Project HEADWAY
Webinar Mark Mullaly is the host for
A Guide To Getting Started For The
New PMO Manager
Mark Mullaly, Ph.D., PMP
mark.mullaly@interthink.ca
@markmullaly
We will be starting at 3:00 PM EST
today s webinar. Mark is a
management consultant with
more than 25 years of
project management
experience.
He brings a wealth of
experience in managing
projects in a broad array of
sectors and industries.
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Webinar Objectives

• Understand The Challenges Of Taking On A New

PMO

• Explore Strategies For Planning & Delivering

PMO Success

• Define How To Plan For Personal Career Success

3
Webinar Process – Things to Know

Ø This Is A Cisco WebEx Presentation

• PowerPoint
• Computer-based audio stream
Ø Problems or Help?
• Contact Heather using the Q&A box
Ø Questions?
• Submit a question in the Q&A box
• Questions will be answered during the Q&A session
• We may not be able to answer all questions
Ø This Presentation Will Be Recorded for Future Reference
Ø PDUs

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Agenda

• Introduction
• Defining Our Terms
• The Challenges Of Managing PMOs
• Planning & Delivering PMO Success
• Managing Personal Career Success
• Question & Answer Session

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Defining Our Terms

PMO

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Defining 'Project Management Office'

• 'Project Management Office':

• Defines and maintains standards for project
management within the organization.
• Strives to standardize and introduce economies of
repetition in the execution of projects.
• Source of documentation, guidance and metrics on the
practice of project management and execution.

• Source: wikipedia.org
• Definition taken on 12 April 2018

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What Does The PMBOK Have To Say?

• A Little Bit, In This Case

• About a page-and-a-half, overall

• Initial Definition Is Similar:

• Standardizes the project-related governance processes
and facilitates the sharing of resources, methodologies,
tools, and techniques.

• Allows For Range:

• From providing project management support functions
to actually being responsible for the direct management
of one or more projects.
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What Does The PMBOK Have To Say?

• Three Predominant Modes Are Defined:

• Supportive
• Consultative role to projects
• Provide templates, best practices, training and access
to information and lessons learned
• Controlling
• Provide support and require compliance
• Imposing frameworks, methodologies and templates
• Directive
• Take control of projects by directly managing them
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Defining “Success”

• “Success” Means:
• Degree or measure of succeeding
• Favorable or desired outcome
• Also : the attainment of wealth, favor, or eminence
• One that succeeds

• Source: merriam-webster.com
• Definition taken 12 April 2018

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The Challenges Of Managing PMOs

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The Challenge For Any New Manager…

• Where Do I Start?

• This Is Particularly True For PMOs

• They are complex beasts
• No one agrees on what they are or what they should do
• There is no defined roadmap to follow

• Successful Planning Requires Understanding

• The problems we are trying to solve
• The reasons other examples have failed
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What Have You Been Asked To Do?

Ø There Is No Agreed Upon Definition Of What A PMO

Actually Is
• Role
• Functions
• Processes
• Standards

Ø There Are Many Viewpoints

Ø There Are Also Many Names

• And what we call it matters greatly in how it will be
perceived
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Why Are You Being Asked To Do It?

Making the case for change in adopting a

formal PMO.

Ensuring consistent application of defined

processes. 69
Demonstration of the success of the PMO. 62
Critical
Applicability of the PMO to all projects. 50 Important
Moderate
Formal definition of the PMO role. Somewhat
Not Important
Appropriate funding.

Project manager acceptance.

Senior management acceptance. 48

0 20 40 60 80 100 120
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How Much Time Do You Think You Have?

• The Establishment Of A PMO Is An Intervention

• Creating a new structure and role
• Representative of significant change
• Presumably with an underlying intent and outcome

• Average Age Of PMOs Is Approximately Two Years

• Reinforced in several research studies
• Speaks to a very short-lived entity

• Raises Several Questions Regarding Viability

• Degree to which they deliver on success
• Relative perceived value of how they are implemented
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How Much Support Do You Have?
100%

90%

80%

70%

60%
Don't Know
No Real Contribution
50%
Little Contribution
Some Contribution
40%
Significant Contribution
30% Essential Contribution

20%

10%

0%
Senior Management Value Project Manager Value Contribution To Project
Success 16
Facing The Political Reality

• Acceptance Of The PMO Role Is Often Not Strong

• Challenge Of ANY Organizational Intervention

• Change to the status quo
• Shift/undermining of power and influence
• Increase in expectations, visibility and accountability

• Gaining Acceptance Is Critical

• What is implemented needs to be relevant and appreciated
• People need to see themselves as more successful in the
future than with their current practices
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Planning & Delivering PMO Success

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First, We Need To Accept A Paradox

• The PMO Delivers A Service

• It is, at heart, an operational organization
• It just happens to live in a project world
• Critical to understand what operational excellence looks
like in delivering that service

• Acceptance Of This Can Be Challenging

• Especially for those who are familiar with a project world

• Getting To A PMO Being Established Is A Project

• And normal project management principles apply
• But never lose sight of the fact that what you are building
should be a steady-state capability

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Take The Time To Understand History

• Explore What Is Being Sought In A PMO?

• Who started this?
• Who championed it?
• This won’t necessarily be the same person
• What has already been sold?
• What promises have been made? To whom?
• Who are the players you will engage with?
• Who values a PMO being established?
• Who opposes and challenges it?
• Who is on the fence?

• How Have Other Organizational Changes Gone?

• What is the experience of the organization in undertaking changes like
this?
• What has worked in the past?
• What were the failures and why did they fail?

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Define Outcomes

• Building On An Understanding Of Existing Promises

• What does the PMO need to produce?
• What results are required? What results are expected?

• Outcomes Need To Be Specific, Clear And

Demonstrable
• They are not abstract
• They should not be vague, fluffy or idealistic

• Put Simply, If The PMO Is Doing It’s Job, What Will Be

Different?
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Define Services

• The Services Required Are A Product Of The Outcomes We

Need To Create
• Walk back from the results to define what needs to be done to
deliver the results

• Services Are About Actions That Deliver Results

• They describe the actual work that will be done on an on-going
basis
• They are the basis of what needs to be staffed and supported

• The Services Of The PMO Are What People Will Tangibly

See And Engage With
• The work that needs to be done to deliver the results that are
expected

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Define Service Principles

• Harder—And Also More Important—Is The Need To

Define Service Principles
• Services define what work will be done
• Service principles define how that work will be done

• Services Principles Fundamentally Shape How PMO

Value Is Perceived
• They define what is important about how services are
received
• They fundamentally shape how the PMO is perceived
• They should govern how everyone in the PMO approaches
their role
• They are the most difficult—and the most important—thing
to get right

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Managing Personal Career Success

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A Fundamental Strategy: Be Valuable

• It’s A Simple Idea

• It can actually be complex and difficult to realize

• Fundamental To Doing This Is Knowing:

• Who matters
• The challenges they are experiencing
• The unique role you can play in addressing those challenges
• How to deliver on that role in a way that is relevant and valued

• In Large Part This Personalizes The Broader Concept Of

Service Principles
• How we deliver on our individual role
• A product of who we are and how we want to be perceived

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So What Does ‘Being Valuable’ Mean?

• If Something Needs To Be Done, Do It In A Way That

Helps
• It makes it easier
• It is more relevant and useful
• It delivers more value

• In Essence, It’s Being Of Service

• By understanding what being of service actually means

• Service—Valuable Service—Isn’t Defined And Judged

By Us
• It’s measured by the degree to which those we are serving
appreciate and value the role that we play

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Envisioning Valuable Service

• Fundamental To Being Valuable Is:

• Knowing who your stakeholders are
• Being clear about what your role is
• Defining the support you need to deliver on that role

• You Can’t Pick And Choose Stakeholders

• It’s not about deciding to serve senior management at the
expense of project managers
• Or vice versa
• Each stakeholder needs to be served
• Figure out what they want
• Resolve the tensions of how it can be delivered
• Figure out strategies to helpfully deliver meaningful results
to all of them
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Building Effective Relationships

• Identifying, Understanding And Making Connections With

Stakeholders Is Critical

• We Need To Have Relationships With All Our Stakeholders

• Clients
• Advisors
• Supporters

• Building And Sustaining Relationships Allows Us To

Deliver Value
• Knowing what is important to them
• Evaluating what works and what can be improved
• Maintaining visibility and awareness of results delivered

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Define How You Need To Spend Your Time

• Time Is The Scarcest Resource

• How you allocate it as a PMO manager is critical

• There Will Be Pressures From All Sides To Coopt Your

Time
• Meetings, deliverables, reports and special projects

• How You Budget And Spend Your Time Needs To Flow

From Outcomes, Services And Service Principles
• What needs to be done?
• What are the things you—personally—need to do?
• What is the work that can—and should—be done by others?
• How can this be structured in ways that value is received and
accepted?
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Getting Clarity Up Front Is Critical

• As We Start Our Role, There Is A Lot That Is Fluid

• Expectations are evolving and still being shaped
• Our calendar is less structured and more flexible
• Opportunities can look interesting and tangentially relevant

• It Is Easy To Take On—And Then Be Stuck With—

Expectations That Don’t Support Our Outcomes
• It can be very difficult to let those go again afterwards

• Essential To Success Is Establishing Outcomes Early

• Defining how to deliver those in ways that are valued
• Working from the outset to establish—and deliver—on that
well

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In Conclusion…

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In Conclusion…
• Stepping Into Any New Role Is Challenging
• Understanding and managing expectations
• Defining what will be done, and how
• PMOs Are Particularly Challenging Things To Start
• They often start in times of crisis
• They face critical expectations early on
• Perceived value, relevance and on-going support is not a given
• Focus Needs To Be On Delivering Value
• Defining the required outcomes and expected results
• Establishing ways to deliver on those in the most valuable manner
possible
• Understanding And Building Relationships With Stakeholders
Is Particularly Critical
• We don’t get to pick and choose our stakeholders
• We need be valued and appreciated by all of them
• As managers, we need to approach our work and manage our time to
focus on the priorities that make the most difference 32
Q&A

A Guide To Getting Started For The

New PMO Manager

33
Questions?

• Quick Review: Process to Pose a Question

• Questions?

Mark E. Mullaly, PMP

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Mark Your Calendars!

Project HEADWAY

Project HEADWAY: It’s About The People, Stupid

Thursday, 17 May 2018

@ 3:00 PM EST

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 The End
Questions for the Presenter?
Mark Mullaly
mark.mullaly@interthink.ca
@markmullaly
Interested in project HEADWAY?
http://projectmanagement.com/membership
Mark Mullaly is the host for
today s webinar. Mark is a
management consultant with
more than 25 years of
project management
experience.
He brings a wealth of
experience in managing
projects in a broad array of
sectors and industries.
39