Our Project Management Implementation

We believe it is important to consider all surrounding resistances and to try to address their concerns in ways that are more productive. Some of the concerns that we hear from our clients are:

• Do we need this change? What is the importance of doing this?
• Does this affect our current practice?
• How complex is the change?
• What is the impact on our job position, job role, and what is the impact in terms of simplicity vs complexity?
• How much effort is required to implement this new change?
• Does this jeopardize my job? Is there any threat of losing my job?
• We have more important things to do. Why can’t we do our projects the old way?

It is more about the principle of change. We recognize that as a key requirement to what an organization needs to address and a key focus of our efforts when helping our clients with their PMOs.

We work with all of the members of the project team members, the management team, and all of those who are part of the change. It is important at this stage to establish a common positive view of the PMO and of the objectives that we are all working to achieve. This enables the staff to contribute more effectively, sharing their opinions and perspectives on how to make improvements, and, of course, becoming part of setting up the PMO.

Clients need solutions that work for them and not against them. These needs are:

1. A proven structure of project management processes and procedures for managing projects, not a collection of processes and procedures that are not applicable to your business-related industry.

2. A way to communicate easily and a tool that enables sharing, collaborating, and communicating that is available to all involved in the project, anytime and anywhere, as per the set of authority levels.

3. A project management application that allows project planning, scheduling, resource optimization, cost budgeting, prioritization, and the best utilization of overall project resources.

In order to setup PMO we need to first develop a clear plan to get the overall business solution formulated and executed in a stage-by-stage format in 5 stages, each with its own final objectives:

• Stage 1: Exploration and organization culture smoothing stage
• Stage 2: Planning and solution design stage
• Stage 3: Implementing and delivering the key elements of the PMO
• Stage 4: Finalizing the PMO setup, testing, verifying, and rolling out
• Stage 5: Post implementation review

Stage 1—Exploration and Organization Culture Smoothing Stage

In the first stage we work diligently to determine all related parties and meet with them individually and in group brainstorming sessions to develop ideas and approaches toward culture change. Additionally, we discuss all details needed for the deployment of the new project management methodologies (PMM). We define the structure of the team as well as individuals required and resources needed to establish a centralized PMO at this level. A starting point is often to have a center of excellence, which is tailored to the needs for establishing a centralized resource of project management specialists.

Stage 2—Planning and Solution Design Stage

At this stage we formulate a workable plan that addresses the scope of work and required tasks to be completed for all related areas, including physical location, human resources, processes and procedures, systems and tools, and training required as well as defining the guidelines and policies to govern the overall work. These efforts and tasks are performed in a coordinated effort with the entire team and reviewed by management to establish an accurate baseline for the PMO setup that includes costs, time frames, and possible issues, for example, risks and dependencies.

Stage 3—Implementing and Delivering the Key Elements of the PMO

The plan is implemented at this stage. Knowing that budget is always tight and time is always constrained, we focus on delivering as quickly as possible the most important components of the plan as well as the components of the plan that deliver value. These supercede the work on less important components and those that do not deliver as much value. We ensure the key members of the team get the training they require. We plan for all members of the PMO to come on board as early as possible by providing them with required tools and training. At this stage it is important to meet the needs of the executive management team, which is often at a higher level than the PMO staff and other mid-management.

Stage 4—Finalizing the PMO Setup, Testing, Verification, and Rollout

Finalization of the overall PMO setup is completed at this stage. We work on concluding the remaining elements of the implementation, final testing, verification, review, validation, completion of training, documentation, and final acceptance of and satisfaction with the PMO.

All of the PMO setup work that has been planned is completed, reviewed, and approved. The planned staffing is put in place and roles, job descriptions, and other organizational matters are completed. The project management system is deployed. This includes all PPM elements such as project prioritization, project selection, policy development, project planning, project scheduling, status reporting, and the use and updating of the project management information system (PMIS). The final delivery of the PMO is secured and smoothly transitioned so that every member in the office is aware of his/her roles and responsibilities, including project management, planning and scheduling, cost control, document control, quality control, risk monitoring and control, and overall project communications.

Stage 5—Post Implementation Review

Once the PMO has been put in place and the organization deployed, there is an essential need to review all of the deliverables and assess all of the results after the deployment is completed. At the third and sixth month mark, we conduct an after-project implementation review exercise. The tools used for this stage are measurement tools needed to measure the status before and after implementation. We use a questionnaire to gather data in a format that facilitates analysis. The data gathered is compared to measure how well the PMO has performed as compared to both the plan for the PMO and the performance level of the organization prior to the set up of the PMO.