PM Network - January 2017

PMO OF THE YEAR

FINALIST

(CAPM)® certification. In the 2011 fiscal year, only 15 percent of project and program managers at the company had either certification. By 2013, that rate shot up to 100 percent, where it remains today.

These certifications “allow us to effectively communicate with one another about what the expectations are and where we’re headed with the execution of our program management processes,” Mr. Conlon says.

The PMO also emphasizes ongoing and targeted professional development. This takes the form of monthly shared experience forums, yearly individual competency assessments (relative to PMBOK® Guide Knowledge Areas) and a survey regarding practitioners’ understanding of PMO processes and tools.

A 2014 survey revealed that the organization’s project and program managers needed to improve risk management skills. To develop those capabilities, the PMO has established monthly workshops bringing together people from various divisions: project and program managers, but also engineers and technical leads.

Workshop hosts walk through their own programs’ risks and mitigation plans in front of the group, and attendees help identify additional potential problem areas. “Bringing in more people helps teams to take action where needed,” says Duane Reyes, PMP, project manager, Parker Aerospace, Irvine, California, USA.

At the end of each session, project managers walk away with a more detailed risk register—and plans of action. These workshops have trained more than 280 people from 40 project teams and 22 sites since late 2014.

“The most important success of the PMO has been the way we’ve increased the competency levels of our people,” Mr.

Draskovich says. “Without the people, you can have the best processes in the world, you can have the best tools in the world, but you’re not going to be able to get the job done.”