IT Led PMOs Create a Project Management Mess
I have some great, reliable, commentors. One of them is Alan Wilensky. Commenting on my June 7th post ““Fewer, More Successful Projects”: The New HP” he gave one of his great personal examples of an IT organization run amuck. Here is his comment (edited by me) and my response:
Alan W: A while ago, I was a bidder on fair sized contract with a specialized mfr. They had a BIG IT plan, SAP, SCN, you name it. They were hostage to their IT man, he had them seduced and bought in to the tune of 30 projects (none fully implemented) and 400K in licenses (way more than a company this size needs in a Webbiz20 services era).
I did not get the [deal], because I spoke the truth - but somehow, I think that my honesty will get me back in. Here is what I said while trying to get this seven figure (career high for me) 18 month re-engineering project:
“Dear Colleagues, you have over 30 individual related and unrelated integration and installation projects….I ask you to total the months and items of completion…”
Silence. Then the excuses from the people running the project… well, Wilensky, what would you do about it?
“I am glad you asked. Cut at least 75% of the unfinished projects, make what you have work in 90 days or less, and move to hosted CRM and billing”.
Then, after I delivered the print out of my analysis, I met the CIO in private….“Your company can’t finish one project and the consultants and internal IT steering [you] towards these complex packages are making the excuses seem plausible”.
PM411: This is very typical in my experience. Hopefully, you opened some eyes above the CIO also. This points directly to the need to get a PMO operating OUTSIDE of the purview of the IT folks. There are just too many factors that support such a multi-project result when IT is guarding the henhouse.
Alan’s candor is exactly what many companies need right now. Many are attempting to do projects that have nothing to do with strategies. The organizational structure and culture for project selection and management doesn’t exist at a broad enough level.
Do you have some stories of excess projects that aren’t getting done? Share them!
Don’t miss a post! Subscribe via RSS and EMAIL.
Like this post? Stumble it…and see “Related Stories” and click on “tags” below.
(Image Source: stockxchng.com)
Tags: HP, innovation, IT, PMO, project, project-management, project-management-office, strategy, strategy-executionRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Best of the Best Practices
2 opinions for IT Led PMOs Create a Project Management Mess
Alan Wilensky
Jun 19, 2008 at 8:30 am
Bob,
I was so gratified to come across your higlight of my comment. After reading it and reflecting on your expansive commentary over the last several posts, I asked myself, “what is the essential take-away from this”. And it was clear: Closed Endedness.
External PM /PM’s (I do product management and Project management under contract), work hard to culture their client list and spend a great deal of time closing contracts. We have to deliver, or will not be in business for long. Unlike the big five IT armies like Infosys and EDS, we serve the small mid-sized enterprise that just can’t afford another spectacular failure.
Being on external contract and serving a closed-end term in our Statement of Work makes us lone wolves invaluable for cleaning up messes, or coming in at the outset to mitigate the forces of ego or religion that may be driving a project.
Some of those projects might have gone off the rails, some may just be starting with a whiff, a slight smell of badness that only the most astute executive can intuit; but we have developed a nose for baloney in IT that is just priceless to have in one’s corner when the vendors and / or the internal IT barons start to run hog wild.
Closed ended means that we are there for a fixed time, often just a few months, have to deliver a well defined set of solutions or remediations, and then are out of there. We have no political ambitions.
That’s the twinkle.
Bob Turek
Jun 20, 2008 at 11:31 am
Alan- I don’t know if you are familiar with Gerald Kendall’s book on advanced PPM/PMO, but it touches on the “closed endedness” issue. His view of PMOs is that, among other things, they are there to accelerate projects and figure out ways to stop bad multi-tasking, from initial estimating (where PMs are planning for stops, starts, redos among several projects) to defining projects in a way that they WILL get done (scope control). I understand the mid-size get in-get out issue very well- very difficult to simply hang around for the next project. There’s a lot of “good practice” that can be revealed through an analysis of this phenomenon. Thanks for your excellent insights.
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: