projects under their umbrellas. PMOs in place for six years or more report that 62 percent of projects achieve the intended business benefit and 74 percent of projects are deemed high-quality, the PwC survey says. Yet tapping a PMOs full potential takes far more than simply throwing open the doors and waiting. A successful PMO needs to deliver business value, not only to be respected but also to show its worth, says Claudio Barbosa Rodrigues, PMP, PMO manager for SAP implementation at mining company Vale, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. To demonstrate that value, consider this step-by-step guide to strengthening the power of a PMO.
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READY, SET,
A good PMO is a problem solver. If you can come up with ways to help your company resolve issues and save money, youll get the support and authority you want.
Tara McLaren, Royal Bank of Scotland, London, England
It sounds so obvious, yet its easy to overlook: A PMO without purpose is more likely to founder than flourish. The main purpose of a PMO isnt just to provide reports. The main goal is to be the strategic driver of company goals, to deliver business value, says Mr. Barbosa Rodrigues. Whether building or revamping a PMO, first, do an audit of everything going on, says Tara McLaren, head of the PMO for markets and international banking at the Royal Bank of Scotland, a PMI Global Executive Council member, London, England. In the Pulse in-depth report, 51 percent of respondents agreed that aligning projects with strategic objectives has the greatest potential for adding value to organizational activities. To assess that alignment, the PMO staff should start with a detailed audit of everything going on. Review the current portfolio, also taking an inventory of each projects progress, earned value, obstacles and the anticipated ROI. Armed with this inventory, the PMO leaders should meet with members of the executive team to report the findings and discuss how the organizations goals should shape the PMOs purpose moving forward. If the strategic goals are to increase revenues or cut division costs, for instance, any revisions to the PMO charter will be very different than if the organization is focused on consolidating systems, expanding into new markets or improving quality outcomes, says Ms. McLaren. Once you know what the business wants to achieve next, you can show the executive team how the PMO can help do it. Last June, the executive team at the Royal Bank of Scotland set a goal of cutting the IT budget in half while still delivering the same number and quality of projects. Ms. McLaren responded by creating a project business case for moving all of the globally dispersed non-customer-facing IT team members to the banks IT center in India. She showed the executive team different project scenarios, identified nearterm opportunities to cut costs over the next six months and made a long-term plan for hitting the new budget targets. A good PMO is a problem solver, she says. If you can come up with ways to help your company resolve issues and save money, youll get the support and authority you want. Marrying the PMOs purpose to the organizations strategy means executive leaders are more likely to seek out the PMO for upfront guidance, says Jonathan Price, PMP, account PMO start-up lead for HP Enterprise Services, a PMI Global Executive Council member in London, England. When a PMO is 100 percent aligned with the organizations goals, its leaders can indicate which are the most valuable programs and projects in terms of company ROI and resource capacity, he says. This helps the organization avoid waste by not focusing on non-priority programs and projects.
Hone the Mission
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VOICEs FROM THE PMO
Standardized practices, tools, training and governance reduce risk, while key performance indicators (KPIs) measure project outcomes and increase the resulting earned value. Those processes are all a vital part of the PMOs value proposition. The PMOs ROI comes from the fact that they establish consistent project metrics, align projects with strategic goals and use a shared project management resource pool effectively, says Jayant Patil, PMP, global head of program management group for Quinnox Consultancy Services, Mumbai, India. But its not enough to go off the guidelines and templatesPMOs have to demonstrate how they connect to business value to be respected. In some ways, thats easiest to prove on troubled projects, says Mr. Price, as standardized processes make it easy to flag and course-correct a project in peril. Thats the benefit to sellthe ability to intervene early and have processes move struggling projects from amber to green instead of red, he says. Setting and assessing standards doesnt stop once the projects over. More than 60 percent of high-performing PMOsones that complete 80 percent or more of projects on time, on budget and within the original business goal assess project quality and collect feedback from the project owner, compared with only 33 percent of lower-performing PMOs.
Set the Standards
Step by Step
Of the four initial managers at the PMO here, I took the lead on bringing in the project portfolio
management tool. We had a very limited budget, so we chose something basic. It turned out well. I dont think the organization was ready for some of the more sophisticated tools, and with this one we were able to set a good base. In reality,
HOW TO MAKE A PMO MORE EFFECTIvE

A BEttEr UNdErstaNdiNG oF proJECt maNaGEmENt tHroUGHoUt tHE orGaNiZatioN
we needed baby steps. The company was not ready culturally for all that a PMO could require. I dont run into too many businesspeople who dont understand what a project is. Its still common to encounter people who dont understand the bigger picture, like project portfolio management. Now that weve established the PMO and got people working within a project culture, the areas that are becoming extremely important are for the business to understand its role in prioritization, and ensuring IT is working on the highest-priority projects. Looking forward, we need to do a better job at portfolio management and better engaging senior management.
43%
A morE stratEGiC oriENtatioN amoNG proJECt oWNErs aNd staKEHoLdErs
42%
BEttEr aLiGNmENt oF proJECt rEQUEsts aNd orGaNiZatioNaL stratEGY
34%
INCrEasEd ENGaGEmENt WitH sENior LEadErs
34%
Source: PMIs Pulse of the ProfessionTM In-Depth Report: The Impact of PMOs on Strategy Implementation
Mary Shy is PMO manager at Omnicare, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
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VOIcEs FROM THE PMO
People, at least here in Brazil, still think of project management ofces as an area for reporting indicators. That can be an important area, but the PMOs main purpose isnt just to provide reports. PMOs should train project managers, should look for ways to build the portfolio and should help evolve the project management within the organization to really deliver on strategic business goals. What I see is that too often PMOs are created without clear goals established and without a link to strategic objectives. Maybe the PMO was created because it is in fashion. Or maybe a director sees someone else running a PMO and has the wrong perception and establishes the PMO without linking it to what it needs to deliver. Thats why we have a considerable mortality rate of PMOs in Brazil. Companies understand that PMOs are important, and during this economic cycle where we all need to be more efcient, there is an increased need for organizations to utilize PMOs. But if the objectives are not clear, the company isnt able to justify why the PMO exists during a budget crisis. Once organizations get better at setting objectives and PMOs are able to meet them, it will become more stable. Thats a level I see us reaching in Brazil in the next couple of years.
Power Needs Purpose
Claudio Barbosa Rodrigues, PMP, is the PMO manager for SAP implementation for Vale in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The most effective PMOs have powerful supporters at the executive level, championing the value of project management and imbuing the PMO with both responsibility and authority. In the best-case scenario, these executives are the ones who initiated the PMOs creation. But PMO leaders who arent lucky enough to inherit strong executive support have to woo the executive team to their way of thinking, says Dennis Schwabe, PMP, corporate PMO manager for chemical products manufacturer Fritz Industries, Mesquite, Texas, USA. You have to make sure leaders understand what project management is about. In PMIs in-depth PMO report, 43 percent of respondents said that a better understanding of project management throughout the organization would make the PMO more effective. More than one-third of survey respondents said increased engagement with senior leaders would make the difference. If executives havent had the experience of understanding and working with a strong project management methodology, they cant be criticized for not understanding its value to the business. But they can be educated, Mr. Schwabe says. A strategic project management course for executives would help them understand how governance, training, metrics and the right project management skill set will add strategic value to the organization in meeting their corporate objectives. Even a brief presentation with a few key statistics on the Jayant Patil, PMP, Quinnox Consultancy Services, cost savings and time savings the PMO could deliver can Mumbai, India make a powerful impact on reluctant executives. During the presentation, PMO leaders should leverage examples of past projects with cost overruns or missed schedules that could have been prevented with a PMO, suggests Mr. Price. Build support by selling the PMOs plan to stakeholders who have the influence to support you, he says. If you can show them how spending 100,000 can abate 2 million, that is a powerful benefit proposal. And dont let the conversation stop once the PMO is off the ground. Its not enough to copy the executive stakeholders on status reports or give them a dashboard of project progress. PMO leaders have to speak to executives in their language, says Ms. McLaren. Use a concise and non-technical manner. Depending on the reporting level, she limits executive communiqus to the following: n High-level status reports on all projects n Additional information about any project thats troubled, including potential mitigation strategies n Key achievements to date n Resource updates and forecasts n Milestones that have been achieved or are on the 30-day radar, including a review of the business benefits linked to those milestones. Only communicate very high-level business deliverables, rather than long and drawn-out minor details, she says. Executive stakeholders will appreciate the focused approach and are more likely to engage with the informationexactly what a PMO needs to strengthen support.
Cultivate Support
PMOs have to demonstrate how they connect to business value to be respected.
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WhY ARe HIGhPeRFORMING PMOs MORe EFFeCTIVe?

PMOs that complete at least 80 percent of projects on time, on budget, and meeting goals and business intent are focused on:
n
Creating an organizational culture of project management Assessing PMO performance continually Evolving and improving through knowledge management and change management
If projects are consistently on time and within budget, customers are happy and milestones are met, some executives may doubt the need for a PMO. Combine that doubt with a directive to cut costs, and suddenly the high-performing PMO finds itself on the chopping block. Mr. Price has witnessed several occasions over his career when executives dismantled PMOs for budget reasons, only to have projects fall apart in the wake of that decision. To avoid this scenario, PMO leaders cant become complacent, he says. You have to continually monitor your impact. That means tracking KPIs, including project outcomes, added efficiencies, financial benefits and quality results. KPIs will show whether the PMO is effective, he says. If you are measuring and reporting those KPIs, the value should be obvious. Seventy-seven percent of high-performing PMOs are routinely involved in results monitoring and assessment, according to PMIs Pulse in-depth report. And if the KPIs arent showing results, the PMO needs to make changes. Mr. Schwabe encourages PMO leaders to re-evaluate business objectives annually to ensure the office is meeting the charters goals and that the goals are still relevant to the business. You want to be sure you are going in the right direction and that you are still aligned with corporate strategy, he says. Because if things have changeda new CEO or a shift in business prioritiesthe PMO needs to change along with them, he says. Corporate strategy must drive the PMO, so the PMO can drive success. PM
Keep Eyeing the Horizon
KPIs will show whether the PMO is effective. If you are measuring and reporting those KPIs, the value should be obvious.
Jonathan Price, PMP, HP Enterprise Services, London, England
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SPECIAL SECTION
READY, SET, PMO !
The Right Crew Wanted

How to staff a PMOwhether it has three positions or three thousand. BY SARAH FIsTER GALE
rganizations in a rush to fill an open seat in the PMO would be wise to pause and reflect. Too often organizations decide they need a PMO, then they look around, see whos available and put them in the role, says Chris McLean, EMEA director of start-up and enablement for the Global Transformation Services group of HP, a PMI Global Executive Council member, in London, England. That happenstance reshuffling can hamstring a PMO that might be a powerhouse if it were staffed with the right people in the right positions. Only 41 percent of PMOs reported that high-priority strategic initiatives at their organizations receive sufficiently skilled personnel. High-performing PMOsthose that complete 80 percent or more of projects on time, on
Too often organizations decide they need a PMO, then they look around, see whos available and put them in the role.
Chris McLean, HP, London, England
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VOICES FrOM THE PMO

budget and within scopeare more than twice as likely to have the right skills base, according to PMIs Pulse of the ProfessionTM In-Depth Report: The Impact of PMOs on Strategy Implementation. While 56 percent of high-performing respondents said their staff had the right skills base, only 26 percent of low-performers agreed. Here are the skills to look for to help staff the PMOand power projects across the portfolio.
Leadership
The clue is right there in the title: When selecting the PMO leader, leadership skills should reign supreme, says Alex Julian, PMP, project and program management executive consultant at IT Consulting Services for Dell, a PMI Global Executive Council member, in So Paulo, Brazil. The PMO should be managed by someone who feels responsible not only for templates and guidelines but also for the career development of the project managers in the organization. A strong PMO leader doesnt follow a one-size-fits-all model. Every organization requires a specific type of PMO that applies a different depth and breadth of techniques, processes, tools and knowledge. Hence the PMO leader should be someone who can formulate the right concoction of PMO tool sets for that organization, says Gabriel Joseph, PMP, PMO program manager at Roche Singapore Technical Operations, Singapore. For example, a small company in an innovation-driven industry may want a tech-savvy project manager to run the PMO. That person would fit the corporate culture, understand the technological and structural challenges that projects face, speak the language of the IT team and have access to directors and stakeholders, Mr. McLean says. If, however, the PMO is in a large organization in a mature and highly regulated industry, the PMO may be better served by a well-established senior professional who has both program management experience and a commercial or business and finance background. The best leader will also be determined by where the PMO sits within the organization, says Keric Shanahan, director of global PMO for Experis, a ManPower Group company in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Whether the PMO is at a more strategic or a tactical level will dictate what skill set you need, he says. Lower-level PMOs require leaders who are tactical and can deal with the minutiae of daily project delivery, while strategic PMOs need leaders with
Carving a New Path
Ali Kaabi, PMP, is the general manager of global practice at MSC Mobility Solutions in Sydney, Australia.
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PHOTO BY TERRY MANIER
I didnt set out to work in a PMO. As a young computer-engineering graduate, I started my career at a Microsoft call center. I was promoted to the technical account. Soon after, I joined one of the primary service providers in the country. I was asked to join my managerand current mentorto embark on a major national program that established one of the rst pay-per-task deployment systems for engineers across Australia. I realized on that project that I was comfortable being a team orchestrator, creating processes and procedures and motivating the team to tackle issues. I became a project lead and eventually helped create a PMO at Fujitsu. It wasnt until after that launch that I pursued the Project Management Professional (PMP) credential. I studied hard but failed the rst exam. This took me by surprise: Here I was advocating project management value, creating a PMO ofce, yet I failed my PMP exam. I reassessed my surroundings and recognized a knowledge gap between what we perceive as project management in the day-to-day and the opportunity to excel and align our operation within wider business goals. I started to look at project management from a completely different perspective, and I passed my PMP exam. Most importantly, my goal was to advocate for a new breed of project managers and PMOs. Its not only about acquiring project management skills, but also recognizing that part of project management are strategic planning, business acumen and team leadership.
RIGHT PEOplE, RIGHT PrOJECTS

41%
High-priority strategic initiatives at only 41 percent of PMOs normally receive sufciently skilled personnel
31%
while just 31 percent receive the right number of staff to carry out projects.
If you have to do everything with a small staff, you want people who have a mash-up of a lot of skills and experiences.
Dan Furlong, PMP, the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA
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READY, SET,
greater authority and accountability. PMO leaders without the clout or authority will see their efforts get stalled, he says. This is particularly essential at the strategic level where projects may not have the immediate impact that tactical ones do. The project management maturity of the organization as a whole also impacts the service mix of the PMO and the type of leadership required of the PMO head. PMOs at organizations with higher maturity are more likely to focus on talent management, benefits realization tracking, strategic alignment and risk management than PMOs operating within less-mature organizations, according to PMIs Pulse of the ProfessionTM In-Depth Report: The Impact of PMOs on Strategy Implementation.
Diverse Backgrounds
Its important to have people in your PMO who are honest about problems and wont sugarcoat issues.
Rebecca Portereld, Networked Insights, Chicago, Illinois, USA
All PMO team members should have project management training and certification. Certification shows they are serious about the profession, says Dan Furlong, PMP, PMO lead at the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA. It also ensures they will understand the fundamental project management skills needed to help project owners build schedules, plan tasks, define business cases and create templates to support project management processes. Beyond training, a PMO staffer needs experience actually running projectsthe more diverse, the better. If you have a team of 20 staff, then you can afford to choose people with specific skills in writing reports, facilitating meetings or running training sessions, Mr. Furlong says. If you have to do everything with a small staff, you want people who have a mash-up of a lot of skills and experiences. Mr. Shanahan encourages PMO leaders to also look for staff members who have knowledge of multiple industries. Most likely they can pick up new concepts quickly and learn enough about new industries to be effective, he says. Diverse backgrounds and experience levels make it easier to dole out respon-
THE WILL ANd WAY tO LEAd

Many roads lead to PMO leadership. As you build your career as a project manager, seek out opportunities to diversify your experiences, keeping your long-term goals in mind, says Chris McLean, HP, London, England. You want to have multiple skills and experiences that align with where your market is going. Along with handling different kinds of projects, look for chances to work in different geographies, under different leadership, and at different stages of longer projects and programs. Programs change across their life cycle, and different skill sets are required at different phases, Mr. McLean says. For example, participating at the start of a complex program will offer an opportunity to dive deep into planning and risk management, while later phases may provide experiences in team management, nance, procurement or testing. Each phase offers unique opportunities to expand your skill set, he says. Volunteering to work in a PMO, even as a low-level staffer, can also help broaden your skills and demonstrate your commitment to the profession, says Dan Furlong, PMP, a PMO lead at the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA. On his PMO staff, Mr. Furlong has three paid and two unpaid interns who are graduate students interested in gaining project management experience in the health care sector. Its a good way for them to pick up experience early in their career, and it will look good on their rsums, he says. And dont avoid troubled projects, even if it means taking on someone elses problems, says Keric Shanahan, director of global PMO for Experis, a ManPower Group company in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Having some mileage under the hood on successful as well as unsuccessful projects is extremely benecial, as one learns quite a bit from each that is easily transferable to new projects, he says. Lastly, take advantage of every opportunity to demonstrate your communication skills. A PMO director is like a bridge builder, with multiple bridges under construction at any given time, Mr. Shanahan says. The power of persuasion denitely helps to connect the bridges across the stakeholdersand if the PMO director cannot bring all the pieces together, who can?
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sibilitiesand keep staff members engaged and invested. While large, complicated projects may overwhelm junior project managers, veteran project management practitioners might crave that type of challenge. In terms of experience, hiring for roles at different levels is of the utmost importance, says Samuel Kinde, PMP, a PMO manager at Nokia Solutions and Networks, Antwerp, Belgium. A junior staffer with focus and data skills serves an entirely different need than a more senior PMO staff member who might be asked to question processes and improve them. Regardless of the number of years they have under their belts, every PMO staffer should have one particular experience in common: They must have failed at least once, says Rebecca Porterfield, project management director at Networked Insights, a big-data marketing analytics company in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Asking someone about An organizations project management maturity a time they failed is a key impacts the service mix of the PMO. PMOs at interview question for staffing high maturity rms were more likely to focus on: the PMO, she says. If you cant tell me how you failed BENEFITS REaLIZaTIoN TRaCKING and what you learned from it, 58% n High maturity you are either terrible at selforganizations 25% reflection or you are lying. n Low maturity organizations A staffers self-assessment of TaLENT MaNaGEmENT failure provides a great way to 82% identify potential candidates. 48% Its important to have people in your PMO who are honSTRaTEGIC aLIGNmENT est about problems and wont 66% sugarcoat issues, Ms. Porter38% field says. If risks are happening, you want people who will DEFINING KNoWLEDGE MaNaGEmENT PRaCTICES address them so they can fig49% ure out what can be done to 21% remove them.
VOIcEs FROM THE PMO
BIRDs-EYE VIEW
Trust Within the Ranks
The biggest misconception of PMOs is that were here to get in the way, turn people in and get them in
trouble. Ive quite often found that my rst few weeks on any role are spent convincing the project managers that Im there to help and am demonstrating my value for them. Yes, Im here to make sure the projects aligning with governance. But at the same time, I can help you. I can teach you something that you may not know. I can show you something or talk about what you need in terms of support. Many times, Ive done some backroom deals where Ill go, Look, Ill do some support work for you, something a PMO wouldnt normally do. Ill help you do that just this time, as long as you help me reach what I have to do. Its about becoming a condante with the project managers. Its being someone they can talk to, maybe even let them vent a little and keep it under your hatunless were talking major, major issues. PMOs are here to police, but if you need help and theres an issue that needs to be tackled, Im here to help you tackle it. James Gradisher, PMP, is the PMO manager of the U.K. Ministry of Defense, West Sussex, England.
OppoRTUNITIES aND INVESTmENT ANaLYSIS
43% 16%
PMO PERFoRmaNCE MaNaGEmENT
ProblemSolving Chops
Risk management experience is key for a successful PMO, yet organizations can never find enough experienced people in this area, says Mr. McLean. When considering a candidates risk management skills, look for an ability to solve problems, adds Emilio Buzzi, PMP, planning and strategic control IT leader at Arcor SAIC, Buenos Aires, Argentina. To identify PMO staffers who can bring that
74% 49%
RISK MaNaGEmENT
74% 50%
MaNaGING INTELLECTUaL CoLLaTERaL/PRopERTY
39% 16%
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READY, SET,
You want people who can come up with seven different ways to solve that problem and know the right solution to pick.
Dan Furlong, PMP
problem-solving value to the organization, look at their experience, he says. Solving problems timely and effectively means being able to sift the relevant from the irrelevant information and then come up with solutions that will solve the problem at its core, not merely on the surface. PMO staffers ability to get to the heart of a problem and devise a disasterrecovery plan is invaluable, Mr. Julian says: It will make the PMO stronger because they know how to facilitate getting things back on track. That kind of problem-solving skill usually only comes from experience, Mr. Furlong says. You may know everything about building Gantt charts or timelines, but until you run a few troubled projects, you wont know how to adjust a project when problems occur. In his organization, the PMO only gets called in to manage projects that no one else wants. They tend to be really complex and nasty, and they always have major problems that need to be fixed, he says. You want people who can come up with seven different ways to solve that problem and know the right solution to pick.
Straight-Talking Skills
PMO staffers have to talk the talk: They must have strong communication skills, and they have to be willing to say the things that need to be saideven if no one wants to hear them. No one here adores me, but they listen to me, Mr. Furlong says. Mr. Furlong attributes that respect to his frankness with executive stakeholders about project problems and his readiness to offer counsel on how to over-
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PHOTO BY TERRY MANIER
come those setbacks. Im honest with the CIO, and Im willing to punch holes in project plans if they arent strong enough. To facilitate that sort of trust-building dialogue, the PMO team has to be fluent in both strategic language for the leadership team and the technical task-specific language of project teams. On her PMO team, Tara McLaren, head of the PMO for markets and international banking at the Royal Bank of Scotland, a PMI Global Executive Council member, London, England, has three business analysts who were all chosen in part for their ability to communicate well in both environments. They work directly with the project and program managers, but they also attend every steering committee meeting, she says. They know how to take the technical jargon project managers give them and strip it down for the executives. Theyre also whizzes at building presentations that quickly and effectively educate executives on project progress. Finally, PMO staffers should have the ability to influence people, because they will regularly need others to follow their adviceeven if they have no authority over those people, says Mr. Furlong. Whether theyre trying to help a project team in another business unit regain control of a failing project or persuade an executive to adapt a project plan to accomplish new goals, PMO team members need the confidence, charisma and leadership skills to win people over, Mr. Furlong says. If you can influence people, you can more successfully run a PMO. PM
Solving problems timely and effectively means being able to sift the relevant from the irrelevant information and then come up with solutions that will solve the problem at its core, not merely on the surface.
Emilio Buzzi, PMP, Arcor SAIC, Buenos Aires, Argentina
BEFORE POSTING THE HELP WANTED SIGN

An organization cant correctly staff this ofce without rst determining the PMOs role. Before you think about how to staff the PMO, you have to consider the operational context, says Chris McLean, HP, London, England. For instance, a PMO that primarily provides project management training and guidance will require a different staff than one that oversees project and program delivery. To identify who can best deliver, Mr. McLean advises organizations to answer a series of questions:
n n n
What is the PMO going to do? What problems is it trying to solve? What role will it play in helping the organization achieve its strategic goals? What kinds of projects, programs or portfolios will it oversee? Who will its leaders report to? What kinds of professionals will it oversee? The answers to these questions will indi-
Case in point: We are a lean, mean PMO, says Dan Furlong, PMP, PMO lead at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), Charleston, South Carolina, USA. In 2003, MUSC started the PMO, which provides oversight for all technology projects, with Mr. Furlong and just one other project manager on his team. Initially, Mr. Furlong planned to expand the ofce by pulling all of the organizations technology project managers out of their teams and into the PMO. Ten years later, his PMO comprises only himself, one project manager, two project specialists and ve part-time interns. We discovered early on that pulling project managers out of their business units
was a great way to make enemies and impact customer service, Mr. Furlong explains. Business unit leaders made it clear they did not want to give up prized team members. And Mr. Furlong realized that, if they did, the project managers would lose the opportunity to engage regularly with their customers. So he left them alone. Thats not to say PMOs should all be tiny. Some organizations have enterprisewide PMOs that oversee hundreds of project management teams. But regardless of the reporting structure, PMO leaders need to work with the business units to ensure that project managers will have access to the training, support and guidance they need from the PMO.
n n
cate the skill sets a PMO team needs. Once the PMOs operational context is established, its time to think about size. It may be tempting to think that a massive organization requires a massive PMO or that every opening in the PMO needs to be lled. But as any Goliath can tell you, bigger isnt always better, stronger or more effective.
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SPECIAL SECTION
READY, SET, PMO !
44
PHOTO BY TAI POWER SEEFF
No PMO? How to Know When You Need One S

BY SAMUEL GREENgARD
tarting a strategically oriented PMO has many benefits: Major strategic initiatives get the time and attention they need to deliver their full valuewithout disrupting ongoing business. Close partnerships with senior leaders allows the PMO to play an active part in strategic planning and support execution. Business outcomes improve, and core competencies and consistent objectives are used across industries and regions. But for organizations first weighing the pros and cons of launching a PMO, the tactical benefits can also be enticing. Many companies are looking to create an infrastructure that helps program and project managers stay connected, says Margot Nack, PMP, senior program manager at Adobe Sys-
A project management ofce can improve project results. But organizations must rst recognize the signs that they need one.
A PMO creates a level of coordination that is difcult to achieve on an ad hoc project management basis. Theres more clarity, theres greater strategic focus, and theres a greater ability to coordinate projects efciently.
Margot Nack, PMP, Adobe Systems, San Jose, California, USA
45
READY, SET,
O
tems, a PMI Global Executive Council member, San Jose, California, USA. They want to steer clear of the idea of every project team for itself. A PMO introduces structure to all the projects taking place within a company or agency. It creates a level of coordination and consistency that otherwise wouldnt exist. Organizations are increasingly looking to PMOs for greater consistency, efficiencies and better management of costs. Nearly seven out of 10 organizations have a PMO, up from six out of 10 in 2006, according to PMIs 2013 Pulse of the ProfessionTM. PMOs ensure good governance, says Antti Kmi, PMP, vice president of project management at Wrtsil, a Helsinki, Finland-based provider of power solutions for the energy and marine markets and a PMI Global Executive Council member. They improve success rates and, in turn, boost business results and profitability. But just creating a PMO doesnt achieve those goals. About one-third of all PMOs fail to accomplish their desired results, according to PwC. To capitalize on the PMO promise, an organization must first determine whether and when it needs one. If a company is not a project-oriented organization, theres less of a need for a PMO, says Mary Hubbard, PMP, director of the PMO at Siemens Government Technologies Inc., Arlington, Virginia, USA, a PMI Global Executive Council member. If theyre project-focused, though, they should have one. Otherwise, whos driving the delivery of their projects? Whos establishing their methodology? How are they managing resources efficiently? Its hard to answer those questions unless you have a central location. Revenue and head count are less important factors than the number of projects in an organizations portfolio, says James Gradisher, PMP, PMO manager of the U.K. Ministry of Defense, West Sussex, England. Any company that does more than a handful of projects should look into the possible value of a PMO, he says. When you get beyond a certain point with the number of projects that are underway, there starts to be the need to get a little control over them.
A PMO BY ANY OTHER NamE

Project practitioners may talk about a PMO and what it does, but in reality there is no set standard. Most organizations have at least two types.
54%
44%
39%
Enterprise PMO
Organization Project Support Ofce Unit PMO
35%
Center of Excellence
31%
ProjectSpecic PMO
17%
Change Management Ofce
PMOs ensure good governance. They improve success rates and, in turn, boost business results and protability.
Antti Kmi, PMP, Wrtsil, Helsinki, Finland
Picking Up on Cues
A lack of project transparency. Significant discrepancies in project results. Poor customer-satisfaction rates. An inability to cost projects accurately. A high percentage of delayed or canceled projects. High failure rates.
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VOICES FROM THE PMO
These are all telltale signs it may be time to establish a PMO, says Mr. Kmi, whose company, Wrtsil, has had a PMO since 2007. Often, he says, projects lacking PMO oversight are started without real ownership, theres not a clear business case, and theres a lack of visibility into which projects are ongoing and how projects are performing. A project management maturity assessment can compare internal metrics and key performance indicators with industry averages or compare a projects performance with that of other departments or divisions within a company. That sort of internal audit may inform the decision of whether or not to start a PMO, says Mr. Kmi. The PMOs potential structure and place on the organizational chart are other weighty factors to consider. PMOs that complete 80 percent of projects on time, on budget, and meeting original goals and business intent are nearly twice as likely to report directly to the CEO, according to PMIs Pulse of the ProfessionTM In-Depth Report: The Impact of PMOs on Strategy Implementation. A PMO may mean shifting roles and responsibilitiesat least for functions that intersect with the new office. A PMO team may need to consult with a range of departments, including human resources, finance, legal and operations, to build workflows and incentives that address organizational challenges and create a governance structure. Without that structure, organizations likely will encounter the very same problems faced by projects handled on an ad hoc, one-off basis.
Gathering Momentum
Project management is right at the tipping point for PMOs. Sure, I run into people who didnt have a good experi-
ence with a PMO at their company and they disbanded it for any number of reasons. I cringe every time I hear that, but its a reality. Now were in this forward movement where were having more positive results and sharing best practices. More research is occurring and were guring out how to best build and leverage a PMO, and thats really exciting to see. An important goal of Siemens Government Technologies PMOs is synergy: Bring all of the project managers under one umbrella to do internal training together and share lessons learned among ourselves. By doing those things, were taking a step forward in how we view ourselves and our expectations. Project managers are no longer little islands; were sharing, talking, collaborating. Were we completing our projects just ne beforehand? Absolutely. But can we always do better? Yeah. If an organization truly wants to deliver exceptional projects, it needs to act that way. Developing a PMO is about transforming project management so that we can do moremore collaborating, more sharing of knowledge and skills and tasks, more developing of teams. When is the right time for a company to invest in a PMO? Yesterday. If theyre a project-focused organization, they should already have one. Mary Hubbard, PMP, is PMO director at Siemens Government Technologies, a PMI Global Executive Council member, Arlington, Virginia, USA.
47
READY, SET,
O
Banding Together
As projects multiply within an organization, so do the chances of project polyglot: each speaking its own language, doing its own thing. A PMO helps break down silos and departmental boundaries. Its a place where youre actually pulling people together from different functional groups to achieve a single objective, says Natalie Dance, PMP, managing director, Excel in Change Consulting Inc., Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It helps eliminate turf battles. Adobes PMOs are testament to that benefit: Before establishing PMOs, it was often a case of every product team for itself, Ms. Nack says. Now Adobe operates dozens of PMOs across the enterprise, using them to create a more agile and integrated development environment. When you have program and project managers working together and staying coordinated about what theyre doing with their products and what features theyre developing, its possible to build qualitatively better products. Texas Health Resources had similar experiences preand post-PMO. The not-for-profit organization operates a network of hospitals and other health facilities in the North Texas region of the United States. Prior to 2008, it didnt have a project management office. Before creating a PMO, each team managed projects independently. Too often, customers didnt know what to expect, and issues werent being addressed uniformly across teams, says Joel Verinder, PMP, director of project management. Now the PMO at Texas Health Resources has a staff of 26 managing about 80 active IT projects. A PMO allows us to view all projects through the same keyhole and adopt a far more strategic and transparent approach, Mr. Verinder says. We now have a level of analysis and prioritization that wasnt possible in the past. Were able to track spending and employee hours far more effectively. Were focused on strategic projects rather than tactical projects and operational activities. That improved transparency allows an understanding of how staffing and resources are used across the entire portfolio of active IT projects, including implementation and ongoing support. Were able to see how a group of projects is consuming resources and whether or not the staffing is fully committed over the next several months, says Mr. Verinder. This opens the door to discussions about priorities and understanding where a project fits in and whether its something that should be addressed by the PMO. Likewise, at Excel in Change Consulting Inc., the PMO lets people know where to go with questions, issues and tasks, Ms. Dance says. It becomes much clearer whats required in terms of resources and skills to make a project work. When used effectively, a PMO can help an organization optimize staffing levels and ensure that human, IT and other resources better match the demands of projects.
Before establishing PMOs, it was often a case of every product team for itself. When you have program and project managers working together and staying coordinated its possible to build qualitatively better products.
Margot Nack, PMP
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PHOTO BY TAI POWER SEEFF
TIME tO UNPluG
While some organizations require a permanent PMO, others may nd its a temporary need. Here are ve tip-offs that its time to shut down a PMO:
Senior-level support is waning. If senior management isnt committed to providing resources for the PMO or doesnt seem interested in actively communicating with the PMO, it may signal that support is on the decline.
Theres a lack of institutional expertise. Although its possible to start a PMO with limited expertise and experience, organizations that cant quickly develop the necessary knowledge and skills should consider disbanding the PMOand then restarting it once the resources are in place.
Theres no evidence of ROI. If a PMO isnt delivering tangible results, its better to let project teams work on their own.
An organization has met its objectives. A PMO sometimes proves useful for a specic project or portfolio of projects. Once those end, so does the PMOs usefulness.
The PMO can be merged with another. In some cases, especially after analyzing project management structures, an organization might nd that a PMO can be folded into another or broken apart and recongured.
It adds a dimension beyond giving sponsors a better view of how their projects are doing, says Ms. Dance. It also can bring objectivity to the environment and hold everyone accountable by the same measures and standards.
Leading the Way

While PMOs can provide substantial benefits, they cant do so without leadership buy-in. Thirty percent of PMO directors feel that one of the top reasons that the PMOs value isnt realized is a lack of understanding by business executives as to the best use of the PMO, according to PMIs Pulse of the ProfessionTM In-Depth Report: The Impact of PMOs on Strategy Implementation. Senior management from the board down should be involved in the PMOs strategic development, says Petra Tyers, strategic PMO manager for the Victorian Government in Sydney, Australia. Executives at Adobe examine projects and groups of projects to determine whether a new PMO is desirableor required, Ms. Nack says. Its important to constantly examine and analyze projects and organizational requirements in order to build an optimal project management environment, she says. Senior-level executives must understand why a PMO exists and how it changes the overall framework for project management, Ms. Tyers says. If they arent able or willing to fully support the PMO, then it might be wise to focus on improving basic project management performance and cost structures, she explains. But if they do offer support, a PMO can transform their organizationboosting efficiency, speeding project completion and trimming costs. It creates a level of coordination that is difficult to achieve on an ad hoc project management basis, concludes Ms. Nack. Theres more clarity, theres greater strategic focus, and theres a greater ability to coordinate projects efficiently. PM
A PMO allows us to view all projects through the same keyhole and adopt a far more strategic and transparent approach. We now have a level of analysis and prioritization that wasnt possible in the past.
Joel Verinder, PMP, Texas Health Resources, Texas, USA
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2013 PMI prOJEcT OF THE YEAr AWArD FINALIST
The Nemours Childrens Hospital team knew stakeholders needed to be heardso it used strict change management to keep the project on track.
BY LOUIS LA PlANTE
IT TAkES
PORTRAITS BY PRESTON MACK
From left: Gina Altieri, Roger Oxendale and Susan Voltz, PMP
A ViLLAGE
For one thing, the new hospital aimed to be user-friendly by offering a more integrated approach. Project leaders knew it was tough enough for parents to deal with sick children. They shouldnt also have to contend with shuttling their childrenand all the medical documentationto various providers across a health campus or even at another site. We wanted to remedy that situation, says Roger Oxendale, CEO, Nemours Childrens Hospital, Orlando, Florida, USA. We wanted to have them all here and, to the greatest extent possible, on the same floor. That was the vision for the US$397 million Nemours Childrens Hospital project. But the team knew it wouldnt mean much without stakeholder buy-in. So it brought in the experts: parents and children as well as staff who would be working at the facility. Of course, then the team had to manage all the changes and risks that stakeholder input posed.
52
Photo bY JonAthAn HiLLYer coUrteSY oF nemoUrS chiLDrenS hoSpitAL
hen launching a multimilliondollar project, its tempting to go with industry norms. But the team behind the Nemours Childrens Hospital project decided to break with tradition.
One child noted a reection in the ceiling above the bed, which may have been scary to see from that vantage point. We acted on that feedback and removed that reection for them.
Gina Altieri, Nemours Foundation, Wilmington, Delaware, USA
53
FAMILIES FIRST
To gather feedback from hospital users, the team created an advisory council of patients and parents. Design choices were then presented to the members at an off-site preview center with inpatient and outpatient rooms and an emergency department. Children tested several mattress choices, for exampleallowing the team to gauge preferences without disrupting the project timeline. Because we were giving them options versus allowing them to redesign the room, it didnt affect the schedule. Instead, it allowed us to gather input that would make families more comfortable in the room, says Susan Voltz, PMP, senior director, strategy and project management, Nemours Childrens Hospital. Those discussions fueled the look, feel and function of the facility, from the paint colors to the furniture. One child noted a reflection in the ceiling above the bed, which may have been scary to see from that vantage point. We acted on that feedback and removed that reflection for Susan Voltz, PMP, Nemours Childrens Hospital them, says Gina Altieri, vice president, corporate services, Nemours Foundation, Wilmington, Delaware, USA, the not-for-profit behind the project. The team also used the center to generate excitement and answer questions about the project with the general public. More than 3,800 visitors toured the center before the hospitals ribbon-cutting ceremony in October 2012.
We were designing a hospital, creating all the operational processes, starting to procure equipment all without the input of the key physicians and clinicians who would actually be using the space.
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PHoto CoUrteSY oF nemoUrS CHiLDrenS HoSpitAL
STAFFING SURGE
In 2012, the final year of the project, Nemours hired 700 physicians and nurses vetted by executives and members of the family advisory council. The staff surge had been anticipated since the projects launch, but there was prep work to be done. We had several hundred new physicians, surgeons and nurses who would be going through the Florida licensing board, and we did not want to overwhelm the board, says Ms. Voltz. The team assigned three associates to expedite licensing issues: one built relationships with state agencies, a second assisted out-of-state physician hires, and a third aided nursing hires. The project team also appointed three physician liaisons to accompany the new hires on more than 3,275 visits to 510 local practices. These introductions allowed the new hospital staff to build relationships with the physicians who would refer patients to Nemours.
KEEPING CHANGE IN CHEck

While stakeholder management helped the team shape project scope, change management kept scope from creeping out of controlespecially when it came time to buy equipment. The team had created its original US$32 million equipment list back in 2008. But two years later, when the team was ready to order the 9,000 items from the list, the rapidly changing nature of medical technology meant many of the desired pieces no longer fit the spaces they were designed for. Project leaders called together stakeholders from across the team, from the construction manager to purchasing experts, for an equipment summit. Every stakeholder weighed in. Our materials management department knew what items they could get from vendors below list price if they negotiated correctly, and our construction team showed us where we could modify interior walls and where we could not, says Ms. Voltz. From that summit, the project team created a tightly controlled change-control process to vet requested equipment changes.
Youve got processes that you think are going to work, but you havent had a chance to test yet. So the question becomes, How do you bring all that together and test it before youre actually there taking care of real patients?
Roger Oxendale, Nemours Childrens Hospital, Orlando, Florida, USA
55
CRITIcAL CARE PATH

2005
Nemours Childrens Hospital receives nal state approval
Construction begins
November 2010: Hospital operations project planning begins
56
PHOTO BY JONATHAN HILLYER COURTESY OF NEMOURS CHILDRENS HOSpITAL
AprilAugust 2012: More than 700 new associates hired and trained
The project teams change management practices not only stopped equipment needs from breaking the budget but also prevented stakeholder feedback from creating Project launches scope creep. 2006 Still, changes were bound to happen. Because Nemours didnt hire medical staff until months before the hospitals scheduled opening, a critical stakeholder group had been 2007 left out of the initial feedback loop. We were designing a hospital, creating all the operational processes, starting to procure equipment, procure 2008 and install IT systems, go through regulatory processes, Design work begins designing space and creating spaceall without the input of the key physicians and clinicians who would actually be 2009 using the space, says Ms. Voltz. Each hire brought knowledge and expertise that could change the scope of critical project components, such as 2010 the medical equipment. Their requests might be worthAugust 2010: Toppingout ceremony conducted whilebut it was up to team members to make their case. 2011 Under the change-control process, they were required to May 2011: Senior fill out a document detailing the proposal, its reason and leadership team hired the impact it would have on the project schedule. 2012 An oversight committee of subject-matter experts, including legal staff with extensive knowledge of the June 2012: Construction completed health-care regulations of 32 state and federal agencies, reviewed the requests to differentiate nice-to-haves from October 2012: must-haves. The items that were included in must-haves Hospital opens were anything that was required from a regulatory compliance perspective or a patient safety issue, says Ms. Voltz. If the equipment was a must-have, Nemours would buy it. If it was simply a personal preference, the team proposed a more cost-effective alternative. A group of nurses, for example, submitted a change request to incorporate wireless medication carts in patient rooms. The proposed change meant addressing IT integration issues, but ultimately, it would improve patient safety, so it was approved. A pathologist, on the other hand, submitted a request form for a new software application to share lab information among staff members. The application that we had was being used in the Delaware hospital and it wasnt causing bad clinical care, says Ms. Voltz. Therefore, the change was rejected. To mitigate the risk that the oversight committee would be inundated with last-minute requests, the project team created a shared document designed to help new hires understand the rationale behind the chosen equipment. The document tracked the history of the decision made and listed the considerations taken in selecting a piece of equipment. At a certain point in the project, we had to show people that actually moving a wall, for example, just isnt practical, says Ms. Voltz.
PHoto CoUrtesY oF nemoUrs CHILDrens HospItAL
ALL SYsTEMs GO
Because much of the hospitals technology would be brand-new, not all medical staff would be fully proficient in it when the doors opened. Properly training staffa core project requirementmeant more than simply explaining the new equipment. Youve got teams that have just gotten to know each other and work together, says Mr. Oxendale. Youve got processes that you think are going to work, but you havent had a chance to test yet. So the question becomes, How do you bring all that together and test it before youre actually there taking care of real patients? The answer: trial runs. In the weeks leading up to the hospitals opening, the project team conducted simulations so staff could test-drive equipment and processes in a variety of scenarios, from patient registration to medication administration. One thing we learned was people needed more training, says Ms. Altieri. Project leaders formed a subcommittee to document training needs and then create informational packets and additional educational opportunities. On 22 October 2012, the 630,000-square-foot (58,529-square-meter), 137bed hospital openedon time, within budget and ready to serve children and their families on day one. We were brought together for the sole purpose of taking care of sick children, says Ms. Voltz. It was extremely satisfying to see it all pull together. PM
We were brought together for the sole purpose of taking care of sick children. It was extremely satisfying to see it all pull together.
Susan Voltz, PMP
57
58
ganization, r o n a e id s in the world or d n u o r a g n li yre trave Whether the

project managers must build team cohesion quickly.
BY AMY MERRICK
COME TOGETHER, RIGHT NOW
IN AN iDEAL WORLD,
team members would spend time building rapport before diving into a project. But project practitioners often have to get a team up and running while its members are still getting to know each other. To succeed, they should skip the icebreakers and try one of these tips instead.
FInD A PROJECT CHEERLEADER

Meeting with each team member individually to explain the importance of the project is a noble goalbut it can also be an incredible time drain. Instead, says Jos Rafael Alcal Gmez, project managers should work to identify the most outspoken member of the team and get that person enthused about the project. Finding an informal leader in the group and empowering him or her as a change agent has proven the most effective for me, says Mr. Alcal Gmez, PMP, an IT project manager in Madrid, Spain with Grupo Avalon, a group of companies that offer IT consultancy, training and development, and system integration. He moves frequently among project teams across Latin America and Europe. Charged with setting up a project management office (PMO) for a government client, he was once introduced to his new team of senior professionals who had no project management experienceand no interest in gaining it. Instead of laboring to find the interests of each team member, Mr. Alcal Gmez targeted the most vocal person with a one-on-one meeting. He solicited the team members views on the companys needs and problems and, in a follow-up meeting, presented a list of how the projects success would solve each problem. I focused on selling him the teams objectives and the organizations benefits, he says. To turn the team member into a project cheerleader, Mr. Alcal Gmez put him in charge of creating and executing the internal communications plan for the project. Once other members learned he was won over, they were ready to contribute.
Finding an informal leader in the group and empowering him or her as a change agent has proven the most effective for me.
Jos Rafael Alcal Gmez, PMP, Grupo Avalon, Madrid, Spain
60
CREATE A PROJECT WAR ROOM

Getting the team together physically may be the fastest way to spur collaboration and communication. Its the oldestand besttrick in the book, says Emad E. Aziz, PMP, PgMP, professional services director, BRISK Consulting, Cairo, Egypt. Whether managing a team in construction, IT, or oil and gas, Mr. Aziz says setting aside a designated space, such as an empty conference room, has a dramatic effect on team alignment. They can see how hard each one of them works or not, thereby gauging themselves through unspoken peer pressure, and because of the time spent together, they bond quicker, he says. Mr. Aziz posts critical project information schedules, logs of problems, risk registers and other dataon the walls, helping to maintain a sense of urgency and showing team members how others depend on their tasks being completed. A dedicated space may be impossible for virtual teams, but its very important to have at least one face-to-face meeting, says Thomas Zimmermann, PMI-ACP, PMP, senior project manager, NTT DATA Deutschland GmbH, Munich, Germany. He recommends kick-starting each project with an in-person team meeting to establish the projects mission, priorities and timeline. Because so much communication comes from nonverbal cues, connecting in person helps to build trust and understanding.
GET eVerYone ON THEIR FEET

Standing during meetings keeps team members focused and engaged, which is an easy recipe for team-building. My favorite technique to encourage collaboration is the daily stand-up, says Josh Zapin, PMP, director of global e-commerce operations for shoe company Crocs Inc., Niwot, Colorado, USA. If youre seated and too comfortable, you stop really listening. So Mr. Zapin, who frequently works virtually with teams across four time zones, asks all team members to stand and deliver updates of work and any obstacles theyre facing. Alert team members are more likely to offer each other solutionsand strengthen team cohesion. Dont limit daily stand-ups to todays tasks. Nows the time to share project setbacks as well. Get bad news out early and work with a policy of telling too much, rather than too little, says Craig Brown, chief community builder at consulting firm Tabar, Melbourne, Australia. Its the role of the project manager to create transparency, he says, so team members feel informedand investedon all fronts of the project.
My favorite technique to encourage collaboration is the daily stand-up. If youre seated and too comfortable, you stop really listening.
Josh Zapin, PMP, Crocs Inc., Niwot, Colorado, USA
61
VARY TEAM ROLES BY TASK

Static responsibilities make it easier for individuals to work in silos, while moving team members among roles helps them see how their work supports the larger goals of the project, says Jason Cade, PMP. Almost like a chessboard, you move people around to achieve the highest degree of success. Roles are very fluid and dynamic based on the needs of the project, says Mr. Cade, project manager, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wiesbaden, Germany. He is typically tasked with managing three new project teams each year, and roughly half of those faces are brand new to him. To encourage team unity, Mr. Cade also has team members work in pairs whenever possible. Having a senior member work with a junior member fosters learning, he says. Both people become more invested in the work and feel more ownership over the projects success.
GIVE LATITUDE WHERE APPROPRIATE

On short-term, high-intensity projects, especially when a team is new, there can be a temptation to micromanage or standardize work so nothing falls through the cracks. But these patterns tend to make people feel like cogs in a machine, rather than individuals with vital contributions to a projects success. Team members should have a say in what they dowhether this is deciding on what they do, how they do it or their schedule, says Sahar Kanani, PMP, senior IT project manager for telecommunications provider Telus Communications, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Giving team members a say in their assignments makes them more invested in the projects outcome and helps them own the end result, she says. If a team member wants to pursue a solution Mr. Cade disagrees with, hell occasionally allow it, if it isnt part of a critical task. Sometimes you take one step back to take two steps forward, he says. If Ive got a team member who always wants it done their way, and its a small potential failure, maybe Im willing to accept that, if it brings that person in line with the team. On multicultural teams, it can be particularly important for team members to feel they are contributing to decisions rather than simply being told what to do, says Priscila Duarte, PMP, a So Paulo, Brazil-based regional customer project manager at telecommunications company Ericsson, a PMI Global Executive Council member. On a recent project where she managed team members from India, Mexico, Uruguay and Chile, I found out from the program manager that I could sound aggressive to some of them by pushing some discussions, she says. You have to adapt your speech, because some team members want to feel that you care for them and their opinions. Checking in with people throughout the projectrather than micromanaging individual stepscan show support without suffocation. Otherwise, you will lose your team, she says.
Almost like a chessboard, you move people around to achieve the highest degree of success. Roles are very uid and dynamic based on the needs of the project.
Jason Cade, PMP, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wiesbaden, Germany
62
Reluctant team members who arent aiming for the same target can de-motivate others and jeopardize the entire project.
Daniela Morais Henriques, PMI-RMP, PMP, IBM, So Paulo, Brazil
SHOW APPRECIATION
John Purnell spent 20 years in the U.S. Navy, where he was constantly thrown into situations where new teams had to perform at top speed. We were screamed at. We were yelled at. We were led by fearmongering, says Mr. Purnell, PMP. A lot of my peers grew up to be screamers or very demanding. When a new chief of naval operations was named, the management style drastically changed, he says. Officers stopped yelling and started listening to their charges. The equipment got taken care of just as well as it did under a culture of fear. Mr. Purnell has taken that lessonteam members are just as important as the project goalinto his role as senior program manager for General Dynamics Information Technology, Seattle, Washington, USA. Today, hes managing the installation of emergency backup generators at cell-tower sites. Though its a demanding project, he works teambuilding time into his project schedule, including a recent lunch outing. There are subtle moments of contact, of appreciation, of dialogue, just to let them know Im checking in, Mr. Purnell says. In response, hes found that team members will go the extra milefor each other and for the projectwithout being asked.
UnDerStAnD tHe LOW PERFORMERS

When deadlines are intense, its understandable to pay the most attention to people who are moving the project forward. But Daniela Morais Henriques, who leads project teams of 20 or more members, says its the project managers responsibility to have every personeven the reluctant onesaim for the same target. If not, the behavior can de-motivate others and jeopardize the entire project, says Ms. Morais Henriques, PMI-RMP, PMP, a So Paulo, Brazilbased manager of transition and transformation and change management at IBM, a PMI Global Executive Council member. In the first few weeks of a new project, she creates a matrix showing the project requirements and skills needed to meet the goals, as well as the skills held by current team members. This process helps her realize which people may need extra coaching so she can step in before the skills gap becomes a drag on the team. That early intervention, she says, can influence each person to work toward the success of the overall team. While the task of bringing a team together quickly may feel daunting, project managers who make cohesion a priority will develop teams that communicate more, collaborate better and are more committed to helping their project cross the finish line. PM
63
Touchd
efore it could reach the goala state-ofthe-art U.S. football stadiuma project team first had to get past the hurdle: stakeholder input that threatened to foil the game plan. Or rather, hurdles: Incorporating stakeholder feedback throughout the Football Performance Center project at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, USA meant the team had to design and construct parts of the buildingand then do it all over again. Even before the project launched in August 2009, coaches, players and fans gave the project team direction on what should and should not be included. We wanted to give the team, staff and fans what they wanted, but we also wanted the space to fit the needs of everyone who came after them, says project manager Robert Snyder, an architect for ZGF Architects, Portland, Oregon, USA. And the team had to do it all with very little time on the game clock. We had an incredibly fast schedule, Mr. Snyder says. Its roughly 200,000 square feet (18,581 square meters); it was an enormous project, and it was all done in 18 months. We were designing, reviewing and correcting all in real time. We were in the field several days a week and in meetings several days a week. We never stopped. The ongoing changes and high expectations also meant the project manager had to carefully manage his own team members. It put a lot of stress on everyone, Mr. Snyder says. As a project manager, Im very aware of what people have to go through during the course of a project. So if I sensed that someone was near their ragged edge, Id adjust their assignment load to provide some relief. The building, which opened its doors on 28 July, features 145,000 square feet (13,471 square meters) of meeting space, locker rooms, lounges, offices, fitness centers and dining facilities, as well as 55,000 square feet (5,110 square meters) of below-ground parking, cold-water recovery pools and a medical area adjacent to the practice field. While university officials would not release the final budget numbers, early design estimates placed the centers cost at around US$68 million, funded by Nike co-founder and University of Oregon alumnus Phil Knight and his wife, Penny. The project team scored, and won: Weve heard from coaches and players how well the space allows them to flow from one activity to the next and how well it supports their day, Mr. Snyder says. If theyre going from a practice session to a training session to watching film, all of that movement is well supported.
MEETING ROOmS
Early in the project, two companies specializing in sports telestration technology that allows for freehand sketching over a moving or still video image and is often used for instant replaypresented state-of-the-art audiovisual equipment to the coaching staff and its media group. The coaches selected cutting-edge technology for their meeting rooms, and Mr. Snyders team implemented it. Other high-tech equipment, such as touchscreens, writable glass and hidden televisions, was also added to various rooms.
64
own
A new sports stadium aimed to be what everyone desired. And thats where it got tricky.
BY MEREDITH LANDRY
We wanted to give the team, staff and fans what they wanted, but we also wanted the space to t the needs of everyone who came after them.
Robert Snyder, ZGF Architects, Portland, Oregon, USA
PHOTOs BY Jeremy BItterman anD ECkert & ECkert. COURTESY OF ZGF ARCHITECTS LLP
65
LOCKER ROOM
Several rooms in the football complex had to be designed twice. Among them was the players locker room. The head coach had very specic needs, says Mr. Snyder: a room free of visual clutter, no visible hardware on the lockers, permanent seating, an air return system in the lockers to mitigate moisture and odors, locker doors that disappear when opened to avoid isolating players between lockers, and enough room to create a social atmosphere that can accommodate 120 players and their gear. Based on feedback from the coaches, staff and fabricators, we had to go through a couple iterations to get it right, he says. But the redesign didnt drastically affect the schedulelargely because more time wasnt an option. The nish line never moved. We were bound by the start of football season, Mr. Snyder says. We had to be nimble and turn things around more quickly.
The nish line never moved. We were bound by the start of football season. We had to be nimble and turn things around more quickly.
Robert Snyder
WEIGHT ROOM
The complex boasts Brazilian hardwood oors in its weight room as well as Italian couches, chairs upholstered in the same leather used inside Ferraris, walls covered in football leather, a custom art installation, hand-laid mosaics, a duck pond and certain rooms accessible only by a thumbprint security system.
66
PHOTOs BY Jeremy Bitterman anD ECkert & ECkert. COURTESY OF ZGF ARCHITECTS LLP
WAR ROOM
The War Room, a restricted space accessible to fewer than 40 people, is primarily used for recruiting analysis and nal game preparations. It was another twice-designed room: Because the client wanted to add more technology and expand the functions of the room, Mr. Snyders team had to revise original plans. Thanks to the private funding source, he says, the team could make changes to the War Room, the locker room and other project components when necessary. It just had to be right, Mr. Snyder says.
COACHS OFFICE
About three months prior to completion, Mr. Snyder and his team spent half a day walking the coaches through their individual spaces and ensuring that everything was up to their standards. Now was their chance to speak up and let us know if wed gotten anything wrong, Mr. Snyder says. That led to yet another round of changes: While happy with their ofces, many of the coaches said they were uncomfortable sitting at desks for long periods of time due to old football injuries. So once again Mr. Snyder and his team adjusted: They added special components to the coaches walnut desks that allow them to sit or stand. PM
67
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HOW TO ORDER Online: Marketplace.PMI.org | Telephone: 1-866-276-4PMI (U.S. and Canada) or +1-770-280-4129 (international) | Email: info@bookorders.pmi.org Phone ordering hours now extended until 8:00 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time (GMT -5)
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This latest edition of the 1997 landmark text has been revised and updated to reflect the latest developments in value management practice. It begins with the background needed to understand the origins of this complex and rapidly evolving practice and then builds on this foundation by showing how value is a complex interweaving of factors that include time, people, subject and circumstance. It provides updated tools and techniques that can be used to achieve the objectives of a value study. Finally, a completely rewritten final chapter covers value integration as seen within an organizational project management context.
Project Management Institute, 2013, ISBN: 9781628250183, paperback, 168 pages, $23.95 Member, $29.95 Nonmember
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Software Extension to the PMBOK Guide Fifth Edition

Software Extension to the PMBOK Guide Fifth Edition provides guidance on the management of software development projects. It bridges the gap between the traditional predictive methodologies described in A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) and the iterative approaches more commonly used in software development. This groundbreaking work developed by PMI and the IEEE Computer Society, an organization of computing professionalsdraws upon the expertise of programmers, IT specialists and working project managers around the globe.
Project: ImpossibleHow the Great Leaders of History Identied, Solved and Accomplished the Seemingly ImpossibleAnd How You Can Too!
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Multi-Media Publications, 2013, ISBN: 9781554891382, paperback, 260 pages, $28.45 Member, $29.95 Nonmember
The IT Project Management Answer Book

This handy reference guides readers to the specific answers they need to conduct and complete IT projects. Written in an easy-to-use Q-andA format, the book covers all aspects of managing an IT project, from initial organizational issues to closeout. The author builds on the classic project management processes to offer valuable insights not found in other resources, such as proven techniques to manage defects and how to create performance standards for outside contractors. The authors plainspoken approach presents a refreshing view of the IT world. He describes the tools and solutions for dealing with IT project challenges in an accessible, straightforward way.
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68
Featured Books
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ith hundreds of real-world project examples, this updated edition will change the way you think about and understand the work breakdown structure (WBS). Learn the secrets to mastering the WBS and obtain better project results starting now. This is a must-read book for successful project managers. Written in a simple Q-and-A format, the book is aligned to A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide)Fifth Edition. This engaging and quick read is a valuable resource in preparation for PMI credential exams. It has new concepts and tips and more than 200 examples, including real-life screenshots, project documents, comparative charts, tables and figures to speed your learning curve. Also highlighted in the book are the top 20 benefits to using the WBS and a step-by-step approach to creating a valuable WBS. For readers looking for the latest information, there is an updated comparison of WBS software; information on WBS and requirements, scope baseline and scope changes; and WBS value in managing scope, time, costs, communications, procurement, risks, human resources, quality, stakeholders and integrations. The author provides a presentation about the use of the WBS in global, multicultural and virtual projects, jumpstarts a discussion about the WBS and agile projects by showing the alignment of agile and the PMBOK Guide, and gives an appendix with real-world WBS examples. The book also has a good knowledge foundation, including a clarification of the typical WBS confusions such as its difference from the organizational breakdown structure, risk breakdown structure, cost breakdown structure and bill of materials. The author also describes how to link the WBS with the schedule and costs and differences between the WBS and the activity list.
Highlighted in the book are the top 20 benets to using the WBS and a step-by-step approach to creating a valuable WBS.
69
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PAGE ADVERTISER 71 C4 C3 71 American Graduate University Embry Riddle Aeronautical University PM Academy PM Educate URL www.agu.edu www.erau.edu http://projectmanagementacademy.net www.pmeducate.com PAGE ADVERTISER C2 PM Study URL www.PMStudy.com www.4PMTI.com www.rmcproject.com www.umtweb.com 4 PMTI C2 71 RMC Project Management University of Management & Technology
We had to get private investment

to attract ESA, but the ESA money attracted more private investment.
Alan Bond, managing director, Reaction Engines, Abingdon, England, to Engineering and Technology Magazine
The SABRE engine (right), which will be located in each of the wingtips of the Skylon (above), will propel the plane at ve times the speed of sound.
PROJECT: The rocket engine for the Skylon space plane BUDGET: 5.5-7.5 billion for the Skylon, 250 million for the next phase of SABRE prototyping and testing TRAVEL TIME FROM ENGLAND TO AUSTRALIA: Four hours via the Skylon, versus 22 hours on conventional ights
PHOTOS COURTESY OF REACTION ENGINES LTD.
CLOSING Credit
Within the next decade, the U.K.s Skylon will likely take off from a runway just like countless commercial planes before it. Its passengers, however, will be traveling to space. Maybe theyll arrive at a space station, or a far-ung spot on Earth in just a fraction of the usual ight time. Before it can even get off the ground, the reusable space plane needs an engine powerful enough to propel it into the stratosphere. The Synergetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine (SABRE), designed by aerospace company Reaction Engines in Abingdon, England, came closer to fruition this year; the British government and the European Space Agency invested more than 60 million in the project. The next hurdle is to secure the rest of the needed 250 million from investors. Public and private buy-in has worked hand in hand, says Alan Bond, managing director, Reaction Engines: The organizations proven ability to attain private nancing spurred government funding, and that, in turn, has led to more private support. Reaction plans to roll out the SABRE prototype in 2017. By 2020, the rst Skylon ight tests are expected to take to the skiesand beyond.

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DECEMBER 2013 VOLUME 27, NUMBER 12

A special section on strengthening, stafng and starting a PMO

2013 PMI PROJECT OF THE YEAR AWARD fiNaLiSt

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THE PROFESSIONAL MAGAZINE OF THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE

2013 PMI BOARD OF DiRECTORs

[VOICES ON PROJECT MANAGEmENT BlOG]

DECEMBER 2013 PM NETWORK

PHOTO COURTESY OF ZUS

The amount raised for a Dutch pedestrian bridge through crowdfunding

The smallest amount a donor could contribute to the bridge

DECEMBER 2013 PM NETWORK

And the Crowd Goes Wild

G1 ArCHiteCtUre 10 PM NETWORK DECEMBER 2013 WWW.PMI.ORG

AFTER THE SHUTDOWN

Lockheed Martinthe largest U.S. government contractor with nearly

DECEMBER 2013 PM NETWORK

Indias US$1 Trillion Skills Gap

PM NETWORK DECEMBER 2013 WWW.PMI.ORG

among 185 economies in the ease of obtaining construction permits.

DECEMBER 2013 PM NETWORK

An Eye on the Future

PM NETWORK DECEMBER 2013 WWW.PMI.ORG

Bait and Switch

DECEMBER 2013 PM NETWORK

PM NETWORK DECEMBER 2013 WWW.PMI.ORG

PROJECTS ACROSS MOROCCO

Sunshine, Blue Skies

PHOTO COURTESY OF RENAULT

DECEMBER 2013 PM NETWORK

THE LAtESt StAtIStICS, SURVEYS AND StUDIES

MORE THAN SKIN DEEP

RECENt ANd CURRENt PROJECts

Babylonians record ngerprints in clay tablets to verify business transactions.

Chinese merchants track people by printing their footprints in ink.

Patent awarded for iris identication.

PM NETWORK DECEMBER 2013 WWW.PMI.ORG

A RAPIDLY GrOWiNG MArKET

Market for ngerprint scanners

Market for face, voice, vein and iris recognition

Global health care biometrics market

Global biometrics market