PMO Trends, Techniques, Tools and Training
Everything that's Hot in the world of PMO!
The latest thinking
Check out the latest musings, news and insight from the world of PMO in our Blog.
Management Models
Management models and frameworks play a huge part in the work that PMOs do. Explore our guide to the management models that matter to PMO Professionals
The change equation is a simple model for explaining organizational change. The model asserts that there are three factors that need to be present before change can happen successfully. There needs to be a dissatisfaction with the status quo, there needs to be a clear vision of what is possible and there needs to be an understanding of what the first basic steps are that need to be taken. The model shows that if these three factors are not present, then resistance to change will not be overcome and the change will fail.
The PAEI Management Model, developed by Dr. Ichak Adizes, is a model for categorizing managers into one of four roles, Producer, Administrator, Entrepreneur and Integrator. Adizes asserts that no individual manager can meet all the needs of their organization or department. He argues that effective management requires a team of leaders who - when working together in harmony - can handle the most complex challenges and issues.
Eisenhower once noted, "What is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important". His approach to Time Management was to determine priorities for issues or tasks in two dimensions:
- Importance (outcome focus)
- Urgency (time focus)
By plotting issues and tasks against the dimensions of importance and urgency, they can be mapped onto a 2x2 grid, which can be used as a guide to the most appropriate action to take.
The concepts of Compliance Typology and Bases of Power are especially relevant to PMOs where different approaches are required are to apply different types of power - often to people that may be more senior in an organizational hierarchy.
SWOT Analysis is a simple model used in strategic planning to assess the Strengths and Weaknesses of an organization, combined with an inventory of Opportunities and Threats in the external environment. SWOT is a versatile tool that can be used at the organizational level, but can also be applied to departments, teams, programs and individuals.
OKR is a framework for goal setting that is used by many large tech companies including Google, Spotify and Twitter. They are used to create alignment in an organization, and to encourage people to set stretch goals.
Belbin describes a team role as 'a tendency to behave, contribute and interrelate with others in a particular way'. He asserts that in order for teams to be successful, a team and its members need to fulfill nine roles.
John P. Kotter's works have made his name is synonymous with change. His 8 step model is taught on all the leading business schools and is practically a religion among some of the big consultancies.
When delivering within fixed iterations to high standards of quality, the only thing you can flex is the scope. Combining the simplicity or MoSCoW with the customer-centric view that Kano provides, gives us a powerful lexicon with which to explore the mix of requirements we are delivering and make effective decisions.
Free PMO Templates - download them today!
A few people have recently asked if I have a template for creating a burndown chart in Excel. Well yes I have, and here it is!
We understand. You have multiple competing projects and no simple way of assessing the risks and benefits associated with each. Without this view, how can you decide which projects should go ahead? How do you decide which need more (or less) support from the PMO? This template will help.
Struggling to keep track of your projects portfolio? This simple tracker will help - and its 100% cheaper than a PPM tool! The template allows you to keep track of the % work complete and spend vs budget across a portfolio of projects. Dynamic bars show at a glance whether projects are behind or ahead of schedule, whilst a handy '$$$' indicator keeps track of how fast the project is burning through its budget allocation.
A classic template - with a twist! This risk template includes a plot of all open risks, giving views a quick overview of the risk profile for the project before delving into the detail.
All the Hottest PMO Events and Conferences
The calendar below features the Hottest events in the PMO Calendar. Do you have a favorite PMO event that is missing from our calendar? Contact us and we'll get it added!
You could argue that if there was one single thing that you would expect PMOs to be good at, it would be Metrics. After all, PMOs often exalt the mantra that 'the PMO is the single voice of truth!'.
But PMO analysts seem to be far less savvy about the metrics that are important in agile environments. Well never fear - we've pulled together the definitive collection of Agile Metrics for your performance indicating pleasure...
PMOs are a relatively modern phenomenon. The earliest known maps include cave drawings from around 16,500BC and even older maps inscribed on mammoth tusks. That's a lot of Lessons Learned that PMOs can draw knowledge from! In this article we explore what PMO people and Cartographers have in common, and what we can learn from the pioneers of map making.
When we talk of Project Reporting, it is tempting to only think in terms of the output of the process - the report itself. But the truth is this: whilst the Project Report is valuable, the process of Project Reporting is priceless.
It wasn't that long ago that the only training available to PMO professionals was Project Management training. And whilst PMP® and PRINCE2® (For the UK) may be useful to PMO people from a compliance and delivery process perspective, they do not cover the processes and competencies that are required in the PMO space. Fortunately several PMO certifications and courses now exist. We look forward to seeing the number of high quality PMO training offerings grow as the PMO finally comes of age.
Are you a manager or a leader? or Both? What roles does the modern manager need to master?
Thanks to the growing number of CRM systems with API interfaces, and messaging systems such as Slack that positively embrace the use of bots, more and more simple tasks can be automated. PMOs should be taking advantage.