PMO Implementation Reflection

Fellow C Levels,

In accordance with the consultant’s presentation and our internal discussions I offer the following recommendation for our PMO system.  The mission and purpose of our PMO is to standardize project management methodologies by developing project level organizational structure through the use of PMO generated and administered documents and tools which work collaboratively and cross functionally to support project initiatives resulting in enhanced project efficiencies and success.

As were all aware the PMO challenges and obstacles we’re facing include balancing the allocation of company resources, overcoming cultural resistance to new project management techniques, determining the governance model for the PMO system and identifying the scale at which to implement the program.  The consulting team brought forward ideas that I had not previously considered such as beginning with PMO light and allowing the staffs acceptance of the PMO program to drive the implementation timeline.  My preference is to drive the PMO implementation from the top down starting with John Strider.  John must identify a key individual who has extensive project management experience to oversee the implementation process.  This individual will report directly to John and act as the liaison between John and the managers of each department.  Specific implementation goals including deadlines will be established.  Studies have shown that having a target date for any project increases the probability that the project will be completed within the desired timeframe.  To this end if we miss the target date we’re more likely to miss by a smaller margin than we would if we allow the implementation schedule to be driven by staff acceptance.  Since we are all truly committed to implementing a PMO program we must commit company resources to the process.  This will entail hiring managers for each department who are responsible for the departments PMO implementation process.  We need to review each department’s staff and determine if there is an individual who can be promoted into a management level role to oversee the implementation of the PMO.  If no one in a department meets our requirements we need to look outside our firm for experts.  These experts can be contract workers brought in to manage the PMO process.  My preference is to select key employees in each department to oversee the process rather than hire outside consultants.  In addition staff level participation will be encouraged by incentivizing departmental PMO implementation milestones.  Developing an implementation plan that focuses on top down implementation while encouraging staff acceptance through incentives will enable us to create a PMO system that satisfies our needs and maintains our unique corporate culture.