A Project Manager/PMO Director’s Foundational Framework

It has been a rough few quarters, not just from the economy/business environment perspective, but for our PMO.   The problem I encountered was a lack of team work and cooperation.   I have had to really rollback and think about what it is I am trying to deliver.   What is the value of Project Management?  Not everyone sees things the same way.  I truly wish my last few months on every project manager or PMO director so they too can earn this merit badge, stripe.  I am thankful to the “difficult” team members that pushed back because they have been the most valuable team members I have ever worked with.

Throughout this process, I have been trying to distill down the information, tools and techniques that I have used (or should have used) from which to draw strength, resolve, and concrete value to put the right system in place, to “get er dun.”  As I list this out… I request that you as the reader ask yourself… “Is it right?”  What else should be there?  ALL INPUT IS WELCOME.   Remember though, that I am trying to keep this pretty high level.  These are the things that I need to keep readily in mind at all times to quickly answer those tough questions in meetings or make on the spot decisions whether to be tough or nice, to push left or right, and to guide project managers through each implementation.  This is what I have come up with so far.

At a high level, what is it that every PMO director must have?  I believe it comes down to three things.

1. Why are we doing this?  What is the VALUE I am delivering?
2. How are we going to get the team to do it?  How do I get the necessary COOPERATION to perform the right activities, to capture the right data, and to make the right decisions?
3. What specifically are the Project Managers and team members going to have to do to be successful?  What is our EXECUTION FRAMEWORK?  What is the necessary advice or guidance?  The right templates, forms, and checklists to ensure we are doing the right things at the right level of detail?

So let’s get into some detail…  (I would KILL for people to help me flesh this out further so please comment)

1. Crystal clear, concise, and readily communicated knowledge of value of project management.  What is the value of project management distilled down to its core? I think it is twofold.
   1. #1 – To Make Good Decision
      • Based upon some basic cost and schedule data, and using some simple calculations, I want to be able to provide Managers (of people, money and/or products) the ability to make good decisions.  Decisions that balance and deal with Quality, Scope, Time and Resources (people and money). I have some additional detail already in a previous post called, For what questions should the PMO provide answers? To whom? And why?.
   2. #2 – Provide a framework for predictable and reliable execution
      • Getting it done with a high level or reliability.
   3. This value can be used during general discussions, negotiations and to influence team members, managers and executives as to why things need things need to be put in place.
   4. I have a simple example I use all the time which is not grandiose but is concrete evidence I use over and over again.
      • In Q4 2008, we had an infrastructure project to update and standardize all production database servers to the Windows Operating System.  Initially there was some concern regarding ability of the team to deliver this project because it was not getting traction.  The PMO quickly assigned a project manager.  The PM developed a very simple plan, kept some basic schedule and cost performance data.  With several weeks to go before the end of the project, we were able to show that the project was going to go over budget, not by much, but still over budget.  We had a quick chat with the Infrastructure Manager and came up with a solution to remove two servers from scope due to nature of their role and previous reliability.  Ultimately, the two servers were kept till last anyway since we knew they were a low priority.  Removing these servers from scope allowed us to stay on budget and deliver on time.  A win!!  When one was not expected!! Project Management value DELIVERED!!   But how to do I get everyone functioning at this level?
      • I would suggest you find some evidence of your own.  Ideally, it should come from one of your own projects where things went right and use it to push your plan forward.
2. Develop Approaches and a Foundation for getting Cooperation and Team Work
   1. Expect to have “Human Issues”.  People respond in many expected and unexpected ways.  Be prepared, do not take it personally (this is SO hard for me not to do!!).
   2. Have a clear set of PMO or Project Management goals and objectives that has been reviewed and agreed to by Senior Management.
      • I have listed our PMO goals and objectives in another blog, PMO Do Over, Sharing PMO Objectives, Sharing a Failure.  I had a discussion about PMO objectives with every member of our Senior Leadership team including the CEO, COO, CFO, CTO, CKO, VP Marketing and VP of Business Development.  I then followed this up with conversations with key Line Managers.   Each got a change to voice opposition, ask for clarity and/or more detail.  But I got 100% agreement!  (Was I lucky?  Was I given real agreement or am I going to be “Yes’ed” to death?)
      • The goals and objectives along with this executive support become the backbone used to garner cooperation from the larger organization through discussions, negotiation and influencing of team members.  The goals can be used to explain why certain activities or tasks are being requested and assigned to each team member.  Why certain processes were being put in place.
      • A goal example – “Making good decisions”. It is very powerful cooperation tool to be able to explain how an activity specifically ties back to a Manager’s ability to “make good decisions”.   Most, if not all, team members will generally not want to block their Manager’s ability to make the right decisions.   This works just as well to explain to a Managers why they should also cooperate because it will help them make good decisions.
   3. Always start with the end in mind.
      • Another way to state this is to “Start with the goals, then work on strategies, and then tactics“. Setting clear goals and objectives give you something to shoot for.
      • I am using many of the suggestions from Michael Hatfield’s book, “Things Your PMO is Doing WRONG“.   I reviewed this book in a previous post, Book Review: “What is your PMO Doing WRONG” by Michael Hatfield, PMP.  (I am happy to report that this post got the most traffic of any I have written)
        • In it he states, “[keep] with the management information system axiom that you always begin with the end in mind.”
        • Specifically, he suggests developing PMO reports FIRST.  These are the reports used by management to “steer the ship”, “to make good decisions” (where have I heard this before).   Subsequently, when you are asking for cooperation to gather necessary data to populate the PMO reports you will encounter less resistance because the team will see that the performance data is actually being used by management and therefore is not a waste of time disappearing into some black box.    Few team members will want to be held responsible for causing reports to be incomplete or invalid.
   4. Implementation Strategies and Techniques
      • There will be people who do not participate in the team effort, who do not cooperate. Plan for this. Develop strategies and tactics.
      • Michael Hatfield’s book recommends an implementation approach which I also spoke to in a recent post.  I think it is quite profound, and is based upon the “Prisoner’s Dilemma” model for cooperation and defection.
3. Execution Framework
   1. This is the PMBOK stuff, and almost goes without saying. These are the detailed processes and activities to be performed by Project Managers and team members.
   2. A Project Manger / PMO Director must have a clear understanding of all the steps that need to be performed to get the project done.  He must also have an approach to roll these out in a priority order based upon goals and objectives using the foundation for getting cooperation.

Going back to my tried and true example of the Q4 2008 infrastructure project….  It appears to be quite a simple and basic example.  It sounds simple?  Well it was BUT ONLY because the project manager on this effort produced a plan (according to a framework) with the team, and the team agreed to cooperate, to stick to the plan.  The team communicated changes and issues well.  The team was willing and knew the benefits of submitting basic performance data.  Without this cooperation and team work, the ability to make a good decisions was not possible.  There may well have been a different outcome of being over budget, late with finger pointing, poor performance review and perhaps a few stern conversations to boot.