Atekpc

The PMO can accelerate the implementation process as it streamlines the departments’ workload by focusing exclusively on it. As it has been done in the specific case, in order to accelerate this procedure and improve its efficacy and efficiency, the office has to be comprised of a “handful of experienced project managers”. Indeed, having the specific expertise in this field enables to avoid conflicts of interest that might occur by giving control of the PMO to an internal executive.

In order for the adoption of a portfolio management process (which would be new to this unit) to be successful, the following steps must be followed under the guidance of the portfolio management, and in collaboration with the individual project managers and PMO:

All internal stakeholders want to be part of this development and are motivated to make it work

TCO A) You work for company Bravo and have been asked to create a presentation for the Board of Directors to explain PPM. Your presentation is to include a comparison and contrast of project portfolio management, program management, and project management. The presentation should also include the benefits of PPM and why the company should implement this program.

To understand which services were most important to the AT&T Project Management Community, the PMCOE distributed both company-wide and business unit surveys to identify problem areas (e.g. leadership support, adequate training, etc.) and determine what needs its audience had which could potentially be met by the center. Initial discussions and survey findings helped to tailor the PMCOE offerings to provide the best payback of investment for both the PM Community and PMCOE efforts.

The major part of the job for PSP is to advice the Federal government on management and operation challenges. These challenges can include a wide range from designing economic development strategies to implementing financial controls for major federal programs. These require immense focus and efficiency to get the job done right and PSP has just the right tools by partnering with the parent company PWC’s business units to create innovative solutions. There are four primary goals in PWC PSP: Drive profitable growth, enhance people experience, enhance the client experience, and maintain compliant and efficient operations.(PwC PSP MBNQA Application, 2014)

Unaccustomed to consistent, disciplined process & standards. Viewed PMO as administrative overhead. Saw PMO as getting in the way of “real work”. “If we get too rigid, it will fail”. Knowledge barriers - little to no experience with formal project management practices. No consensus among senior management concerning the degree to which project management was an integral part of the change process. Director of Applications

AteckPC faced some obstacles and challenges while implementing PMO. There was a lack of existence of formal project management (PM) in the organization. AteckPC’s management recognized the need for formal PM. However, moving from non-formal PM to formal PM created many cultural barriers. Many of the staff including managers perceived project management as something that will get in the way of doing their job. Therefore, there was resistance to change coming out of the employees. Some were having a lack of experience with formal PM, and others were missing the knowledge in how to deal with some software tools. Also, there were some employees who found the flexibility and informality appealing. Even the IT staff preferred the informality since

Using project management offers a business a way for dealing with considerably lowered phase times. With businesses operating internationally projects that can have an effect on the company as a whole are not easy to manage without a proper line of attack. For this, project management would help cross functional teams to be more successful.

There was not a clear charter and authority for PMO at AtekPC. The implementation strategy was to work within the culture and to develop forces that would promote the PMO and overcome cultural resistance. The senior IT managers encouraged a slow, incremental strategy that would allow the PMO concept to prove itself with small victories won through mentoring one project at a time. Initiating

While there is consensus in the literature that TOC PM does work; however, there appears to be different approaches on how TOC PM should be implemented (Goldratt, 2004; Leach, 2005; Seider, 2006; Souza & Pires, 2010; Doyle, 2010; Xin & Xiaopei, 2012; AlNasseri, & Aulin, 2015). These scholars argue that there are five steps of the TOC PM that must be completed and integrated into the project plan and schedules in order to observe any benefits (Doyle, 2010; AlNasseri, & Aulin, 2015). Some researchers argue that the five steps are important; however, additional considerations must be embedded in the five steps in order for TOC PM to be successful (Umble & Umble, 2000; Goldratt & Cox, 2004; Cheng et al., 2014). Umble and Umble (2000) and Goldratt and Cox (2004) argue that TOC PM is successful only when there is a robust system that is implemented that uses stakeholder input to combat unrealistic schedules and unnecessary schedule delays. Ponisciakova, Gogolova, and Ivankova, (2015) stated that in order for TOC PM to be successful it must have a robust system that allows reportable data to be reviewed by key stakeholders, the project manager, the project team, and global support. Some researchers (Umble & Umble, 2000; Xin & Xiaopei, 2012; AlNasseri, & Aulin, 2015) stated that in order for TOC PM to be successful it should concentrate on adding buffered time to the project schedule to allow for uncertain risk events and unexpected

As according to the AtekPC Project Management Office case, the purpose1 of a PMO is to fulfill the need for greater discipline in managing IT projects. Moreover, it establishes or enhances project management skills, process, and governance structures within an organization (Applegate Pg. 462). The director of Application Development, Richard Steinberg, described AtekPC’s PMO’s purpose as a “methodology” for managing projects with standardized practices. As stated within the case, the main purpose of the PMO is to provide standardization in managing projects of large, complex scales as well as gain improvements in planning and performance of initiatives (Applegate Pg. 465). The case generalizes

Structure: Each organization creates its own PMO. A project management office, abbreviated to PMO, is a group or department within a business, agency or enterprise that defines and maintains standards for project management within the organization. The PMO strives to standardize and introduce economies of repetition in the execution of projects. Also steering committee is created to represent interests of different stakeholders.

This week’s article by Sarah Fister Gale, “Four Steps to a Stronger PMO: The goal is contributing business value”, presents some of the most important characteristics that if followed correctly could make a Project Management Office (PMO) Successful. A fifth step that could definitely only make the PMO stronger is: Train and Mentor the Force. A PMO office not only sets the standards for subordinate project teams to follow, they also coach and mentor their employees (PMBOK, 2013, p 11). It could be easy to imagine what type of employees will the PMO actually teach and mentor, most likely project staff employees. However, it has been documented that even senior managers need education on project management themselves (Meredith & Mantel, 2009, p 213). Educating those that with their daily effort make the project and the organization successful it’s a responsibility of the PMO.

Build a high-performance image- Project teams with a clear sense of purpose and confidence in their mission can perform better. This is true for any environment. A high-performance image stimulates the team’s interest, pride of participation, and sense of ownership. Common goals and shared positive images serve as a bridging mechanism and help to unify the team across the miles and cultures. The organization’s goals and its mission objectives should be clearly understood by all stakeholders. By establishing and sharing a favorable project image, project managers can unify their team, build commitment toward realizing the project’s objectives, and establish high project priority (Thamhain). Behind high-performance teams exists a story of commitment. As any real team, a high-performance team must