Method123

For several years now the phrase 'Zombie PMO' has been used to describe a PMO organization that is barely alive -- more focused on mundane self-serving practices than delivering business value.  Be sure that well before the 'Zombie' reference was born, this has been a crisis in the PM community.  For years we've seen PMOs come and go in and out of fashion, not because the concept of a PMO lacked business value, but because those executing the PMO have failed to focus on the business value they should be delivering. We staunchly support the idea of embracing best-practices, standards, governance, and employing sound methodology.  But, without an understanding of how these characteristics should be leveraged to deliver for the business you run the risk of becoming antiquated, unnecessary, and overhead that the business will either ignore or disband. One of the critical actions that I would encourage for any PMO leader is to engage in a healthy dialog with the business...

Be Proactive Managing a Project with Unrealistic Budget If you are a project manager dealing with what you perceive to be an unrealistic budget, the first thing you will want to do is discuss this with your sponsor to see if there are any factors that are driving the project budget. For instance, there may be budgetary restrictions. If you are a vendor, it is possible your sales people committed to a fixed price for the project. In some cases your manager or sponsor might set an arbitrary budget without much justification. It does not necessarily make your challenge any easier, but you may find that by better understanding the reason for the fixed budget, you may have an easier time getting yourself and your team members motivated to achieve it. When you have a full project management methodology you will have tools and techniques to respond to these concerns.  There are a number of responses to a project with unrealistic budgets. Reduce scope . Talk to your sponsor about reducing t...

Define the Objectives of Your Project Objectives are concrete statements that describe the things the project is trying to achieve. They are included in your Project Charter . An objective should be written in a way that it can be evaluated at the conclusion of a project to see whether it was achieved. A well-worded objective will be Specific, Measurable, Attainable / Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound (SMART). (SMART is a technique for wording the objective. An objective does not absolutely have to be SMART to be valid.) An example of an objective statement might be to " upgrade the customer service telephone system by December 31 to achieve average client wait times of no more than two minutes ". Note that the objective is specific. The objective is measurable in terms of the average client wait times the new phone system is trying to achieve. You can assume that the objective is achievable and realistic. The objective is time-bound , and should be completed...

Define the Objectives of Your Project Objectives are concrete statements that describe the things the project is trying to achieve. They are included in your Project Charter . An objective should be written in a way that it can be evaluated at the conclusion of a project to see whether it was achieved. A well-worded objective will be Specific, Measurable, Attainable / Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound (SMART). (SMART is a technique for wording the objective. An objective does not absolutely have to be SMART to be valid.) An example of an objective statement might be to " upgrade the customer service telephone system by December 31 to achieve average client wait times of no more than two minutes ". Note that the objective is specific. The objective is measurable in terms of the average client wait times the new phone system is trying to achieve. You can assume that the objective is achievable and realistic. The objective is time-bound , and should be completed...

Define the Objectives of Your Project Objectives are concrete statements that describe the things the project is trying to achieve. They are included in your Project Charter . An objective should be written in a way that it can be evaluated at the conclusion of a project to see whether it was achieved. A well-worded objective will be Specific, Measurable, Attainable / Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound (SMART). (SMART is a technique for wording the objective. An objective does not absolutely have to be SMART to be valid.) An example of an objective statement might be to " upgrade the customer service telephone system by December 31 to achieve average client wait times of no more than two minutes ". Note that the objective is specific. The objective is measurable in terms of the average client wait times the new phone system is trying to achieve. You can assume that the objective is achievable and realistic. The objective is time-bound , and should be completed...

Every organization will have to deal with projects that are under-performing, over budget, behind schedule -- in a word troubled ! We identify 2 very specific things that organizations need to do in response. The first is immediate and the later is a more systematic response to prevent projects in the future from becoming troubled. 1. Deal with Troubled Projects Head On When a project gets in trouble, too often, the first tendency is to extend the deadline and spend more money on it in hopes of getting it finished. This is a bad idea, especially if the situation occurs late in the project's life cycle. Ideally, early on, the PMO leader should develop a basic list of conditions that will trigger an investigation into whether a project is in trouble. Usually, a "consensus" on trouble inevitably will emerge, but it often occurs too late in the process. The primary means of addressing troubled projects are: Re-scope : Assess if there is value that can be derived from the p...

Every organization will have to deal with projects that are under-performing, over budget, behind schedule -- in a word troubled ! We identify 2 very specific things that organizations need to do in response. The first is immediate and the later is a more systematic response to prevent projects in the future from becoming troubled. 1. Deal with Troubled Projects Head On When a project gets in trouble, too often, the first tendency is to extend the deadline and spend more money on it in hopes of getting it finished. This is a bad idea, especially if the situation occurs late in the project's life cycle. Ideally, early on, the PMO leader should develop a basic list of conditions that will trigger an investigation into whether a project is in trouble. Usually, a "consensus" on trouble inevitably will emerge, but it often occurs too late in the process. The primary means of addressing troubled projects are: Re-scope : Assess if there is value that can be derived from the p...