pmo effects pmo liability

1. Presenter: Mark Mullaly
Title: The Future of PMOs
Date: Thursday, 22 March 2018
PMXPO 2018

2. Mark Mullaly
President & Chief Organizational Therapist
Interthink Consulting Incorporated
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Future
The
of
PMOs

3. Objectives
• Understand The Drivers Behind
PMOs
• Explore The Challenges And
Experiences To Date
• Imaging The Future Of PMOs

4. defining
our
terms

5. 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 20 January 2017

6. 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.

7. 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

8. where
we’ve
been

9. Delving Into
Where PM
Started
• Modern PM Has Its Roots In 1950s
– Industrial and defense projects
– Particularly the source of CPM and PERT
techniques
• Focus On The Management Of Highly
Complex Projects
– Resulted in highly complex and detailed
solutions
– Modern project management
associations started
• Intent to popularize these techniques with
a broader audience
• Progressive Evolution Of Standards
– Adding to expectations and perceived
'best practices'

10. Addressing
PM In
Organizations
• Project Management Practices
Have Been Organizational From
The Start
– They developed in response to
organizational challenges
– Were devised to address the specific
needs of individual organizations
• That Has Shifted With The
Emergence Of Standards &
Associations
– Recognition of “these practices
worked here”
– Presumption that they should be
applicable and relevant elsewhere

11. The Origins Of
PMOs
• PMOs Are A Relatively New Construct
• There Are Few References Before
The Early 1990s
– Part of an overall effort to establish,
coordinate and encourage organizational
practices
– Shift from ‘project offices’ focused on
single projects
• What PMOs Actually Do Was And
Continues To Be Broadly Defined
– Focal point for individual projects
– Reporting and monitoring project status
– Advocate of organizational practices
– Management of overall projects

12. What PMOs
Were Created
To Accomplish
• Being Candid, This Is A Moving
Target
• There Is Minimal Alignment And
Agreement On:
– What PMOs should do
– How they should do it
– Who they should do it for
– What they should be called
• PMOs Emerge In Response To
Different Challenges & Crises
– At different organizational levels
– With different accountabilities
– It is not uncommon for one organization
to have multiple (and varied) instances of
PMO

13. what
we’ve
seen

14. PMOs Are
Often Short-
Lived
• 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

15. Perceptions
Of PMOs –
Senior
Management
Value
Essential
Contribution
13%
Significant
Contribution
24%
Some
Contribution
40%
Little
Contribution
8%
No Real
Contribution
7%
Don't Know
8%

16. Perceptions
Of PMOs –
Project
Manager
Value
Essential
Contribution
15%
Significant
Contribution
26%
Some
Contribution
37%
Little
Contribution
12%
No Real
Contribution
7%
Don't Know
3%

17. Perceptions
Of PMOs –
Contribution
To Project
Success
Essential
Contribution
13%
Significant
Contribution
32%
Some
Contribution
34%
Little
Contribution
12%
No Real
Contribution
6%
Don't Know
3%

18. Role Is Highly
Inconsistent
• Often Lack Of Clarity And
Agreement On:
– What PMOs should be responsible for
– Scope of projects that are included
and impacted
– Degree of emphasis and importance
of consistency
– Level of authority and power to
impose requirements
– Expected outcomes of establishing a
PMO

19. Implementation
Is Often
Bureaucratic
• PMOs Often Initially Implemented In
Reaction To Organizational
Challenges
– Failure to deliver previous projects
– Requirements to perform in delivering
current projects
– Significant increase in expectations of
delivery
– Need to implement large, complex
strategic change
– Desire for consistency, formality, rigor
– Expectation of adherence to "best
practices"
• What Gets Implemented Is Often
Extremely Formal
– Strong level of bureaucratization
– Emphasis on consistency and alignment
with standards
– Perception that project management is
"forms" and "templates"

20. Acceptance
Of The Role Is
Not Strong
• This Is The 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

21. thinking
about
the
future

22. The Origins Of
Scenario
Planning
• Popularized In The 1960s/1970s
– Primarily at Royal Dutch/Shell
– Used to successfully anticipate the
global oil crisis
• Has Evolved To Become An
Important Element Of Strategic
Planning
• Focused On:
– Understanding uncertainty
– Exploring potential futures
– Understanding a range of possible
outcomes

23. What Are
Scenarios?
Stories that can help us recognise
and adapt to changing aspects of our
present environment.
They form a method for articulating
the different pathways that might
exist for you tomorrow, and finding
your appropriate movements down
each of those possible paths.
-- Peter Schwartz
The Art of the Long View

24. Purpose Of
Scenario
Planning
• Explore Multiple Futures, Not Just
One
• Test Drivers & Implications Of
Uncertainty
• Promote Divergent Thinking
• Broaden Participation In Planning
• Test The Validity Of Chosen
Strategies
• Embed Recognition Of
Unpredictability In Plans

25. Principles Of
Scenario
Planning
• Recognition Of Uncertainty
• Existence Of Multiple Possible
Futures
• Exploration Of Possibilities
• Plausibility Of Future Scenarios
• Relevance Of Stories
• Present Challenging Viewpoints

26. Define the
problem
Identify
uncertainties
Define
scenarios
Develop
stories
Identify
implications
Define
strategies
Essential Steps In Scenario Planning

27. forces
shaping
PMOs

28. So What Are
We Dealing
With?
• There Are A Number Of Forces
Currently Shaping What PMOs
Are, And How They Are Seen:
– Relevance over one-size-fits-all
– Emphasis on process over results
– Role of delivery over advocacy
– Influence of demanding over enabling

29. Consistency
Over
Relevance
• Organization Emphasis On
Consistency
– Greater focus on consistency and
repeatability
– Parallels popularization of project
management maturity
– Issue of ensuring appropriate value from
practices:
• Payoff of value from investment in
practices
• Awareness of law of diminishing returns
• Individual Emphasis On Relevance
– Individual skills valued more than
organizational consistency
– Fundamental need to understand “What’s
in it for me?”
– Tendency for some to emphasize reactive
response to issues
– Resistance to process that appears
formal and cumbersome

30. Emphasis On
Process Over
Results
• Dominant Driver Of Process
– Focus on process to be followed
– Reinforcing emphasis on consistency
– Expectation of adherence and
compliance
– Accountability for completing
deliverables, templates and forms
• Dominant Driver Of Project Results
– Focus on project to be delivered
– Expectation of attainment of results
– Emphasis on project outcomes and
benefits
– Actions and decisions necessary to
do what is necessary to be successful

31. Role Of
Delivery Over
Advocacy
• PMO Role Of Getting Projects
Done
– Emphasis on driving and delivering
projects
– PMO as home of project managers
– Accountability for project results
– Centralized responsibility for delivery
• PMO Role Of Advocating Practices
– Emphasis on championing and
support project managers
– PMO as home of practices, support
and guidance
– Accountability for supporting projects
– Decentralized responsibility for actual
delivery

32. Influence Of
Demanding
Over Enabling
• Orientation Of PMO As Control
Organization
– Accountable for adherence to
expectations
– Demanding and requiring process
adherence and tool adoption
– Verification and audit role
– “PMO as project police”
• Orientation Of PMO As Enabling
Organization
– Accountable for support and
encouragement
– Facilitate and guide adoption and
adaptation of practices
– Support identification of what works
– “PMO as project management champion”

33. the
future
of PMOs

34. Critical
Uncertainties
Orientation
Emphasis
Results
Compliance
Flexibility
Control

35. Potential
Scenarios
Orientation
Emphasis
Results
Compliance
Flexibility
Control
Rigid
Enforcement
Robust
Management
Enlightened
Adoption
Strategic
Diversity

36. Rigid
Enforcement
• Emphasis On Control &
Compliance
• Focus Of Organizations At (Or
Targetting) Highest Levels Of
Maturity
• Belief In Value Of High Formality
And Consistency Of Practices
• Strong Compliance With Standards
• Minimal Allowance For Variation
(even in theoretically flexible/
responsive approaches)
• Routine And Rigorous Verification
And Audit Practices
• Full Bureaucratization Of The PMO
Results
Compliance
Flexibility
Control
Rigid
Enforcement
Robust
Management
Enlightened
Adoption
Strategic
Diversity

37. Robust
Management
• Emphasis On Control & Results
• Strong Adherence To Practices
Seen As Delivering Value
• Emphasis On Strategic Projects
(sometimes at the expense of
more operational/routine projects)
• Tight Control Of Project
Justification And Definition
• Centralization Of Delivery
Responsibility
• Project Manager As A
Specialist/Elite Role
• Project Management As A
Strategic Delivery Function
Results
Compliance
Flexibility
Control
Rigid
Enforcement
Robust
Management
Enlightened
Adoption
Strategic
Diversity

38. Enlightened
Adoption
• Commitment To A Process Focus
• Acknowledgement Of Importance Of
Intelligent Adaptation
• Recognition Of Need For Flexible And
Adaptive Approaches
• Accountability And Follow-up Of
Process Choices (And Results)
• More Decentralized Delivery
Responsibility
• Coordinated Guidance And Support
In Applying Process
• PMO Serving As A “Safety Net”
• Commitment To Organizational
Learning
• Broad Sharing Of Lessons Learned
• Expectation Of On-going
Improvement
Results
Compliance
Flexibility
Control
Rigid
Enforcement
Robust
Management
Enlightened
Adoption
Strategic
Diversity

39. Strategic
Diversity
• Commitment To The Delivery Of Results
• Least Emphasis On Process
• Greatest Emphasis On Personal
Accountability For Getting It Done
• Freedom To Choose—But Accountability
And Ownership For Those Choices
• Success Measured By The Results That
Are Delivered
• Willingness To Tolerate Educated, Well-
Chosen Risks
• Tolerance Of Mistakes—To A Point
• Expectation Of Learning, Growth,
Advancement & Embrace Of Challenge
• Unlikely To Suffer Fools Gladly
• PMO As Champion And Gateway
• Emphasis On Talent Management And
Strategic Guidance
Results
Compliance
Flexibility
Control
Rigid
Enforcement
Robust
Management
Enlightened
Adoption
Strategic
Diversity

40. Interpreting
The Scenarios
• All Represent Plausible Paths
Forward
• Each Has Comparative
Advantages & Disadvantages
• Each Is Associated With Critical
Uncertainty
• Anticipating Future Direction Will
Require Monitoring Shifts That
Suggest One Future Over Another
• Optimal Approach Is To Prepare
For Success In All Futures

41. What Can
Drive The
Scenarios?
Orientation
Emphasis
Results
Compliance
Flexibility
Control
Rigid
Enforcement
Robust
Management
Enlightened
Adoption
Strategic
Diversity
-Fear
-Accountability
-Failures
attributable to
lack of oversight
-Significant
failures
-Slow economies
-Resource
scarcity
-Optimism
-Trust
-Risk tolerance
-Abundance
mentality
-Results
orientation
-Commitment to
deliver
-Ambition
-Drive

42. conclusions
and
takeaways

43. Conclusions &
Takeaways
• No Future Is Guaranteed
• PMOs As A Concept Are Unlikely To Go
Anywhere
– Individual PMOs will come and go
– Broader trends will be shaped by market and
competitive forces
– We choose how much standards will make a
difference
• Many Futures Are Possible
– Some are more likely than others
– They are most likely to happen in some
combination
• Some Futures May Seem More Preferable
– Preference is a product of personal bias
– We don’t get to chose the future we live in
• Change Will Happen
– Evolution is inevitable
– Success is most likely to those who go into the
future with their eyes wide open

44. Mark Mullaly
President & Chief Organizational Therapist
Interthink Consulting Incorporated
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
@markmullaly
Future
The
of
PMOs

45. Presenter: Mark Mullaly
Title: The Future of PMOs
Date: Thursday, 22 March 2018
PMXPO 2018