One of the first steps in establishing a PMO is figuring out what it is supposed to do. A mandate should provide clear, unequivocal identification of the purpose, function and role that the PMO will fulfill. Here’s how to think about building a compelling mandate.
The Perceived Need for Specialist Project Managers
One of the favourite arguments of project managers is how portable their skills actually are. Can they move from IT, for example, to engineering? In reality, the challenge today is more complex, as we see an increasing emphasis on specialization even within disciplines. What does it mean for developing our careers?
So Where Do I Start? Building The Effective PMO
For anyone having to implement a PMO, a not-insignificant question is “Where do I start?” The needs are often numerous, and the demands overwhelming. Like any large and complex problem, however, we need to break it down into components that we can successfully manage.
Developing Project Managers Into Organizational Leaders
When we think of truly effective project managers, it is not the technical that often stand out. Yet in many instances, it is these same ‘hard’ skills that get emphasized over and over in project management development programs. A look at the other capabilities necessary for in developing truly effective project managers.
The Ethics Of the PMO
For many organizations, the PMO reflects all of the challenges of matrix organizations: all of the responsibility, and none of the accountability. Moreover, they often serve two audiences: project managers and senior management. To whom do they owe the greatest accountability?
The Project Manager As Organizational Leader
Does being a project manager also involve organizational leadership? While this is an easy question to ask, it is a difficult one to answer. When we can stay in the box defined by our scope, life is relatively easy. Yet much of our job is about managing the boundaries themselves. That is where the need for leadership emerges.