From PMO to OPM (Building and Sustaining the Organizational Project Management System) Many organizations have invested into project management training, yet projects still fails, or provide less than optimal solutions. Other organizations have implemented project management offices (PMO), yet some of these PMO are failing, or not delivering the essential benefits, or not living up to executives' performance expectations. In other words, there are gaps. The gaps are in term of knowledge, expertise, practice, and perhaps are due to not implementing the right solution. What is the solution? Is project management training enough? Is investing in certification training (such PMP, PRINCE2, or other certifications) enough? Are the certified individuals able to deliver benefits and improve organizational performance? To achieve the strategic benefits of project management, it is CRUCIAL to close the gap between knowledge and practice, gaps that cannot be filled by training or certification only. Organizations must recognize the need to invest into their organizational project management as a system. A system approach will lead to implementing the governance, policies, processes, framework, and project management methodology for managing projects successfully.

1. www.sukad.com | info@sukad.com | Offices in Lebanon and United Arab Emirates
Organizational Project Management

2. SUKAD OPM System workshop
Organizational Project Management | The SUKAD Way™ 2
http://learning.sukad.com/courses/organizational-project-management

3. Workshop ultimate objective
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4. Setting the scene
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5. “We know why projects fail; we know
how to prevent their failure—so why
do they still fail?”
Cobb’s Paradox, Martin Cobb of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, 1995
Projects’ failure
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6. 1.What do you think are the
reasons for projects failures; try
to identify the root causes)?
2.Can you group these reasons
into a few categories?
Why projects fail?
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7. Current state of practice
PMO Research
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PMI® The multi-project PMO survey by Dr Brian Hobbs PhD, University of Quebec, 2007

8. No consensus on value of PMO
Perceptions of high/low value are based on different characteristics
Most PMO are stand-alone
PMO are short-lived
Mandate covers either most, or few projects
PMO houses few, or all project managers
Dr. Brian Hobbs Survey – 1
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9. Dr. Brian Hobbs Survey – 2
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Most PM have small staff; apart from project managers
PMO authority is mostly shared
Important functions are determined by the needs of the specific
organizational context
Location of PMO has an impact on mandate
PMO performance depends on authority and organization's culture
and PM maturity

10. 1.What do you think are the
reasons for PMO failures,
challenges, or short lives?
2.Can you group these reasons
into a couple of categories?
Why PMO fail or short lived?
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11. Current state of practice
Strategic aspects
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12. Enabling organizational change
Nearly half of strategic initiative fail
Successful organizations lead change through
program/project management
Enabling sustainable change require
• Standardized project and program management
practices
• Engaged sponsors who actively rally senior
management
• Managing people through change
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PMI Publication

13. Why good strategies fail - 1
Senior executives recognize the importance of
strategy implementation, but a majority admit
their companies fall short (61%)
Companies that poorly align with strategy also
report weaker financial results
“Implementation is more important than
strategy formulation” … Prof. L. Hrebiniak
Emergent strategy might be more important
than deliberative approach
PMI Publication
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14. Why good strategies fail - 2
“Are we doing what we said we should be
doing” … Jeff Austin - DuPont
Strategy is often fire-and-forget activity for the
C-Suite
Back to implementation
• Only 17% of study respondents say that in their
companies implementation is seen as strategic
• 56% considered implementation as operational task
PMI Publication
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15. Strategic initiative management
In the current business environment
• Ability to develop and implement new strategic
initiatives & change is becoming key differentiator
• Role of the PMO must become more strategic and
it must develop its capabilities accordingly
Four imperatives(Boston Consulting Group)
• Focus on critical initiatives
• Institute smart and simple processes
• Foster talent and capabilities
• Encourage a culture of change
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PMI Publication

16. PMI’s thought leadership series
Numerous publications with top ‘agencies’
• Forrester, Boston Consulting Group, Economist
Key findings and recommendations
• Project and program management critical for business
success and strategy implementation
• Must focus on standardized systems; simple processes
and tailored to ‘a given context’
• Must build the capabilities (talent management)
• Embrace change and effective communication
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PMI Publication

17. Organizational Project
Management Maturity
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18. Introduction to OPM?
What is OPM?
What does it include?
How is OPM related to, or
different from a PMO?
How is OPM related to project
management methodology?
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19. Why OPM maturity
Maturity is linked to performance
• Higher level of maturity  better projects’
performance
Maturity is linked to standardized approach
• Simple and tailored processes
OPM is to build and sustain the approach
Higher maturity is indicator of continual
improvement
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20. Project management maturity
Awareness
Excelling
Improving
Applying
Learning
Performance Improvement
CostSpentonProjectManagement
1
2
3
4
5
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21. The Center for Business Practices
Think PMO Maturity = Project Management Maturity
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22. Gaps in PMO implementation
“Role of PMO must become more strategic and
must develop its capabilities accordingly”
PMO are often
• Not effective or not delivering optimal solutions,
• Not able to become the organization’s PM department
Still too much focus
• On reporting or support; not leading or directing
• Often not building the necessary OPM system
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23. The PMO continuum
The sequence could change from
one organization to another
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24. What is the solution?
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1.What do you think, do we need a
PMO or OPM?
2.Should/could the OPM System be
part of the PMO mandate or
independent?
3.What should be the components
and elements of an OPM System?

25. OPM (Per PMI)
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26. New PMI Publications – 2014
Implementing
Organizational Project
Management
A Practice Guide
Copyrights to PMI, the Project Management Institute, Inc.
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27. From the guide
“More organizations are starting to recognize
that project management means more than
having good project managers”
Translation:
• Training and certifications are not enough
• Focus on individual development is not enough
What is missing?
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28. From the guide
“Project management, in terms of simply
focusing on scope, time, and budget, is not
sufficient for managing the scale and rate of
change that is norm in most organizations”
Translation
• Learning how to manage a single project; i.e.
individual qualifications are not enough
What is missing?
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29. Continuing with the guide
Research indicates that many organizations
have difficulty sustaining the value of any
implementation
OPM implementation is often long-term
endeavor
Long-term view helps to gain leadership
confidence and stakeholder buy-in
This support SUKAD extended approach
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30. The SUKAD 7Es™
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31. The origin of the concept
The Engines of
Project
Management
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32. Processes
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33. The Core –
Fundamental
Elements
The
Differentiating
Elements
The
Differentiating
Elements
The Strategic
Element
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34. The vital points to note
The strategic aspect is critical for any OPM or
organizational system
The fundamental elements are a must for any
organization wanting to manage projects
• They provide the core elements and processes
However, to elevate performance we need the
differentiating elements
Each element have numerous components
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35. OPM System
‘The Initiative’
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36. 1.How would you implement the
OPM System?
2.What would be the approach,
content, other information?
OPM System Exercise
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37. Initial decisions
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38. Internal effort or consultant?
Best to do it slowly with internal resources; if
the expertise is in place
Jointly with an external advisory services;
most development by internal resources with
external resources as advisors
Use consultants for development in
coordination with internal resources
Totally external; outsource
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39. Project or program approach?
Project approach will result in Big Bang effect
• Which might not be the best approach for an
organizational change initiative
A program approach will result in multiple
projects and multiple roll out
• Eliminating big bang and enhancing acceptance
• The program approach is the more agile!
• This approach could be accelerated or delivered
over an extended period of time
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40. Accelerated/extended approach
This is for a program approach
An accelerated approach results in projects
being done in sequence with no breaks
between them
The extended approach results in
• Giving each projects output 1 to 3 months for pilot
implementation
• Before we roll out the next set of components.
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41. Program approach
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42. Decisions and path forward
Once a decision is made one can decide on
how to proceed:
• If a project then, finalize all requirements and
establish the project management plan
• If a program,
Need to identify the high level program requirements
and program management plan
The detailed plans will be with the individual projects
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43. The initiative as a program
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44. A program is a series of projects
Implementing OPM System Program
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45. Vision and expectations
Explore for expectations
• Difficult due to their implicit nature
Need to understand the organization vision
• What is the strategic direction?
• What do they want to achieve?
• Are their objectives and goals short, mid or long
term?
• Are they willing to make the difficult decisions?
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46. Investigating current status
For new organization, or one without any
formal system in place, must start from
scratch
For organizations with something in place; will
need to assess the current status
In general organizations have practices, which
might not be documented
• So maybe a first step is to document the ongoing
practices and processes
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47. Gaps and recommendations
With the first two steps done, the team would
be able to analyze the situation, and Identify
the gaps
Next, list the recommendations
Once management and team agree on the
scope (recommendations), time to agree on
the approach
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48. Establish benchmark
It is important in any organizational change
initiative, to establish the benchmark; past
and current projects’ performance
Define the various metrics to
• Measure current performance,
• Which the team can revisit in the future, and
• Measure improvement and success
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49. Program management plan
Decide on number of projects and their high
level breakdown
Define the required expertise and estimate
number of resources / effort required
Develop RAM for the various organizations
Establish the timeline - budget - quality
Program risk management
Program MarCom is vital for success
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50. Components & standardization
It is likely to have multiple people involved in
OPM System implementation
Standardize the components
• Decide on the content of each component
package
• Design the outline and structure for each
component package
• Define style and format for all items
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51. SUKAD Business Divisions
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http://learning.sukad.com
http://solutions.sukad.com
http://technology.sukad.com
http://multimedia.sukad.com

52. SUKAD Knowledge Sharing Sites
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http://sukadway.sukad.com
http://knowledge.sukad.com
http://blog.sukad.com
http://blog-ar.sukad.com

53. Organizational Project Management | The SUKAD Way™ 53

54. SUKAD OPM System workshop
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http://learning.sukad.com/courses/organizational-project-management

55. Thank you!
55Organizational Project Management | The SUKAD Way™