Back in the summer of 2019 I received an invitation from Americo Pinto, Chair of the PMO Global Alliance, to attend a one-off session he would be running in central London after the annual awards ceremony. It was pitched as an opportunity to provide feedback on the PMO Value Ring (PMO-CP) certification, and included the option to take…
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This week’s webinar with PMO Flashmob was an opportunity to share some ideas with PMO professionals around how to engage senior stakeholders more with the insights they are providing. Many were surprised when one of the polls during the session indicated that the most popular way of sharing information is via Microsoft PowerPoint. I must…
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A PPM tool is software designed to be an enterprise-wide, strategic solution which facilitates more effective project portfolio management. It’s a multi-million turnover industry, full of hundreds of options ranging from free and instantly accessible to costing thousands and taking months to configure and implement. Gartner’s Magic Quadrant is regarded as the go-to source of information…
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In a previous post, I cautioned against starting your PPM tool journey by contacting vendors and looking at the various tools on offer; that it’s the equivalent of deciding on a solution before you’ve fully understood what the problem is that you’re trying to solve. 6 questions to consider first… 1. What are the business problems…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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How do you develop a project management methodology that isn’t too heavy or too light, that respects the experience of project managers, and that is accessible? Here’s how I approached it…
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