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Get PMO Funding Using Pretty Charts - Introduction

March 22, 2010 | Author: PM Hut | Filed under: Project Management Office

Get PMO Funding Using Pretty Charts - Introduction (#1 in the series Get PMO Funding Using Pretty Charts)
By Kevin L. Smith, MBA, PMP

Your budget allocation has been decreased by 30 percent. Staff has been cut in half. And you have been directed to give priority to the customization and implementation of the newly purchased off-the-shelf software that the Board predicts will help reduce operating cost by an additional 35 percent.

Along with this major initiative, you are also responsible for establishing and standardizing a new cost reporting model across the entire technology department, as well as maintain strong business relationships with each of your IT clients. Oh, and don’t forget about the new IT product development initiative that you are heading that is suppose to revolutionize the industry and reposition the company as a market leader.

Prioritize, standardize, customize, revolutionize, implement, and maintain with a staff of eight? Impossible! Let’s see, it’s you (the senior project manager), a product manager, two project managers, two systems engineers, and two business/project analysts. You have been given this challenge with a limited budget and limited staff.

Is it time to update your resume and post it on a job hunting website? Should you reach out to your professional contacts on linkedin.com to inform them of your immanent availability? Should you quit or get fired? Decisions. Decisions.

I know! Develop an alternative proposal with new priorities and present it to your CIO. I know what you are thinking. “Creating a proposal that is not in line with the directives of my boss sends a signal that I may fail.” Well, in the words of the former Vice President of the United States, “So.”

Your recommendation is to establish a project management office and it is complimented by data to predict successful execution of future projects. I suspect that this solution would be in line with the direction of your boss. Think about it. It will give priority to organizational and strategic objectives and it will detail the impact of costs, sales, and operational efficiencies. Your boss will undoubtedly appreciate your candor, your efforts, and the thoroughness of your proposal. Keep in mind that it must be thorough. Heck, your recommendation may even propel your career.

A well developed proposal gives you the perfect opportunity to gain executive-level acceptance to the PMO that you have desired to establish for so long. You have umpteen projects to complete with a small budget and limited resources. Prepare this alternative proposal detailing clear organizational, operational and financial benefits, and you will soon see the fruit of your labor. It starts by performing and documenting a cost-benefit analysis.

Armed with your well-developed analysis that is supported with historical data of past projects, with outlined benefits of a PMO, giving consideration to necessary cultural changes, with calculations of costs, savings, and profit benefits, and detailing the human resource, technological, and process requirements of your PMO, and you are almost guaranteed to attract the attention of the senior executives in the organization. There is only one very valuable piece missing from your perfect proposal that will attract these executives – the inclusion of colorful charts and graphs.

Let’s face it; we in the corporate world have long realized that executives pay attention to colorful charts and graphs. It seems to be a requirement of executives. If that’s what we need to get the green light for our PMO, then let’s give them what they want.

If your CIO and other organizational officers review your proposal and corporate long-term goals are prominent throughout and pretty charts are clear and informative, the budget dollars to implement that long awaited PMO will soon become available. Immediate priorities may change to give way to your PMO. Structure to project management within your organization will be on its way. But, thoroughness is the key.

There are hundreds among hundreds of articles on the web that explain the basic theory along with the pros and cons of PMOs. Those of us who find value in an effectively run PMO and seek guidance to implementation are often left with frustration. We read through these articles looking for specific direction and advice, but we only find theory.

Over the course of three months, I will provide a series of articles detailing specifics on how to gain executive acceptance of establishing a PMO, how to get departments to embrace the PMO, steps required to implementing a PMO, and the activities necessary to keep your PMO breathing. My series will be developed and executed as a project in itself. The first step is to conduct and present a cost-benefit analysis (aka initiate) to gain executive-level acceptance. This analysis will undoubtedly include pretty charts and graphs. Stay tuned.

About the Author

Kevin Smith, MBA, PMP is the Director of Project Management at Provident Enterprises, a Business Management Consulting firm specializing in process optimization utilizing Six Sigma Techniques. Provident Enterprises prides itself in assisting organizations in cutting cost and increasing productivity. Throughout his career, Kevin has been instrumental in leading global IT infrastructure initiatives as well as in-house re-engineering solutions. He enjoys great depth of experience and expertise in project team leadership, portfolio management, and earned value management.

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This entry was posted on Monday, March 22nd, 2010 and is filed under Project Management Office. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1 person has left a comment

It is challenging times for getting new resource into a business, but a good set of visuals always help with persuasion process, especially when it’s an uphill process. That sounds like quite a top heavy team to get started with - I look forward to seeing where you go with the articles and the recommendation!

Benjamin wrote on March 23, 2010 - 6:52 am | Visit Link

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