Written by: Kay Abikoye
Presentation Overview
On February 24, 2021, the PMI Atlanta Governance Forum hosted speaker Eric Norman of Norman and Norman Consulting, LLC. Mr. Norman delivered a presentation on the challenges faced by PMOs due to varying organizational structures. He shared insight on current trends in PMO structures and the attributes of an effective value-add organizational component. In his role as a Management Consultant, he noticed that it is critical for the structure and the PMO construct to be well defined throughout the organization as many constructs may put communication at risk.
Challenges PMO’s face includes complex organizational structures and unsighted interpretation of issues from leadership or external pressures. These challenges pose struggles with human resource utilization, mission-critical performance, and delimited communication across functional offices. Mr. Norman highlighted four key value enablers found in successful PMO’s:
- Decision Support- providing critical information to executives and management so that it can be used to produce effective outcomes that may affect the PMO and the organization.
- Demand Management- implementing tools such as resource analysis, resource allocation, and initiative scaling; knowing the current state of the resources to allow for effective planning.
- Governance- establishing a set of baseline criteria and holding the organization to those procedures; this includes project selection, approval /denial, and implementing perfo
rmance measures. project selection, approval/denial, and tracking performance measures - Initiative Support-gathering tools, processes, methodologies, and resources that will lead to organizational success.
To centralize the PMO with the organizational alignment, Mr. Norman closed with strategies for practitioners to communicate effectively with executives and functional managers. By providing vital business intelligence to functional leaders and executives, the PMO needs to be a decision-making contributor within the organization. Mr. Norman provided practical guidance and answered questions throughout the presentation.
Takeaways
- The four key enablers of a successful PMO include decision support, demand management, governance and oversight, and initiative support.
- The PMO should be a member of the decision-making team within the organization and should adopt other functions that contribute as a value-add to the organization.
- To meet the objectives, Mr. Norman suggested moving away from PMO and using a name such as Strategic Initiative Management Center, or the Business Intelligence Center of Excellence.
Next Event
Join us at the next PMI Atlanta Governance forum on March 24th, 2021 Register at www.pmiatlanta.org/events/event-calendar