Buses, trains and schedule optimisation
High risk rapid delivery or lower risk slower delivery – which would you go for?
View details Articles
You are here:
PMOs perfectly positioned to help make project products persistent
How PMOs can smooth the path of projects, to help make changes more “sticky” A while back I attended a PMO FlashMob discussion facilitated by Ranjit Sidhu of ChangeQuest and hosted as usual by Lindsay Scott. This session was on how PMO professionals can help projects to deliver organisational change more effectively. There were several interesting take-away messages, of which I found the…
View details
Project Planning Pointers
Like a piece of machinery, plans need a good design, room to breathe, and good maintenance… I attended an APM presentation on the role of the dedicated Project Planner, part of a series given by Andrew Jones, who at the time worked with Athena Project Services. His presentation contained several key points that resonated with me and…
View details
Strategies for social CPD – Creating a PM community
How learning groups spontaneously form and disperse… A while back I attended an APM focus group facilitated by Dr Michael Moynagh of CPD Futures Ltd on developing strategies to improve the way that project and PMO professionals approach continuing professional development (CPD). One of the topics that came up was that established approaches to CPD (including the approach promoted…
View details
How to write a ‘Good’ lesson learned?
I was recently asked how to write a ‘good’ Lesson Learned. Many ‘lessons learned’ are merely observations, with no suggestion on how to do things differently. Two or three actionable recommendations are more useful than 20 observations without any suggestions. So this post is about how to write up a Lesson Learned so that it is engaging and…
View details
Adding Value
What does it REALLY mean & how can the PMO achieve it? The truth is, it’s not up to the PMO to determine whether it is adding value or not – that decision is made by its customers. Also, the perceived value added will be different depending on the operational context of that PMO i.e. what…
View details
Business Analysis – a skillset for the Strategic PMO?
I’ve often thought that business analysis comes in very useful for a PMO. It is accepted wisdom that a good PMO professional will have a background in project management, as this gives them credibility to coach and mentor project managers plus real-world experience of applying the recommended tools and techniques required to deliver a project…
View detailsA Project Prayer
One programme team I worked with had a daily stand-up meeting that acquired the nickname of “morning prayers”. It got me wondering – given the opportunity, what should a project or programme team pray for? Here’s what I came up with…
View details
What has the PMO ever done for us?
With all due acknowledgement (and apologies) to Monty Python’s Flying Circus, whose film The Life of Brian inspired this post. THE INTERIOR OF A DIRTY CITY PUB. A SHADY BACK ROOM WITH A CONSPIRATORIAL ATMOSPHERE. We join a meeting of the Project Managers’ Revolutionary Front, where Brother Reg (the chairman of the meeting) is proposing a motion to…
View details
Spontaneous teamwork – the best kind?
I recently saw a great example of spontaneous teamwork. I was making my way up one of those very long escalators you find in London tube stations. Some way above me and ahead of me, a woman took off her hat and put her hand on the moving hand rail, but without realising it let…
View details