PMO Focus + Flexibility = Value

How project management offices (PMOs) function differs as widely as the organizations they serve.

A PMO may oversee and execute projects, implement process improvements, serve as a center of excellence, or align projects to the organization’s strategy.

The consensus seems to be that the more focused and flexible the PMO is, the higher the chances are that it delivers value to the organization—and that is the ultimate goal.

Read more...PMI - Community Post

Project Requirements Gathering

The case is made to reinvent the process of project requirements definition and transition to an iterative, treaty negotiation that balances the needs of stakeholders to achieve the goals of the enterprise. ...

... "We should think of a set of requirements as being like a multilateral treaty among a group of nations. Representatives of nations negotiate treaties by seeking out points of agreement, acknowledging constraints, compromising, and trading off. " ...

Via Builder AU: Stop gathering requirements

Project Management on One Page

I just picked up The One-Page Project Manager by Clark Campbell. I'm always looking for ways to simplify things, and am a big proponent of "one-page" type solutions. I've use a one-page business plan, a one-page charter, a one-page business case, and other such tools, always with good results.

Needless to say, I was intrigued by the concept when I saw the book. And I was not disappointed.

Not only does the book offer some good insights, but it offers step-by-step instructions on how to complete a visually appealing, one-page project overview and status for senior management that includes:

- The project's key objectives
- The major tasks and schedule dates
- How the task align with the objectives
- Project cost and schedule status
- Key resources and priorities
- Intangible key criteria
- A brief summary of the project status
- Basic descriptive information

Best of all, as noted in the book, the templates are available as free downloads from the book's website (below). I still recommend reading the book as opposed to just winging it with the template, as the book offers further explanation.

The author notes that this is not meant as a replacement for MS/Project, Primavera, or any other tool you may be using. Instead, it is used in addition, as a way to communicate with senior management, the project team, or anyone else that needs to know the relevant facts about the project without reading a fifty-page report.

Check it out...

OPPM -One Page Project Manager

Don't Do This

Don't shred your project documentation, unless it has expired based on your enterprise's retention policy. Be as transparent as possible with your project status, especially with the steering team. Be the source of the truth. ...

... "It is hardly surprising that the Treasury wants to hide from the public the details of their badly mishandled computer projects and it seems that Gordon Brown's tendency towards obsessive secrecy ... " ...

Via ITPro: Shredding of IT project reports