PM Network - February 2015

We want to show that the PMO isn’t there to point out project managers’ mistakes.

We’re there to help them achieve success.

projects and for ensuring that they fall under the company’s strategic objectives. We provide on-demand project management support. We establish project management methodologies and standards with different departments, such as the infrastructure development, finance, human resources, and information and communications technology (ICT) departments. We track and report projects to senior management. We’re also responsible for promoting project management best practices. We do that by facilitating project management training and certification, and by coaching project managers.

How did you and senior management
determine the kind of PMO BAC needed?

We presented different options to senior management—different roles the PMO could play. One of them was a basic PMO that just provides on-demand support. Another option was a hybrid PMO where we not only provide support, but also help the departments establish their project management methodologies, collect the statuses of the projects, facilitate project management training and provide mentoring.

The third option was what we called the advanced PMO. It involves everything in the hybrid, plus being the source of project management resources.

So when, say, ICT wants to initiate a project, that department would borrow a project manager from the PMO.

Senior management decided to go with the second option. It’s great to start as a hybrid while the PMO matures. We might evolve into a more advanced PMO in the near future.

How does the PMO ensure projects’
strategic alignment?

We created six different program boards within the PMO, one for each of the company’s six strategic objectives. All of the projects under each board share the same strategic objective. We also have a steering committee that will oversee all of those boards and will align and prioritize projects within each.

What does your training of project managers
aim to address?

General project management competency—being able to plan and plan and plan before going and doing things ad hoc. Also, prioritizing—how to prioritize tasks within projects instead of trying to do everything at once.

What’s the greatest challenge you’ve faced
while implementing the PMO?

Buy-in. Getting project managers to buy into the PMO.

We’ve proven to senior management that the PMO will bring in benefits, but with the project managers, we’re trying very hard to show those benefits and that we’re not creating an extra level of bureaucracy to fill out more forms.

How do you demonstrate that,
especially since the PMO is new?

We created a communications plan to launch the PMO. We sat down one-on-one with each project manager and his or her functional manager, answered all of their questions regarding the new PMO, and explained its benefits—it will help improve your competency level, it will help certify you so you’ll have a better career, it will help you resolve issues you’re facing.

Are you trying to have all practitioners
earn the Project Management
Professional (PMP)® certification?

Yes, mainly PMP® and Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)® certifications.

We believe this will prepare project managers for what needs to be done and how it needs to be done to ensure that we achieve projects on budget and on time.

You previously worked as a web
developer and designer for years. How
did you transition from IT into project
management?

I realized I was more interested in managing IT projects than the technical side, so I took a university course on project management and really liked it. When I graduated, I got the CAPM® credential, which few people in this region had at that time. Then I started volunteering for the PMI Arabian Gulf Chapter Bahrain Branch, which opened a lot of doors for me. PM