Will ‘agile’ make PMO superfluous?

Henny Portman PMO Gilde 12 Feb. 2015

Biography: Henny Portman

• Joined ING in 1981 • Tiel Utrecht Verzekeringen: Developer/Analyst/Head System Development • Consultancy ING Fatum Paramaribo, Suriname • ING Investment Management Nederland: Head IT • ING Investment Management Europe: PMO Head • ING Insurance Central Europe: Regional PMO head • ING Insurance STO: Global PMO Head • I build hub and spoke PMO’s in Europe and Asia

Now: • PMO Consultant for NN Group • Partner Hedeman Consulting • APMG certified PRINCE2, MoP, P3O trainer • Blogger • Author of PM articles and books

https://hennyportman.wordpress.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/hennyportman

3

A common lament is that the PMO …

…is just a few process cops and paper pushers

Emailing PMO’s demands …. … self-centered … Without analysis, recommendations or help

Agenda

One size fits all?

• Agile or not agile

• Gartner’s bimodal view

• The agile PMO (DSDM Consortium)

• Activist PMO (BCG & Gartner)

5

Will agile change these questions?

Business change Strategy

Are we doing the

right things?

Business change Value

Are we getting the business benefits?

Business change Design

Are we doing things

the right way?

Business change Delivery

Are we getting

things done well?

Portfolio management

Validation

Verification

6

Gartner’s view on a Bimodel world

7

Mode 1 The long haul

May not be glamorous, but it’s

vital work

Mode 2 The fast delivery

Looks easy but to do it right takes skill

8

Mode 1, The long haul

Mode 2, The fast delivery

Goal Reliability Agility

Value Price for performance Revenue, brand, customer experience

Approach Waterfall, V-model, high-ceremony IID*

Agile, Kanban, low-ceremony IID*

Governance Plan-driven, approval-based

Empirical, continuous, process-based

Sourcing Enterprise suppliers; long-term deals

Small, new vendors; short-term deals

Talent Good for conventional processes and projects

Good for new and uncertain projects

Culture IT-centric, removed from customer

Business-centric, close to customer

Cycle time Long (months) Short (days, weeks)

* IID: Iterative and Incremental Development

9

Mode 1, The long haul

Mode 2, The fast delivery

Goal Reliability Agility

Value Price for performance Revenue, brand, customer experience

Approach Waterfall, V-model, high-ceremony IID*

Agile, Kanban, low-ceremony IID*

Governance Plan-driven, approval-based

Empirical, continuous, process-based

Sourcing Enterprise suppliers; long-term deals

Small, new vendors; short-term deals

Talent Good for conventional processes and projects

Good for new and uncertain projects

Culture IT-centric, removed from customer

Business-centric, close to customer

Cycle time Long (months) Short (days, weeks)

* IID: Iterative and Incremental Development

Myth: this is always

bad

Myth: this is always good

Exec

ute

(t

eam

)

Dir

ect

(Pro

ject

b

oar

d)

Man

age

(P

M)

Del

iver

(T

M/t

eam

)

Scrum

XP

PRINCE2

Agile PM

Atern

Pro

gram

me

B

oar

d

LSS

Init

iate

(P

ort

folio

B

oar

d)

MSP

MoP

Agi

le P

gM

Will agile have an impact on the PMO organization?

Organization

Portfolio

Office

(permanent))

Hub Portfolio

Office

(permanent)

Programme Office for

a specific initiative

(temporary)

Hub Portfolio

Office

(permanent)

Project Office for a

specific initiative

(temporary)

CoE

Center of

Excellence

- Standards

- Training

- Know how

Sub portfolio

board

Management team

CEO

BCD/PD

Portfolio

board

Progr. board

Project board

12

focus on assurance

close to the business and projects

responsive to business change

ensuring incremental

delivery

encouraging small chunks of work

respecting resource constraints

Measures arising From projects

continuous support & monitoring

empowered Experts/advisors

responsive

proactive

facilitative

collaborative

The place to avoid

The place to go

measures a significant overhead for projects

periodic spikes

of demand on projects

rule-based administrators

bureaucratic

reactive

clerical

dictatorial

focus on compliance

distant from business or projects

avoiding change to projects

staid and traditional

championing “big bang”

doing it all (context switching for people,

pet projects, etc.)

The Agile PMO DSDM Consortium

PMO characteristics

Agile PMO functions

• Portfolio management

• Benefits management

• Stakeholder management

• Resource management

• Risk management

• Quality management

• Standards for methods and tools

• Commercial management

• Knowledge management

Knowledge management PMO to …

• share lessons learned • facilitate organisational learning • organize community of practice • organize brown-bag/lunch-bite sessions • provide fast-track project mobilisation • maintain library with best practices • deliver (agile) coaches

15

“I am a camera with its shutter open, quite passive, recording, not thinking.” ―Christopher Isherwood

“The activist is not the man who says the river is dirty. The activist is the man who cleans up the river.” ―Ross Perot

17 Passive PMO Activist PMO

Co

nte

nt

Structure output of teams Challenge content & targets delivered by teams

Consolidate expertise of integration teams

Bring in out-side in topic expertise

Moderate team meetings Participate in meetings as active member

Consolidate

Challenge

Pro

ce

ss

Oversee overall change process Actively design overall change process

Track progress and benefits Challenge benefits and progress

Communicate organizational and cultural change

Assist org-design and manage cultural change

Facilitate

Drive

BCG’s view on passive versus activist PMO

18 Passive PMO Activist PMO

Co

nte

nt

Structure output of teams Challenge content & targets delivered by teams

Consolidate expertise of integration teams

Bring in out-side in topic expertise

Moderate team meetings Participate in meetings as active member

Consolidate

Challenge

Pro

ce

ss

Oversee overall change process Actively design overall change process

Track progress and benefits Challenge benefits and progress

Communicate organizational and cultural change

Assist org-design and manage cultural change

Facilitate

Drive

BCG’s view on passive versus activist PMO

"Activist" PMOs typically realize ~25%

higher benefits and ensure a

more coordinated execution of the

transformation agenda

Passive PMO Activist PMO

Lack and avoids measurable objectives

“Metrics for self-improvement, shared goals

Requests project updates Probes for risk, asks tough questions

Plentiful reporting, scant ideas or help

Data-driven recommendations for decisions

Offers scheduled training sessions Project setup with PMs, on-the-job training

Waits for approved projects to assign PMs

Promotes PMO as source of the best PMs

Library of templates from standards, textbooks

Customize good project artefacts and shares

Shies away from conflict, politics Works organization politics up, down and across

Mantra of “Standards and consistency”

Mantra, “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds” - Emerson

Gartner’s view on passive versus activist PMO

20

Passive PMO Activist PMO

Lack and avoids measurable objectives

“Metrics for self-improvement, shared goals

Requests project updates Probes for risk, asks tough questions

Plentiful reporting, scant ideas or help

Data-driven recommendations for decisions

Offers scheduled training sessions Project setup with PMs, on-the-job training

Waits for approved projects to assign PMs

Promotes PMO as source of the best PMs

Library of templates from standards, textbooks

Customize good project artefacts and shares

Shies away from conflict, politics Works organization politics up, down and across

Mantra of “Standards and consistency”

Mantra, “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds” - Emerson

Gartner’s view on passive versus activist PMO

21

The choice is yours …

Questions?