Question & Ans.

The other areas that we will address for PMO Setup or to improve PMO services include:Improvement in Governance of Project Investment ServiceThe key areas that should be addressed for effective governance are:1. Positioning: PMOs must be positioned correctly within the organisation’s structure and report to C-Level executives.2. Communication: Effective communication with senior leaders through concise and effective reporting mechanisms, preferably using exceptions based reporting.3. Outcomes: Use clearly defined critical milestones to assess a given project or program.4. Processes: Have support mechanisms in place and focus purely on processes and procedures, instead of policing.The ChallengeIn the past, it was believed that to improve the performance of Program and Project investments we needed to increase Program and Project Management capability. Today, significant improvements in both these areas has plateaued. Instead, there is an emerging recognition that the focus now must be on Governance and Portfolio Management to complement the delivery of the work through Programs and Projects.Governance and Portfolio Management operate at very senior levels in the organisation where, because of other demands, it can be difficult to give sufficient attention to these matters. Also, we are dealing with sensitive issues of organisational power structures.The essence of governance is about transparency, accountability, integrity and stewardship, all of which are difficult to handle effectively.It is important to distinguish the role of governance compared to management, and to understand that the focus of governance should be on ensuring that value is created for the whole organisation from its investments. This is different from focusing on deliverables or managing those performing work. The focus on outcomes and value is hard but it is the true essence of governance. Organisations are still learning about how to make this transition.If your organisation is also struggling with these issues – we can help train your team to overcome these problems.We can also help train your organisation in its approach to governance, helping to achieve strategic outcomes.We believe effective governance mechanisms should create value for the whole organisation from its investments.SolutionsExecutive Development Workshops.These workshops are best conducted in-house. This allows for an open forum so executives can discuss sensitive issues about how the organisation exercises Governance of investments in Programs and Projects. Each workshop can be tailored to your organisation’s needs and maturity as a one-size-fits-all approach is not suitable at the senior level.Workshops can be held for one or two days. The two-day workshops do not need to be consecutive, as we understand it can be difficult to extract busy executives for long periods. Each workshop will be interactive and focused on exploring issues that need clarification to ensure governance groups have confidence in plans and performance reports they receive and approve.

Most organisations find benefits realisation challenging as it touches on a wide spectrum of the organisation’s activities related to their investment in program and project initiatives. The idea used to be that if we completed a sound business case the benefits will automatically flow once the project was finished. This myth has been demolished many years ago and we know it is a more significant exercise to ensure that benefits are achieved.While a business case is required these need to be seriously challenged by management for feasibility as in some organisations they are simply a mechanism for obtaining the funds for a project with no further scrutiny occurring. This is where effective Governance is exceedingly important, as well as sound portfolio management which enables senior executives to select and prioritise investments based on a number of factors including alignment with strategy, cost / benefit ratios, risk, available resources and the amount of organisational change implied by the approved initiatives.While projects are useful in delivering agreed results or capabilities, they are less likely to deliver planned business outcomes which requires a different and more strategic focus more appropriate to a program management approach. The Governance group also needs to focus on performance beyond delivery aspects of scope, time and cost and give serious attention to outcomes, both intermediate and the final ones. Outcomes ultimately provide the benefits or business value when coupled with the necessary organisational change, and this also need to be closely monitored.Our consultants understand the difficulties in implementing benefits realisation and that business cases, benefits registers and processes while necessary however by themselves will not be sufficient. We also know that unless benefits realisation has top-level commitment in the organisation it will not be effectively implemented. We are happy to meet your executive team and provide an initial briefing so that you can better assess whether you are ready at this stage to proceed with a serious benefits realisation implementation program.To visit our Benefits realisation page to see how we can help, please click here!

Benefits Realisation / PMO Value or Value of PMO – Are you able to showcase the Value of your PMOs?The demand on PMOs to deliver value is always immense, and this is the reason that many PMOs are shutdown in the first few years, as we’ve explained above. The underlying reason is not always that PMOs are not delivering value, but the fact that PMOs are not able to demonstrate the value they are delivering to the organisation.We can help you set up a Benefits Realisation framework to help demonstrate the values that you are delivering to your organisation.To learn more on our Benefits Realisation services please click here.

PMOs are set up to deliver value to the organisation in terms of development of well-defined processes that yield savings in time, availability of resources and regular, timely, and more importantly, effective reporting and many more offerings at a program level.No two PMOs are the same, so it is important that we constantly evaluate the performance of PMOs.Even more important is the fact that we evaluate management satisfaction on deliverables and ensure that we are educating even our executives on how value is being deliveredWe at Prism can work with you to demonstrate the value proposition and what it takes to fine tune your operations so that delivery of value is a constant occurrence.

PMO MaturityUS based research {from Project Management Solutions Inc.} shows that only 8% of PMOs achieve maturity level 4 and just 1% of PMOs achieve maturity level 5. Where do you stand today?If you have aspirations to increase maturity levels of your PMO to improve quality, save money and deliver projects on time – please talk to us.

Improve Projects Manager performance through effective reporting and/or Outsourcing!Effective reporting mechanisms to help save organisational time!In any organisation, executives expect Project Managers to see problems before they happen and always be well informed about how to avoid costly mistakes and conflicts during a project. The list of expectations goes on & on. We push them hard to absorb all the information and make time to learn through training classes. The good news is that we do find project managers that meet these expectations, and we pay them top dollars to deliver results.But what happens next – after all the work done by the organisation to recruit and train exceptional PMs – we bury our project managers in reporting! They spend hours creating reports, then putting the data into different formats for different purposes. Is this what an organisation should hire project managers for?If you are also facing these issues then talk to us – we can help you get your project managers focused on resolving issues, and not buried in generating reports. When you free up your PMs, they can go back to their prime functions–solving your problems, delivering your projects on time, resolving conflicts, and, most importantly, saving money for your organisation.

The following techniques can lift your reporting proficiency within the organisation:Clearly define critical milestones and focus on these milestones for reporting.Adopt an enterprise-wide approach i.e., create a “portfolio view” for reporting.Focus on exceptions & change based reporting only for C-Level executives, preferably on a monthly basis. This allows reasonable intervention when necessary.Empower PMs to make decisions that can reduce reporting. Of course, management must be on board with this change and may want to clarify responsibilities and accountabilities with their PMs before expanding their authority to include decision-making.Avoid weekly meetings for status updates to save time, once again authorise PMs to make decisions about reporting.Regularly kill unnecessary & duplicate projects running within the organisation to improve efficiency, save on reporting and save resources, all at the same time. This is something that needs to be done at a governance level, not the project management level like the other techniques listed here.We can help and set up right reporting techniques to bring proficiency within your organisation to ensure that time of your scarce resource is being effectively utilized.

PMO Operation, Are your PMO’s serving their purpose i.e., the prime reason they were set up?Is your PMO focused on policing or processes & procedures for effective operation of a PMO? If so, then there is room for improvement for your PMO!This is because high performing PMOs are focussed on supporting Projects and Program and also in supporting executive governance groups.When PMOs are not working effectively or not delivering the desired results, we might think that solution is to improve processes or training programs. However, research shows that it is just as important to improve governance, although this is much more difficult to achieve.Improved governance mechanisms will make PMO operation more meaningful.If you are not satisfied with your PMO performance, please contact us. We can assure you that our 5 pronged methodology can uplift any PMO and improve performance to deliver the results that you need.Also please see our Governance Improvement service that can uplift your PMO operation.

Mentoring & Coaching ServicesSo often, our colleagues and managers expect we will ‘get things right’, single-handedly, whether the issue is large or small. Yet business is changing in a myriad of ways. Qualifications we gained to enter our chosen career are less relevant. And, time is no longer on our side, meaning we don’t have the option to re-skill and re-set for our position.Choosing a mentor with experience and perspective that is compatible with your worldview will help in two significant ways. First, you gain a friendly and objective view of your existing talents. Talents are molded by experience, even the mistakes and disappointments inevitable in professional life. An effective mentor speaks the truth, affirming opportunities to put your talent to use and create a better you.Second, as you work through and define strengths, your mentor helps you reveal potential and opportunities for growth. Growth is rewarding when it harmonises your aspirations with the expectations of others. A great mentor will help discover the issues and adventures that will achieve this harmonious balance. And then, your mentor will work with you to set goals and priorities, and offer the advice and know-how you need to reach those goals.Our “Mentoring & Coaching” can help create “Mentors & Coaches.”

Talent Management and Training ServicesHigh performing PMOs strongly believe in talent development. This is the reason that high performing PMOs are not only able to demonstrate value but also deliver in line with an organisation’s the strategic objectives. So in a way, high performing PMOs and talent development are interrelated.As a result training has been used as an intervention tool to uplift PMO performance.Prism offers specialist courses to set up and improve your PMO and many other programs to lift your project manager’s capabilities.However, training as an intervention tool for a non-performing PM is not going to deliver the desired results unless you apply various other techniques at the same time.Please talk to us to discuss Talent Management and Training services.

Tool Selection and Implementation ServicesWe all want to have a tool that brings a high-level of efficiency and maturity to our organisation. Well, it is true that tools can help streamline processes and procedures and may deliver the expected results, but before you pull it out of the toolbox, the question is:Is your organisation ready to use it right now? If so, which tools and features should be implemented at which stage?If your teams do not have the basics of project management nailed down and we start to expect that they will manage critical new paths that can be disastrous for the morale of the staff and the entire organisationOur independent advice will ensure that you make the right decisions about when are where to make changes and implement services.

Post Implementation Reviews ServicesPost implementation reviews of projects, programs and benefits realisation will generate a lot of intelligence for the organisation, including areas where improvements are required for PMOs to continue to show benefits and relevance.Our senior and experienced professionals can provide this service with utmost sincerity and deliver independent reviews. We will provide insight into the functioning of the organisation, identify any issues and provide solutions for improved organisational capability

Coaching and Consultation.Get help when you need it with coaching and consultation. This can take the form of providing advice to individual executives about governance issues on an “as required” basis. Another approach is to have one of our Consultants attend several of your governance forums, observe how they operate, and provide feedback afterwards on suggested improvements.

Capability Assessment.Assessing your organisation does not automatically lead to changes or improvements, but it is a necessary step to achieving your end goals. This assessment can be undertaken in conjunction with either Executive Development Workshops or Coaching and Consultation since alone it will not necessarily produce any visible change. Often, a capability assessment simply confirms what you already suspect, although it will highlight some specific areas that need attention. The format for this is usually a number of interviews with senior executives, and a survey of selected executives.