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The PM Network is a magazine that publishes articles on project management offices or officers (PMO), proving to be a valuable resource for every successful project manager or beginner. The articles discuss various subjects but are mostly linked to project management (PM) principles and may include case studies of actual projects and organizations. I sampled five articles, each discussing a different topic, but all featured PM project failures while offering suggestions for improvement. One article focuses on a successful case study based in Canada to encourage an essential aspect of PM. The specific topics explored in these articles include connecting strategy and PM, phasing concept, stakeholder support, outsourcing PMO services, and PMO failures.
These topic areas are crucial for complex PMs as most managers struggle with them. All the articles cite the high failure rates associated with PMOs, citing the importance of incorporating this knowledge in PM. For instance, a lack of connecting strategy to project prowess leads to 44% unsuccessful projects and 58% completed projects that do not align with the organizational plan (Bridging the Chasm, 2014). The phasing concept is introduced as a suitable PM principle in managing substantial public investment, where each phase is treated as a project with its scopes, budgets, and schedules (Cabanis-Brewin, 2014). Cabanis-Brewin details how Infoway used the technique to roll out a transforming project across Canadas healthcare sector.
Gaining full stakeholder support for PMOs has been challenging owing to the previous failures in the field. Fister Gale (2011) highlights two actions as critical in gaining administrative support: measuring progress and broadcasting successes. Projects that all the stakeholders do not support are destined to fail or stray away from organizational objectives. She suggests that PMOs create a value statement that defines quantifiable measurements, sets realistic timeframes, and helps to establish their credibility. Mustafa (2013) introduces PMO outsourcing as an effective method of reducing costs and improving efficiency in PM. He suggests that project managers use proven vendor selection models to ensure success. Mustafa insists on the significance of keeping costs and quality concerns in check for offshore outsourcing.
The last article discusses some of the reasons why PMOs fail and the pressure they experience while offering recommendations on avoiding failure. OBrochta and Robertson (2012) believe that failed projects emanate from input-focused rather than output-driven plans, lack of executive support, and inability to match outcomes to business goals and strategy. The authors feel that top management must change and appreciate PMOs perceptions more to resolve these problems.
My experience has shown me that almost half of PMOs fail due to a lack of executive support. Regardless of how experienced and knowledgeable the project manager is, stakeholder support provides other external resources necessary for success. For example, top managers cannot allocate substantial amounts of money to an office they deem not instrumental to its success. The lack of budget and time constraints imposed on the PMO creates unnecessary pressure that leads to project failure or delay. Regrettably, PMOs have often failed to garner enough stakeholder support from the projects onset, increasing fail rates in the field.
Most project managers are frustrated by their employers with insufficient resources, but in the end, they take the blame for failed projects. Any companies that would want their PMOs to be effective must support the offices projects.
Outsourcing of PMO services and phasing strategy were exciting topics for me. Phasing allows proper management of voluminous projects carried out by the government and large corporations. The strategy also enables a project manager to work with manageable budgets, scopes, and schedules. The PMO also measures success for every phase, which confirms the projects feasibility to stakeholders at every level. The phasing strategy would be practical for most projects spreading over a long period. Outsourcing was interesting to me because I had not encountered the practice in PMO before reading the article. However, if project managers can cut costs and improve efficiency through the technique, it is worth trying out in the future. The author cited vendor selection as key in outsourcing success, and it is something I will explore further and explore real-world case studies.
I took several personal lessons from the articles, but most importantly, how I realized the failure rate among PMOs. When the world perceives PMOs as something that will fail, project managers have to make every effort to succeed. I have learned that the first step towards success is gaining executive support and approval from day one. This support will ensure that I have enough resources at my disposal to affect the project and implement necessary changes to ensure its completion.
I would also want to implement outsourcing and phasing strategies with complex projects in the future. While reading Cabanis-Brewins article, I planned to handle my life as a vast project with various phases that I can manage as projects. Although this is a great starting point, I intend to use the phasing strategy and other lessons I learned in the PMO field during my practice.
References
Cabanis-Brewin, J. (2014). Connected care. PM Network, 28(5), 4851. Web.
Bridging the chasm (2014). PM Network, 28(4), 5963. Web.
Fister Gale, S. (2011). The PMO: something of value. PM Network, 25(8), 3439. Web.
Mustafa, A. (2013). Inside the PMO: Hired help. PM Network, 27(8), 28. Web.
OBrochta, M. & Robertson, C. (2012). Peer to peer: PMOs under pressure. PM Network, 26(4), 2627. Web.
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