1. Starting Position

Statements in articles and on the Web have (too) often prompted me to get on my hobby-horse about the difference between projects, programmes and portfolios. I now realise I have been flogging a dead (hobby-) horse. But there is still a valuable truth in those distinctions if we approach them from a different point of view. Here is my new take on the subject.

I have spent a lot of time and effort in trying to “educate” people as to the “correct” use of the terms “project”, “programme (program)” and “portfolio” (the P-trio “domains”). This may be a conceptually valid mission, but I now think it is doomed to fail because the term “project” is often used as a generic term for any one of the P-trio. I think it is time for me to reverse this approach and accept that they are all manifestations of the generic concept of “a project”, each with its own focus and specific set of tools. The challenge is to find a clear naming convention that is sufficiently descriptive and comprehensible. Let’s see how that would work. Read more

In Part 1 of this posting I ran through a list of questions that I had put forward during a training class that I ran entitled “Establishing the PMO”.

Here we will look at a selection of answers given to key questions together with an indication of the position of the respondent on the business. Read more

On my previous blogs, I talked a lot about how to move your course-end “Smile” sheets to “Smart” sheets.  Smart sheets collect the basic level 1 & 2 data, but also predictive level 3 & 4 data from individuals after the training. After about 90 days, we go back to these individuals and validate what happened (vis-à-vis what they predicted) and collect qualitative support data.  I want to throw out a scenario and discuss how to react as a team—here goes. Read more

As readers will be very much aware there is an increasing interest in the establishment of a “Project Management Office”.  This is happening in organisations operating in diverse fields from IT to Construction to Pharmaceuticals to Financial Services.  In a previous Blog, I discussed (from the perspective of an uninformed and objective observer) just what that might mean in reality and I would now like to offer readers a review of a “real world” situation. We will explore how the project for establishing a PMO in a particular company came about and my involvement as a Consultant and Senior Instructor for ESI in helping that company progress towards its goal.  Firstly, some background.

 The organisation in question is an EMEA business with a headquarters in the Middle-East.  For some time, the IT department in that organisation had been, to all intents and purposes, autonomous with little accountability to the rest of the company.  As with many such departments, it existed as a “service” and (theoretically at least) ran projects on behalf of “the business”; its clients being the customer-facing functional departments within the company. Read more

I was doing a presentation throughout Europe and the Middle East this past May about risk management and PMO.  It was titled—Risk Management Best Practices for Establishing and/or Sustaining a PMO.  I was struck about the lack of focus on risk management by PMOs.  I had representation from many geographies and industries and only a few could provide a risk management plan for their PMO!  They all acknowledged the importance but admitted that it is an area that needs more focus. I suspect it is a similar situation in the US.  If you Google risk management and PMO there are no great PMO Risk Management Plans out there to serve as a guide.  If you run across a good one, or you have developed a good PMO Risk Management plan, please share with the group. Read more

‘We don’t need no education; we don’t need no thought control. No dark sarcasm in the classroom, teachers leave them kids alone. Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone!’

 So goes the lyrics from the classic Pink Floyd song Another Brick in the Wall Part 2 (R. Waters)

 But we all know that we do need education, and not just during our school days but throughout our lives.
In the world of project management this is just as true as any other work area. Just because you have your Prince2 standard or your PMP certificate or your IPMA certification or any such evidence of achievement this does not mean that you should stop learning or improving your skills.
Some of this can be done through experience; working with others and observing their good behaviour, or through understanding your own performance on projects through lessons learned. Read more

In March and April of this year, ESI International conducted a global survey on the State of the PMO in 2011.  We are pleased to announce that the winner of the prize draw for the Ipad2 is Mr Henny Portman who is the author of books and articles regarding project management.  He is  a PRINCE2 accredited trainer and runs a global PMO for a financial institute.
 To view Henny’s blog please visit http://hennyportman.wordpress.com/

Thank you to all that participated in this survey.

To take a look at the full survey report entitled “The Global State of the PMO in 2011 – It’s Value, Effectiveness and Role as the Hub of Training” please visit: http://www.esi-intl.co.uk/2011PMOsurvey

PMOs are often asked this question “How would you implement this process on our project, it seems like too much to do?” This is a loaded question and calls for holistically understanding the project management landscape before trying to answer. So here it goes!

Thinking that a single company methodology or process can be implemented as-such on any given project is a recipe for disaster. Each project is unique in a way that it has different variables like complexity, requirements, team structure, team strengths/weaknesses, time-to-deliver, and results. To understand this concept; I often quote the analogy “Your pajamas cannot fit on everyone else or vice versa”. You might end up tearing it if you are fat! Read more

I love to watch horseracing, especially America’s Triple Crown (Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes). The crowds, the call to the post, and the sounds of the announcer saying:  “and they’re off,” and, “coming in last is……the name of the poor horse that’s, well, last” never cease to excite me.  I immediately thought of horseracing (we just had the Triple Crown races in America) when I was analysing the results of ESI’s recent global survey on the state of the PMO.  You see, one of the questions we asked focused on what criteria PMO’s measure and report on their own effectiveness.

 It was stated as follows: “What data does your PMO use to communicate and report on its own effectiveness? Please select ALL methods that apply.” Read more