PMO Best Practices

As Chris Walters writes in the foreword to my new book ‘Leading Successful PMOs’ (Gower) – ‘The role of the PMO leader is one for a particular breed of individual. Be clear: this is a very senior position in any organisation that takes project delivery seriously – the days of co-ordinating project administrators are over. PMO...
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In part 1 of this blog post I mentioned that it’s ESI’s 30th anniversary and how I stumbled into project management. In this second part I will look at the project management industry today.  The present  Today project management can be found in every industry sector around the world. From manufacturing to IT, and telecommunications to...
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Happy 30th Birthday to ESI! ESI has turned 30 years old and I’d like to reflect on what has changed in Project Management over this period. Thirty years ago project management was still a very process-driven approach that was confined to two basic industries: construction and defence.  The past Fresh out of graduate school with a master’s...
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First, let us be clear on the terminology here; a ‘projectised’ organisation is one, which runs its business primarily by performing projects i.e. each work undertaken is different from the previous work and produces unique results. Examples are management consulting firms, construction firms, law firms etc. Whereby a ‘non-projectised’ organisation may not conduct projects per se...
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In Part 1 of this blog posting we took a look at the first three steps to becoming a risk superhero.  Here we will look at the remaining 4 steps. Step 4—Secure Buy-In From Key Players and Stakeholders With an understanding of risk continuum position, strategic fit and with the right players in place, you’ll be...
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Introduction Risk management can be a deep, cavernous and potentially career-limiting endeavour if not properly planned. Unfortunately, project managers often approach risk in a purely one-dimensional fashion, without considering many essential components such as the company risk climate, the project’s strategic fit, key player and stakeholder involvement and buy-in. Ensuring risk ownership, addressing supply-chain concerns...
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Ability to evaluate and judge – such is the essence of project leadership and decision making. Capacity for original and productive thought – problem resolution and the comparative analysis of options is a constant need in good project management. So in all aspects the project demands the intelligent project manager. But what else is required to support...
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  ‘It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.’ Albert Einstein There are probably as many definitions of intelligence as there are experts who study it. Simply put, however, intelligence can be described as the ability to learn about, learn from, understand, and interact with one‘s environment. This general...
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In part one of this blog posting we took a look at the 2 first opportunities which every project manager, regardless of discipline, can and should capitalise upon. They were: 1) Take the opportunity to recognise and reward success 2) Take the opportunity to provide and ask for feedback Here we will look at the remaining 4...
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When asked how typical risk management exercises are conducted, most project managers reply that this involves conversations and documentation around risk events and their respective probabilities and impacts. While this is a necessary and beneficial exercise, this standard approach and mind set does not account for taking time to recognise and focus on maximising...
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