The Virtual PMO This paper cvers the fllwing tpics: Why Virtual PMO? Hw des the P3Partnership VPMO service wrk? Why d yu need a PMO? The Prject Management Framewrk fr success? What are the prblems starting a PMO? Why Virtual? The term Virtual enables us t deliver a full PMO service t ur clients withut putting full time resurce n-site whilst prviding the fllwing benefits t ur clients: It is a part-time cnsultancy where yu can call-ff against ur services as and when yu need it It delivers specialised PMO expertise n a cst effective, part time basis It takes an evlutinary and iterative apprach t prviding a Cntinuus Prcess Imprvement change prgramme fr Prject Management using the PMO as the fundatin and cmmunicatin service It des nt take a lt f cash t establish and it desn t try t slve all the prblems at nce. Just the nes that keep yu awake at night It can be deplyed fr just ne prject, multiple prjects r a prgramme f prjects in any gegraphical lcatin It can be used t help yu start and then evlve yur Prject Management and Prject Management Gvernance capability. The P3P Virtual PMO service is nt a full time verhead resurce cst but a part-time cnsultancy cst helping yu gain the benefits that a full-time PMO wuld deliver. The Virtual PMO Service This service ffering allws yu t partner with a prfessinal Prject Management team and begin t btain all the benefits f a PMO service whilst keeping yur csts lw. It is nt a Big Bang, Takever-the-Wrld apprach. It is start small. Fcus n and slve the immediate prblems. Prvide accurate and subjective reprting n prject prgress and risk. Grw the PMO capability by adding additinal infrmatin. Frmalise the PMO setup within a Framewrk. Measure the business benefits. Enable the service t be taken in-huse whenever required. Our service is backed and supprted by ur wn P3 Prtfli Tlkit that ur cnsultants use acrss the web t input yur data and prduce the autmated reprts.
Hw des it wrk? Our initial start pint is t d a quick assessment f yur prjects using ur Autmated Assessment sftware which gives bth yu and us a start pint. This identifies the current state f yur prject(s) and we then dcument any Risks, Assumptins, Issues and Dependencies in the reprt that we give t yu. Once engaged and a Nn-Disclsure Agreement, NDA, is legally in place we place ne r tw cnsultants n-site fr a limited perid f usually 1-2 weeks. During this time we: Fcus n thse Risks and Issues that were agreed with yu are causing the greatest pain Establish milestnes and baselines f yur prject plans Identify what essentials yur plans are missing and hw they can be immediately but quickly imprved. Identify Risk and Issue lgs that will be required t be sent t us. Identify the prject plans that need t be sent t us. Identify ther prject material that needs t be sent t us. Ensure that the imprt rutines are established t input yur data int ur P3 Tlkit thrugh ur filters. Agree with yu the structure f the infrmatin and the frmat f the reprt that will be sent t yu. Establish the cllectin and transfer mechanism as well as the frequency f cllectin. Build the reprt and then test the data cllectin, reprt prductin and reprt transmissin. Establish the measures and metrics that will be used t measure the effectiveness f the service. Establish and agree the Service Level Agreement, SLA. Create and agree the prpsed and initial Imprvement Radmap. Agree the Review prcess and timelines. Agree the n-site supprt that yu will require frm us and that fits with yur budget. This can be anything frm a day a week, a day a frtnight r less/mre as required. Prduce the first reprts. We then prvide yu with prject reprts n a frequency that yu decide; usually daily r weekly. After this is dne we then implement the service as live. The data is then sent t us and the reprt is prduced and sent t yu autmatically frm the P3 Tlkit. Our Lead Cnsultant als gets a cpy s that they can spt and rectify any issues with the reprt prductin. The Lead Cnsultant mnitrs the reprts and als identifies any risks and issues that may hit yu in the future that yu may nt be aware f. The first reprts fcus n being succinct and are usually nly: The Prject prgress
Identificatin f late milestnes Risk and issue graphs Summary details f the majr risks and issues Prject Management cmments Milestnes that will be accmplished in the next perid Trend analysis based upn previus reprts. Over time, ur cnsultants assist in making the data mre accurate and enhancing the infrmatin in the reprt. This can be: Stakehlder Management Lifecycle, methd, artefact specificatin and prduct descriptin, technique descriptin and cmmn shred tls Dcument/artefact cntrl and management Resurce utilisatin Change Cntrl status and histry Increased prject lg and prject audit reprting Increased Prject team cmments Prject Earned Value graphs shwing Actual versus Estimated versus Predicted time and cst Risk mediatin and Risk impact csts Financial breakdwn against the business case shwing spend against benefits Financial spend breakdwn by team Cst and time verrun by team Test and defect statistics and graphs Prjected defect cunts Quality Statement Prgress reprt against the PMO Imprvement radmap Prcess Imprvement diagram shwing trends twards the riginal bjectives Supplier and Prcurement management. Hw fast this all gets dne is balanced against the measures business benefits we deliver t yu and the budget yu have available. It is dne at yur pace and evlves iteratively ver time. Yu get the full benefits f an expert PMO withut the verhead. Why d yu need a PMO? Simple answer is t ensure that yur prjects are gverned crrectly and therefre decrease unnecessary csts and increase the rate f prject success. Whilst Keeping It Simple is usually the best way, yu smetimes need t be aware f all the cmplexities befre yu can determine what the simple apprach is.
T understand hw an effective PMO cntributes t prject success and why yu need a PMO yu need t knw the answer t the questin f why prjects fail in general and why isn t there mre success in Prject delivery in particular? T answer this questin yu first need t identify the framewrk that needs t be in place within which successful prjects are enabled t succeed. Then yu need t assess yur situatin against this framewrk: identify which f these rt cause f failure apply t yu, generate a radmap f Change Imprvement in rder t define and implement that framewrk and understand the many pprtunities and cnstraints that yu already have within yur rganisatin, and yur culture, that will enable this Change twards Prject Success. The Prject Management Framewrk fr Success. Many rganisatins in recent years have placed an emphasis n getting their resurces qualified in Prince2 r PMI. They d this in the belief, r hpe, that this will give them a cst effective path twards better Prject Management. Whilst there are sme benefits in ding this it des nt deliver the benefits that are hped fr. Why? At P3P we cnsider the main reasn t be because these qualificatins and curses nly shw the prcesses and methds that a Prject Manager shuld fllw but des nt train resurces in hw t practically implement these prcesses within different cultures. Unless yu have made the mistakes yu cannt have learnt the lessns and yu therefre cannt have the experience. Prject Management is abut Leadership, Cmmunicatin, Knwledge and Experience within a given field. Wuld a successful Prject Manager frm the building industry wh has managed multi-millin prjects be successful within the IT industry? The answer is N nt withut the specific expertise f that industry. Why then d we expect t send resurces n a tw week Prince2 curse and expect them t be successful if they d nt have the experience and knwledge f the different skills, expertise, prcesses and techniques that need t be used fr the successful delivery f IT prjects? Fr any IT Prject Manager t run successful prjects they have t wrk within a framewrk that enables that success. That framewrk delivers t them lifecycle, methd, techniques, tls, templates, cmpliance measures, bjectives guidelines and essential Crprate Gvernance. Only within such a framewrk can quality be measured and delivered balanced against the time and budget available. What is that Framewrk and what des it prvide? It prvides standards, methdlgy, prcess definitin & guides, techniques, lifecycle management, artefact management, infrmatin repsitry, dcument and reprting templates, measurement and metrics templates, dcument lifecycle & management, strage repsitry, quality assurance and a prcess imprvement framewrk. And the bjective f this Framewrk?
T implement a standard methd f prject delivery s that the planning, executin, management, reprting and clsure f prjects is dne in a cnsistent and effective way thereby ptimising the chance f success whilst reducing the risk f failure. By ding this, release the Prject Manager and ther expert, skilled resurces t cncentrate n their prject tasks and wrk tgether twards the successful utcme f the business benefits. This essential Framewrk is delivered thrugh the ffice f the PMO as the custdian and wner. The PMO, therefre, becmes essential in aiding and supprting the successful delivery f Business Benefits and successful Outcmes. The PMO wns and supprts prject management framewrk, methdlgy and prcesses. This enables prjects t be delivered n-time, within budget t a specified level f quality. The PMO delivers: Decreased risk f prject failure and an increase in the rate f prject success Standards, methds, prcesses and techniques Standardisatin f dcument templates, reprting templates and use f cmmn tls Mnitring f prject prgress, trend analysis and prjectin t final prject csts and timelines Measurements and metrics f prject earned value against the business utcmes Time and cst savings fr the Prject Manager n less time spent n reprting Time and cst savings acrss all prject resurces n time spent n prject reprting Efficiency and cntent gains n risks identificatin, analysis f cst and time impact and risk reprting Accurate resurce usage prfiling n resurces within prject(s) and acrss prjects fr shared resurces Greater in-depth identificatin f change and the impact n plans, cst and time Cnsistent and standard reprting acrss prjects giving: Prject prgress f current baseline against riginal baseline Change Impact Risk Assessment identifying risk prfile, budget threshlds and risk prjectin Resurce utilisatin and ptential resurce cnflicts Trend analysis Earned Value and Prject prjectins f actual, versus estimated versus predicted.
A single pint-f-call fr mre effective reprting and cmmunicatin with Senir Business Spnsrs and Stakehlders A single service repsitry fr lessns learnt and prcess imprvement in Prject management Reduced csts n future prjects as greater use is made f the PM Framewrk and PMO The benefits t an rganisatin can then be measured in cst savings in reduced prject csts, time savings in prjects delivering mre cnsistently t plan and quality imprvements t the prject artefacts and final prject delivery. Prblems that stp the establishment f a PMO? Whilst the argument fr a PMO can be easily recgnised the initial difficulties in building and starting this critical service are many. Factrs culd be: The right skills and staff are nt available The awareness f the strategic bjective and Enterprise benefits is nt present at the right management level It is thught r decided that a full-time PMO is nt needed and there is n pprtunity t start ne part-time It is nt cnsidered a cre cmpetency There is n clear idea f hw prjects shuld be gverned The creatin f standards and methds seems t be t big a jump frward The Business Case and benefits is nt prven fr a PMO service There is n cash funded within the prject(s) budget fr PMO type services There can be n questin that whilst the implementatin f a PMO can deliver enrmus benefits t an rganisatin the initial expenditure in establishing this can be extremely high and hard t justify. Using the P3Partnership VPMO service yu can get a prfessinal PMO service whilst cntrlling expenditure and s realising the benefits earlier.