by Mike Ososki, PMP, Communications Committee

Wow. Outspoken and direct, well-credentialed and subtlely humorous, Dr. James T. Brown of Seba Solutions, rocked the house at our first Dunwoody Dinner of 2014. It was a new house, too: The Westin Atlanta Perimeter North. With 200+ attendees (the most in 2 years), Dr. Brown’s “Three Overlooked Attributes of a Successful PMO” presentation was well-received.

To creatively encourage dynamic live audience participation, each table had 3 remote voting devices that immediately reported audience survey results to the big screens. Inspired by our collective responses, Dr. Brown offered an encouraging “I love Atlanta.”

James asserts that project management is nothing new, except perhaps as a formally recognized profession. Consider the Great Pyramids, the historical architecture of Europe, and putting men on the moon. There have always been plenty of moving parts to manage in any complex endeavor. These days—especially here in Atlanta—it’s mostly software and IT endeavors!

A few of Dr. Brown’s survey questions:
       1. Is project management 80/20 Art/Science or 80/20 Science/Art?
       2. I rate my organization’s PM performance as A, B, C, or “we have disasters.” (performance = in scope and budget, on time, and NO disasters in the group).
       3. The PMO at my company 1) adds value, 2) used to add value, 3) has no-value-add, 4) makes everything worse, or 5) N/A – no PMO.

My organization __________ to their PM methodology. A. Allows and tracks violations (the best of everything). B. Allows violations (good, but better to capture and grow with change + lessons learned). C. Doesn’t allow violations (where real pain and suffering happens). D. What PM methodology? (will be either very happy or very unhappy in this case).

PMO attribute advice #1: “Do not have a Darwinian approach to PM methodology.” Always start with current status and context: “Where are we now? What’s broken and how do we fix it? Where are the holes?” If this honest assessment is not your first step, the rest won’t matter. Know that one size does not fit all. Be strategic and don’t let the details kill progress toward the big picture vision. If your process is 80% good, then encourage “violations” that fix the 20%. Beware that “Glue is the lubricant of bureaucracy.”

PMO attribute advice #2: “Tools should support PM’s, not supplant them.” Want to mechanize and automate project management? No-can-do. PM work is 80% art and 20% science. It’s about leadership, motivation, and relationships. PM functions and tool functions are two different skill sets. Want to make a great investment? PM software tools are very complex. Hire expert project administrators to work them. It will be cheaper and more effective. Have a small project? Use a spreadsheet.

PMO attribute advice #3: “The O in PMO is optional.” If you have a PMO, they should also manage projects. The function is most important, not the office. There is always more than one right way. Oftentimes, the PMO function can be accomplished by committee. Over time, the benefit curve of imposed PMO methodology can flatten out. Additional stuff to do is created more to justify the job than deliver project success. Accountability and clear direction is what is required.

According to Dr. Brown, a good rule of thumb is: “After 18 months of a PMO, no disasters allowed. The PMO must add value or get whacked.”

Perhaps the most important overall arching goal of organizations and projects are the negatives trend down. The #1 measure of health of an organization is the age of its issues. If any issues have been ongoing for more than 6 months—maybe even just 3 months—it indicates poor leadership.  A big part of a great project manager’s responsibility is to “force conversations” and “give leaders pain” as needed to assure project success. Ultimately, assuring project success is our job, right?

For more from Dr. James T. Brown, visit www.SebaSolutions.com