“The PMO Lifecycle: Building, Running & Shutting Down” by William Dow, PMP is my go-to book when setting up or improving a PMO, and I keep it close to hand on my business bookshelf for easy reference. It’s definitely a how-to manual, packed with checklists, diagrams and review questions to embed your learning. You can … Read moreREVIEW: The PMO Lifecycle by William Dow, PMP
I read Ken Burrell’s “Learning Lessons from Projects” from cover to cover in one sitting – unusual for me, especially when it comes to business books. What I enjoyed most is Ken’s style of writing. I felt that we were having a conversation, practitioner-to-practitioner on how things can be better. There’s been a lot of research … Read moreREVIEW: Learning Lessons From Projects by Ken Burrell
Over the past 8 weeks I’ve been taking this short course offered by The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), focused on Data Analysis for Management and designed for busy professionals. The course is delivered via an online campus – in partnership with GetSmarter – and led by Dr James Abdey, Assistant Professorial … Read moreREVIEW: Data Analysis for Management (LSE, 2019)
This week’s webinar with PMO Flashmob was an opportunity to share some ideas with PMO practitioners around how to engage senior stakeholders more with the insights they are providing. Many were surprised when one of the polls during the session indicated that the most popular way of sharing information is via Microsoft PowerPoint. I must … Read moreVisualising Data
This is how I think about PMO; moving the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle to build the full picture. Before you start a puzzle, do you count how many pieces you have, to make sure you are not going to be wasting your time before you start? What happens if pieces are missing? Do you … Read moreDriving PMO Impact 5
“There can hardly be a firm that has not invested, always significantly and often hugely, in IT systems, the goal of which is to provide a better understanding of the market and control the company… Despite this spend, many firms feel that they are not achieving the outcomes they sought.” – Smith & Raspin, Creating Market … Read moreDriving PMO Impact 4
What’s the impact of approaching a PPM solution implementation in the “wrong” way? I’ve worked on several PPM solution deployments, and one of my biggest frustrations is caused by the IT-led approach taken when implementing them. This isn’t helped when project management and PMO reside in IT. The solution has been decided and the project … Read moreDriving PMO Impact 3
So how does the PMO build a compelling case for investment in a PPM solution? The finance, HR and sales teams focused on this when they prepared their business cases -providing value through actionable insights that will drive the business forward. it’s not about how PMO could save time or resource, or how the project … Read moreDriving PMO Impact 2
A PPM solution is software designed to be an enterprise-wide, strategic tool which facilitates more effective project portfolio management. It’s a multi-million turnover industry, full of hundreds of options ranging from free and instantly accessible to costing thousands and taking months to configure and implement. Gartner’s Magic Quadrant is regarded as the go-to source of information on … Read moreDriving PMO Impact 1
For my final Friday Insights post of the month, I wanted to take the opportunity to signpost the community towards some resources that I find useful alongside the Major Projects Knowledge Hub in my day to day work as a PMO practitioner. Agile Business Consortium The Agile Business Consortium is a global leader in promoting … Read moreFurther resources for PMO Practitioners