One of the unexpected challenges in our PMO journey has been that success can make an enterprise-level PMO appear less relevant. A PMO must transform its approach to stakeholders or it won’t take full advantage of the improvements it fostered. One manifestation of the problem unfolds thusly:
- An enterprise PMO composed of PM thought leaders executes a PM improvement program that delivers methodology, training, tools, and change management initiatives to its stakeholders (e.g., regional, local, unit PMOs).
- Those stakeholders [largely] adopt those initiatives and transform their project operations in significant and measurable ways.
- This transformation creates a new set of PM thought leaders, who often surpass the knowledge and hands-on experience of the original enterprise PMO.
The business problem has reversed; the enterprise PMO now becomes the organization that needs to change to reflect the new reality. Deliverables that were relevant in moving from low maturity processes no longer work with a more sophisticated audience. This issue is compounded by the difficulty in recognizing the changed environment. Who wants to admit that he/she is no longer automatically at the vanguard of knowledge?
In other words, the challenge for a successful enterprise PMO is: “Who will change the change agents?”
Filed under: Methodology, Organizational Change Management, People Development, PMO, Portfolio Management, Program Management, Project Management | Tagged: business change, Enterprise PMO, personal change, process maturity | 3 Comments »