Journal

Are these questions the right challenge?

2010-06-16T21:08:29Z

Over the weekend, David has posted what he considers to be the key questions to determine the value added of PMOs. I copy an extract of his post below, with the questions. What are your views? Are these questions the right challenge? If so, would they be answered positively in your organisation?

PMO debates and conversations

2010-06-08T12:31:44Z

Thanks to James Simons for reminding me in the last issue of Project that I should contribute to my own website. Instead of writing about PMO I have enjoyed my conversations with PMO people, at the coalface, and also as part of the brilliantly exclusive PMO SIG get-togethers twice a year.

But it's only fair to put something back into the general conversation on the web.

If there are good, fresh questions to share then my aim is to write here once a week. More often, if there is more to discuss – less otherwise.

I say 'questions' because I find them much more interesting than answers. Answers are everywhere - everybody runs around with answers and 'solutions' for you. They are plentiful like fragments at an archaeological dig. But a good question is like a patient excavator: it keeps going until the fragments make sense, or are revealed as rubbish.

For example, this question: “What is a PMO?” has been answered quite a few times. People keep asking it because the answers are not very satisfying. Having said that, I like this Wikipedia answer a lot.

I have my own answer in the sidebar of this site, there since the beginning. However, I realise that it only means a lot to me because it reminds me of my journey to find it. In other words, there were many, many other questions along the way. I’d like to share some of them with you and any good new ones that come along. Maybe one or two of those questions will help you make sense of your own fragments.

By the way, don’t keep your best questions to yourself. Please let me know.

Towards better control environments for projects, programmes and portfolios

2007-11-26T21:46:29Z

As we begin to populate our new website, let's re-state what we do:

Design & delivery of PMO and PPSO services — Provision of consultancy to and implementation of the corporate centres of excellence known variously as PMO, PSO, PPSO, project office, etc.
Facilitation, Training and Research — All about the control environments that make for optimal delivery of managed change, through the support for teams that carry out those tasks.
Release and Implementation Management — Full governance of complex delivery for business transformation programmes and change management in general.