PMO OBjectives - a quick guide

PMO ObjectivesAuthor: PM Majik

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Contents

1.0 Purpose of presentation2.0 Primary objective of a PMO3.0 Key principles4.0 Objectives5.0 SMART objectives6.0 Summary7.0 Project & PMO Resources



1.0 Purpose of this presentation

The purpose of this presentation is to provide:

•Primary objective of a PMO•Key principles•Objectives•SMART Objectives•Summary & resources



2.0 Primary objective of a PMO

The purpose of any PMO is very simple, it is to provide a framework that will support all stakeholders and project teams to improve the probability of successful delivery.

An organisation embarks on a project to achieve an outcome. This involves the investment of valuable resources (people, money, time). If the PMO does not improve the probability of successfully project delivery it is not doing it’s job and is not needed.



3.0 Key principles

• Standards: Look to embed common tools and processes based on organisation standards where they exist.

• Consistency: Look to ensure that each project / workstream is populating reports, documents, plans to the same level using common standards (this is a must for comparing relative status of projects).

• Transparency: The PMO must provide transparency of progress and status of all projects to all stakeholders. This will allow for early warnings of issues allowing intervention to keep projects on track.

• Pragmatic: only do something if it makes sense and adds value. Challenge where organisation standards exist that do not make sense. Failure to do this will put you in the position of being viewed as an overhead that does not add value.

• Fit for Purpose: Avoid over engineering and duplication of tools and processes. Project Managers are busy delivering. Don’t make their job harder by making duplicate requests.

• Be Smart: Make sure you coordinate update requests and think about the information you require. Don’t be seen as a PMO where the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing with multiple and repeated requests.

• Independence: Remember, while your aim is to build a good working relationship with the projects so you can help them, you must be careful to not get too close as this will cloud your judgement when challenging progress, status, etc.



4.0 Key steps


Step 1 – Agree Objectives

• Very simply – you need to agree the objectives of what the PMO will deliver / achieve. This ensures that there is a clear understanding and avoids the expectation gap at once the PMO is implemented.

Step 2 – Translate to SMART objectives

• Taking the objectives generated in Step 1, define a set of SMART objectives. This ensures that they can be measured so that successful implementation can be demonstrated.

• S = Specific• M = Measurable• A = Attainable• R = Relevant• T = Timely


4.0 Step 1 – agree objectives (1 of 2)


Before embarking on any project, including designing and implementing PMO, you must know what is the objective. This means that you must ensure that the following is understood and agreed by senior management / PMO sponsor:

• Business drivers• Problems to be solved• Expected / required benefits• Known constraints to work within (budget)• Time frames

There is no right or wrong way to define the objectives. However, there are some principles that should be followed:

• Ensure senior management / PMO sponsor engagement• Ensure views are canvassed from stakeholders• Avoid making assumptions based on the PMO you would like to implement• Avoid talking in “solutions” so as not to lead conversations• Consolidate and document inputs• Review and refine with senior management, stakeholders and PMO sponsor

Capturing and agreeing objectives is like capturing project requirements. You need to ensure you ask the right questions of the right people. Then review and consolidate the inputs and document. This can then be presented back to senior management and PMO sponsor to allow refinement and sign-off.


4.0 Step 1 – agree objectives (2 of 2)


You should be aiming for very clear objectives that are realistic and easily understood. Then you will have a chance of designing and implementing a PMO to meet these objectives, resulting in happy senior management and PMO sponsor.

• Visibility of all projects of budget > £5 million• Standard reporting to be used by all projects• Reduce mobilisation time of project to xx weeks• Prioritise and approve projects based on standard metrics• Improve quality of project delivery• Improve certainty of project delivery• Improve the return on investment of projects

There are many others and, in my experience, getting to the position of visibility of all projects over a certain size using a standard reporting mechanism, is a big win for many organisations without mature change management.


5.0 Step 2 – translate to SMART objectives (1 of 3)


The good news is, by completing step 1 you should have a clear understanding on what objectives the PMO must be able to meet to be successful. However, so that you can demonstrate that the objectives have been met, you do need to ensure that progress can be measured. This is where you should try to use SMART objectives.

While going through step 1 to capture and agree objectives is a good start, in most cases you will have what are termed “not so SMART objective”. This does not mean that the objective is not good, it means that it is not SMART – it can not be measured. If you can not measure, how will you know if you have been successful in your endeavours? More importantly how will you demonstrate to your sponsor (boss) that you have been successful?

Many organisations strive to use SMART objectives as they provide structure and, most importantly, can be measured. This suits most goal orientated people as they have a very clear understanding of what needs to be achieved, by when and what will be the resulting outcome (benefit).




Below is an example SMART objectives worksheet that can be used to take each “Non SMART” objective and translate it to a SMART objective.

Non SMART Objective <Enter non-smart objective>

SMART ObjectiveSpecific - what is the specific activity / goal?

Measurable - what will be the measure of success (parameters)?

Attainable - is the objective realistic and achievable?

Relevant - is the objective relevant to the overall goal?

Time-Bound - what is the time frame for objective

SMART Objective <Enter refined SMART objective based on the objectives captured above>




Below is gives an example of how the template can be used to translate Non SMART to SMART objective.

Non SMART Objective Standard reporting to be used by all projects

SMART ObjectiveSpecific - what is the specific activity / goal?

Implement standard reporting

Measurable - what will be the measure of success (parameters)?

100% of 20 active projects to use standard reporting

Attainable - is the objective realistic and achievable?

PMO team have 2 resources dedicated to activity of design and roll-out of standard reporting to all 20 projects

Relevant - is the objective relevant to the overall goal?

Supports the PMO objective of implementing standard reporting

Time-Bound - what is the time frame for objective

Standard reporting to be implement by 31 Mar 2016

SMART Objective Standard reporting will be implemented for all 20 active projects by 31 March 2016


6.0 Summary

Following these steps should result in you having clear objectives for your PMO.

•Use key principles to guide work

•Define, capture and agree objectives

•Translate to SMART objectives to track progress

If you would like more information, the following resource covers the entire process from Objectives to Design Principles.


https://www.pmmajik.com/capturing-pmo-vision-mission-allowing-definition-design-principle/

7.0 PMO resources

If you want more information, visit www.pmmajik.com where you will find lots of project and PMO resources including the FREE guide, 7 Steps to Set-Up a PMO.

Visit http://www.pmmajik.com/set-pmo/

PM Majik Website

On the PM Majik website you will find over 150 articles that contain practical and pragmatic tips and insights for designing, mobilising and managing a PMO. New articles are added weekly. Topic requests are encouraged from the community.


7.0 Project & PMO Resources

Official PM Majik Resources

Click link below for details:

https://www.pmmajik.com/members/


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Date post:	11-Jan-2017
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