Voices
INSIDE TRACK
Strategy in Flight
Emad
Naeemi, PMP,
strategy and
PMO officer,
Bahrain
Airport
Co.,
Muharraq,
Bahrain
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about 60 project managers who handle roughly 170
projects each year.
What organizational needs does the PMO
aim to address?
There were two needs above all. First, the company
needed a clear overview of all the work going on. Some
projects were running ad hoc, and some departments
were running more or less in silos. And then there was
the need to improve project management competen-cies. The central goal is to increase efficiency in implementing projects.
How exactly does the PMO provide solutions?
Our PMO is responsible for all of the company’s
Co. (BAC), Emad Naeemi doesn’t just implement the
organization’s strategy. He helped develop it.
From mid-2013 to early 2014, he and the senior management team at BAC, which manages Bahrain International Airport, went on several retreats to determine the
strategic objectives necessary to achieve the organization’s mission: operate a world-class, high-functioning
airport for a proud country. (“If you ever come to our
airport,” Mr. Naeemi says, “you’ll get from your plane to
the street in 10 to 15 minutes. It’s very efficient.”)
With a strategy in place, Mr. Naeemi and a colleague began creating BAC’s project management office
(PMO), which establishes processes, develops com-petencies and governs all projects. The PMO oversees
