Build a better PMO by Crashing the Net

In hockey, the 2nd forward into the attacking zone often scores the most goals. While the first forward may unleash the massive shot, it more often than not bounces off the goalie's pads. It is up to the 2nd forward, now in the crease, to finesse the puck up and over (or through) the goalie.

When I help my clients develop their PMO organizations, it is pretty much the same way. I usually participate in the second attempt to implement a PMO. That's because a lot of organizations build a PMO backwards the first time round. They violate one or both of the two fundamental flows of a PMO.

The first flow is that organizational capability is developed from people, to process, to tools. Break that order and your PMO will fail ... guaranteed. Many first-time PMO-builders set about procuring enterprise-wide project management tools as soon as they take the ice. You've heard the expression that the solution isn't in the software box? This is a mistake I have seen companies make to the tune of more than $10M, only to be abandoned every single time. It's like buying a $300 one-piece stick when you don't know how to handle the puck. What's the point? You could yank a branch off a tree and have the same impact.

The second flow is that project data moves from the bottom of the organization to the top, not the other way round! So many PMO-builders try to build a dashboard to manage their portfolio first. They blink and sparkle like a hockey scoreboard, but it's really just a hood ornament. The data driving the display is poorly synthesized because the project teams and managers have not yet developed a common understanding or approach for managing projects. Collating metrics this way is a misleading adventure at best. At worst, it'll open a huge riff right through the middle of the organization. I could tell you stories ...

When I work with organizations to develop their PMOs, I probe senior managers to understand what kinds of decisions they need to make concerning their portfolio. After that, I head straight for the project managers to help them get what they need to manage their projects better. That may involve developing a better understanding of how to manage, or coaching them to increase skills. Projects managers that have confidence in their abilities to run complex initiatives can feed the data engine of a dashboard quite naturally.

PMO development follows underlying fundamentals. And like hockey, if you want to put the biscuit in the basket, you're going to have to go with the flow.