Yes – you read that subject line correctly!
And in doing so, the Project Management Office (PMO) was able to:
- Increase the confidence of stakeholders by improving the on-time/on-budget delivery of projects by 30%, and
- Ensure that the company was well-positioned to achieve its goals by aligning the $50M project portfolio to the company’s strategies
Before all this though, the Canadian arm of the North American insurance leader (with a global presence) exhibited some key challenges including
- Low satisfaction in project delivery – there was no accountability in the projects getting completed on time, within budget, and with the required quality, leading to low satisfaction of project stakeholders
- Inconsistency in project management – each project manager managed projects with his/her own style and using documents/templates in the format/detail that they saw fit
- No standardized intake and prioritization of projects – the projects were selected on a first-come first-serve basis with no rationale of “is this the right project to do at this time for the company?”
- Lack of data to measure success – there were no metrics being tracked to understand the benefits of the project management services
The business case for having a PMO was clear.
This wasn’t a situation where just bringing in more project managers would help.
There needed to be standards and governance put in place, directed by an overarching strategy, with overall acceptance from the organization.
I was brought on just about the same time as the PMO Leader, Chris, joined the company.
While developing a strong rapport with the CFO & CTO, who were the primary sponsors of the PMO, I served as Chris’ advisor and thought partner, and helped him:
- Formalize the business case for the PMO and get approval for its setup
- Identify the current & future state of the PMO and implement its roadmap
- Launch governance processes & artifacts (e.g. project startup checklist, schedule, risk/issue, financial, resource management)
- Mentor and develop the PMO team
- Set up & pilot project delivery mechanisms
- Lead the PMO roadshow to Business and IT Leaders
- Represent PMO in annual budget preparation & portfolio prioritization
This resulted in a PMO setup within 4 months headed by a first-time PMO Leader (& to reiterate) that was able to:
- Increase the confidence of stakeholders by improving the on-time/on-budget delivery of projects by 30%, and
- Ensure that the company was well-positioned to achieve its goals by aligning the $50M project portfolio to the company’s strategies
According to the Association for Project Management (APM), 50% of PMOs fail within 3 years (irrespective of how much PMO setup experience you have).
Chris was happy to be on the better half of that statistic!
Here’s what he had to say:
“Hussain was instrumental in partnering with me to setup the PMO from ground up which was recognized as a success by both the CTO and CFO of the company.
Without his experience, and actionable advice, it would’ve meant spending a lot more effort and time (for me personally) on the PMO’s foundations, which I was able to instead invest in enhancing relations with our stakeholders.”
What Chris was really saying was that with apt support in place, he was able to:
- Avoid obvious landmines, save time, and demonstrate the value of the PMO quickly
- Invest time in what mattered the most – building relationships with his key stakeholders so that he could earn his trust, gain confidence in his ideas, and obtain buy-in of his PMO
- Get a seat at the table where strategic decisions for the company are evaluated
So, how close do you find yourself to be in this situation (either as a PMO Leader or as someone who’s provided the mandate for a PMO to be setup)?
Are you serious about making your PMO a success?
What support do you think you need? In just 30 minutes, I can help you identify 3 action steps you can take that will arm you with clarity and confidence. Simply write to me at hussain@parwaazcc.com and we can take it from there.
