1. Lessons learned - The document emphasizes establishing an "action bias" to ensure the organization learns from past projects and applies those lessons. 2. Dependency management - The document states dependencies should be considered as attributes of milestones to effectively manage risks in the portfolio. Close relationships with project managers are also important. 3. Portfolio evaluation - The document suggests mapping delivery risk as a function of complexity across all projects to identify risk areas and potential mitigating factors.

1. APM – North West Branch
Lain Burgos-Lovece –11th February 2013

2. ZEN AND THE ART OF
PMO OPTIMISATION

3. Opening
theme and expectations

4. A chat about PMO, to:
share veteran tips from the
trenches, about how to optimise
PMO in the face of the usual
obstacles, through
optimising and
relating three key techniques to each other
multiplying their power for little
extra effort

5. Psychodynamic view of stakeholders

6. Getting Things Done
“It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.”
Harry Truman – 33rd President of the USA
That quote is all over the web with varying attribution. It is very hard to be sure
when or where Harry S Truman might have said it, but it is most likely a
rephrasing of the older quotation:
"The way to get things done is not to mind who gets the credit.“
Benjamin Jowett, 1817-1893 English Clergyman, Educator & Classicist
Quoted in John Gross, The Oxford Book of Aphorisms

7. Some questions
 How can a PMO help to raise project management
maturity without paying for more training or tools?
 How does a PMO extract the most value from their
existing catalogue of services?
 What is both the true mission of a PMO and (from
another angle) the original purpose of project
management

8. Defining a PMO

9. Defining PMO
Why is it so hard?
• Because it is a ghost
made flesh, partially.
• Sometimes you end
up with a zombie...
Does that matter?
• A little...

10. A Mission
N
O
To enable the successful
TI
O
U
A
TC
M Values delivery of the Portfolio /
R
O
O
M
SF
Programme / Project plan
ES
N
A
TR
by working with our
D Pup
lts
ec ric p
uc
ro
S
project colleagues to
is e ort
od
nt
io
Po
Cr
n
ensure that well-informed
Governance of and appropriate
Projects
governance decisions are
K rona
t on
no mg
Pa
made at the right time by
M
or ti t
ppib ec
w ot m
u
Sust roj
le io e
the right people.
dg n nt
r
DP
e
e
i
IS R
ST
M E
O OM
R
E
A
TE
PR ST
Behaviours
G
U
C
Y

11. (not) Defining a PMO
The organisation’s spirit So, what can you do?
 If a PMO didn‟t exist, the  Establish how the
organisation would still insights we will discuss
govern its are probably applicable
investments, however to your kind of PMO
inefficiently  Aim to increase the
 Defining a PMOs satisfaction of PMO
boundaries is pure office practitioners and PMO
politics stakeholders with
 Things are what they respect to governance
are

12. Mark Perry
Slides from his workshop – a session on PMO Organsation

13.  PMO survey findings
 In a survey of 25 PMOs, the following four questions were
asked to determine the focus and perceived value of the
PMO:
 Does your PMO have measurable business objectives in place?
 Yes or No
 What is the top area of focus of the PMO?
 Open ended
 Examples include: people, process, tools, training, EPM, PPM, etc.
 What is the PMO self assessment of PMO performance?
 A, B, C, D, F
 What is the CIO grade of PMO performance?
 A, B, C, D, F

14.  Actual PMO survey results
 25PMOs
 Most popular response (Mode)
Survey Question Response
Measurable Objectives (y/n) No
Top are of focus Methodology
PMO self assessment (A-F) B
CIO grade (A-F) B-

15.  Actual PMO survey results
Business Driven PMOs Theory Driven PMOs
8 out of 25 17 out of 25
Survey Question Response Survey Question Response
Measurable Objectives Yes (7) Measurable Objectives No (16)
Top are of focus Speed Top are of focus Methodology
PMO self assessment (A-F) C+ PMO self assessment (A-F) A-
CIO grade (A-F) A- CIO grade (A-F) C-

16.  Conclusions drawn from PMO survey
 Business driven PMOs are “Constituent Oriented”
 Focused on needs of the business
 The purpose (mission) of the PMO is understood
 PMO objectives are in place
 The value of the PMO is measurable
 Theory driven PMOs are “Inwardly Focused”
 Focused on PM community approaches
 The purpose (mission) of the PMO is not understood
 PMO objectives are not in place
 The value of the PMO is not measurable

17. Three techniques

18. PMO Optimisation
 In order to demonstrate how to add value we will take
three PMO techniques/disciplines that can be found in
an average catalogue of services in an established
PMO.
 We could take others, but this session will explore
 dependency management,
 lessons learned and
 portfolio evaluation.
 We will discuss briefly what they are in essence, and
then we will focus on one hard-won insight for each.

19. Three techniques – at random
?

20. The Offshore Ground

21. Lessons Learned

22. Lessons Learned – the journey
Now Later

23. Categorising for Action
Keep Improve Start Stop
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
35
Seek themes in the data 30
Information
25
Technology
Seek patterns in the themes
# of lessons
20 Organisation
15 Process
Present the information so that
10
it generates debate
5
0
Keep Improve Start Stop

24. The journey to “learned”
Collect themes across projects and
programmes and make a case for the
Lesson to benefits of acting on lessons
be learned
(themes)
It is the
Source Priority
organisation
that learns,
not
the project Action
Recommended
bias
Action Find the
areas that
should learn
Categorise as and teach
required, e.g., POTI and them
Function

25. Insight
 A few things that are absolutely key to actually
learning lessons from the governance of projects:
1. The first one is that lessons need to be learned. It is not
enough to record them, and tick the box.
2. The second thing is that it must be clear to you as PMO
who does the learning – it is the organisation that
learns (or not).
3. The third, and arguably, most important point for the
PMO is developing an action bias. It will be a hard
journey to find the organisational functions that can get
better at commissioning and supporting projects. But
you can do it...

26. Dependency management

27. Dependency Management – the journey
Now Later

28. Portfolio level dependencies
 Dependencies only arise because we have different
PMs driving projects and programmes with different
business cases and constraints.
 The challenge exists because meeting someone
else's drivers may harm your own.
 Therefore dependency management is really a very
people focused process.
 PMO can add value in direct proportion to the
complexity of the dependencies in the organisation.

29. Dependency map
A graphical way to
convey where the risk
resides in the Portfolio.
The log in the PMO
would contain the detail
and the rankings.
This fragment is from a
real example of mine that
led to a management
restructure.
Formula:
In - Out = instability level
12 incoming arrowheads

30. A Dependency Management Blueprint
Dependency Management – Blueprint
Assumptions
ü The Transformation Plan has ü A dependency is a relationship 2 FTE v PM delivery experience Capabilities v Pinpoint sources of risk due to
clear levels of escalation, driven between Outcome Deliverables,
(Distributed among v Professional PMO dependencies
by the level at which action and it affects the risk rating of at experience
4 TMO Colleagues, v Ensure that the right people are acting
needs to be taken least one of them
to spread the risk & v Process improvement v v on emerging risk
ü There is a tiered Change ü There are defined types of TMO Team experience
to have complementary Responsibilities v Contribute to the increase in the level of
Control process aligned to dependencies, which may need Risk Analysis Decision Support v Balanced mix of analytical
skills in each person ) maturity of the PM community in CFS
governance forums to be managed differently (e.g., and relationship skills
Dependency Managers v
v
ü The Plan has Outcome transitive, cyclic, arising from v
v
Deliverables, which are clearly constraints or strategies, etc.)
scoped sets of deliverables; they ü The severity of a dependency is
have attributes such as defined driven by the level of escalation
benefits, costs, deadlines, risks required, which is linked to the
and often dependencies rules for escalation
New Project Project Strategic
Requests Updates Updates
Input / Output
ü Plan data relating to Outcome ü Analysis set 1: Ranking of
Deliverables, centrally available dependent Outcome Deliverables
ü Governance data relating to the by stability (ratio of „give‟ to „get‟)
Transformation Plan
control of the Outcome and by escalation required
Deliverables affected by ü Analysis set 2: Status of Relationships with Projects Informative, Complete &
dependencies, at the point of dependencies – open vs. signed- Project Kick Off Change
ownership of each Outcome off, percentage completion, rate Informed Analysis and Inc initial dependency Control Meaningful Data Set
Deliverable of delivery, actions persistently identification exercise
ü Dependency Agreements (signed delayed Challenge Stakeholder Driven MI
ü Dependency
by involved parties) that define
each dependency, and that
MI set 1: cumulative line graph
showing progress on the
Transformation Plan Driven Analysis Accurate and Assured
Risk / Issue
assign a weight to it that reflects resolution of dependencies and Mgt
the escalation level required to trend forecast “Live” Projects
resolve it. ü MI set 2: Dependency view of the Draft Dependencies
ü Dependency Log, centrally Transformation Plan, showing Agreed Dependencies
maintained, with status and RAG rated Outcome Deliverables
progress information and key dependency links
Dependency MI
Governance
Context of benefits
Transformation Plan level Shaping / Phasing
Change Control
Transformation Plan
Intermediate level If required by span of control stretch Status of Critical Path
Project 1
Project 2
Dependencies
Fixed parameters
Deliverables A B C X Y
Project Plan level Trade offs
Change Control
Identify / Analyse
TMO Analysis
Interfaces B X
Transformation Status of Non-Critical
Attributes
Requirement (Why & When)
Attributes
Description Benefits
Plan Risk Management Timescale Risk Impact
Path Dependencies
Confidence Type
Confidence
§ Issues Etc.. Time
Etc..
§ Assumptions
§ Constraints
§ etc. Change Dependency
Control Management Track / Report
Agree Type
Dependency Provider - Receiver Provider RAG
Provider Confidence
Dependency Detail (Requirements Matched to Description)
Management TP Critical Path (Y/N) Provider Date
Supplier Date
Dates
Etc.. Etc….
Dependency Log
Project Plans
Database (expandable)
§ Highlight hotspots Tools Query front end
Standard reports Organisational Operational
§ Trigger changes Reach Change & Risk
§ Analyse plan (not just schedule) as appropriate Full CFS Portfolio
Manual Organisational
data Projects
MS Office Reach
§ Research through relationships
§ Draft & manage Dependency
Agreements
Increasing level of PM maturity

31. Dependency Management - Reloaded
 Dependencies are about managing the inherent risk
in a Portfolio
 Enable their active management, to help shape the
Portfolio by providing very relevant decision support
information
 If you use Portfolio Evaluation, you could measure
the difference that actions on Dependencies make
 The lessons learned from acting on Dependencies
should be captured at the time and then acted upon

32. Insight
 A few things that are absolutely key to managing
dependencies effectively:
1. The first one is that a dependency should be considered
as an attribute of a milestone. Beyond the identification
of a dependency it is not useful to treat them as
separate entities.
2. The second thing is that dependencies are all to do with
escalation. To resolve a dependency conflict you have
to align clearly to the governance structure, and use it.
3. The third, and arguably, most important point for the
PMO is maintaining close working relationships with
project managers – forget about tools, processes etc –
this is all about building and maintaining trust with the
project managers

33. Portfolio Evaluation

34. Portfolio Evaluation – the journey
Now Later

35. Grappling with Complexity
Project Scorecard Worksheet
Impact Score W* Difficulty Score W*
Total Expenditures #N/A 1.0 Schedule Risk #N/A 1.0
Dependency on #N/A
Impact on Business #N/A 1.0 Dependency to #N/A
Team / business wide #N/A Impact if over-run #N/A
Customer impact #N/A Length of project #N/A
Resource availbility #N/A
Legal Exposure #N/A 1.0
Budget Risk #N/A 1.0
Confidence in costs #N/A
Confidence in benefits #N/A
Complexity Risk #N/A 1.0
Team size #N/A
3rd party involvement #N/A
Stakeholder level #N/A
Innovation Risk #N/A 1.0
Impact total = #N/A Difficulty total = #N/A
#N/A
Taking a step back, gather data for all your projects to map delivery risk as a
function of complexity. Once you have this measure, you can map it against any
variable that you wish to try as a mitigating factor (or control) against complexity

36. A means to an end...
Although evaluating projects may have some value, don‟t get
bogged down in details – PMO is about the whole organisation

37. Mapping a Portfolio – visual analysis
Bubble Size =
Value in £m
Delivery Risk
Project ID
Map delivery risk against whatever variables are of interest to you at the time:
PM experience, Value of benefits, Usage of a particular type of resource, etc.

38. Cyborg’s delight

39. Insight
 A few things that are absolutely key to managing
portfolio evaluations effectively:
1. The first one is that it is an art more than a
science, because your project environment is
unique. You will need expert help (or some creative
group sessions) to choose what factors are relevant to
you, and how to determine the range of values to use.
2. The second thing is that the evaluation must be tested
against reality after projects finish. Tie this closely to the
lessons learned process, to improve forecast accuracy.
3. The third, and arguably, most important point for the
PMO is to be aware that, sadly, your greatest
challenge will be people trying to game your criteria for
short term advantage. Start out harmless...

40. Decision Time

41. PMO Optimisation
 We can multiply the power of various PMO techniques for
little extra effort.
 How?
 through relating them to one another
 this is the power of frameworks

42. Frameworks

43. Joining up
Synergy the working together of two things
to produce a result greater than the sum of
their individual effects.

44. Advantage from synergy
Portfolio
I need to Evaluation
identify the
touch-points
Dependency
Management
I need to speed up
the cycle from
Lessons Learned
information to
action

45. Yes, but how?
 Identify some quick wins: techniques you are good at
 Change their outputs so that they feed each other
 Use the same people you have
 Swap pointless work for productive work on the quiet
 Productive = governance related with a bias for action
 Pick a good customer
 Get them to fire up their stakeholder peers with their
story of PMO benefits
 What is at the core of these techniques (and others, in
fact) – what is the master discipline they share?

46. Aftermath
First Mate Owen Chase and Cabin Boy Thomas Nickerson

47. THE HEART OF
PMO
• What is at the core of
the techniques we have
discussed (and of many
others)?
• Risk Management.
• It‟s an orientation, a
culture, a discipline that
underpins what we do.
• Let‟s discuss it in detail
another time...

48. Three Techniques – joined up
Risk
Mgmt.

50. Conclusion & Motivation

51. Those questions...
Recap... Worth trying...
 How can a PMO help to  By embedding lessons
raise project management learned into existing
maturity without paying for organisational processes
more training or tools? and in the lifecycle and
standards for projects
 How does a PMO extract the  By understanding how each
most value from their service contributes to
existing catalogue of governance, and which
services?
aspects of the service
contribute the most
 What is both the true mission
of a PMO and (from another  To reduce uncertainty. This
angle) the original purpose of is also the essence of risk
project management management.

52. Reduce uncertainty!
The PMO mission in two words.

53. What is the best PMO film ever?

54. Gene Kranz
'Tough' and
'Competent.'
Tough means we are forever
accountable for what we do or
what we fail to do. We will
never again compromise our
responsibilities.
Competent means we will
never take anything for
granted. We will never be found
short in our knowledge and in
our skills.

55. Thank You!
www.serissa.co.uk

56. Hammerfool