Beyond Projects 8 – Project Manager – Australia's online resource for project management professionals

Delivering value in a PMO

The phone call from the finance department went something like: “Geoff, the program seems likely to spend its entire budget for this financial year. Does that seem right to you?”; “Yes, we’re delivering great value for money, aren’t we?” Click. It seems that the financial folk had formed a habit of reserving only half of […]

March 18, 2011

Project Management Office

Disaster management for project managers

Disasters, emergencies, crises—call them what you will, but there’s no doubt adverse situations need their own special treatment. If you think a disaster situation would be the perfect fit for a project manager looking for the thrill of a high pressure role, perhaps it would be wise to take a look at what disaster management […]

March 17, 2011

Project management education, more than training

During a regular catch up, the executive sponsor and the PMO manager were discussing ways to get more improvements in project delivery capability. “I think better education across the company of how projects deliver on strategy will have a significant impact,” said the PMO manager. “Well, we’ve put a lot of your staff through project […]

March 17, 2011

Finding the gaps in project management

In less than two decades project management has developed from a body of knowledge to aspiring to become a profession. But where is it now? Where is it going? How will it get there? How has project management emerged in organisations and been affected by their evolution? Projects carried out in organisations—such as organisational changes […]

March 16, 2011

PMOs in Asia: The New Frontier

Project management is moving through Asia with the speed and tenacity of a raging bushfire. I have recently been working my way through Singapore, Hong Kong and Mainland China talking with organisations from several different industries about their PMOs and their attitudes towards project management in general. The vibe as I moved through Asia was […]

March 15, 2011

Project Management Office

Starting a PMO: the dream

I have a dream. A dream for new projects. I am standing in a conference room. I’m the PMO manager on a large project. It’s the project kick-off meeting. I’m not in my pyjamas. There’s a delicious spread of morning tea in the corner (including party pies). An excited project sponsor stands before us, with […]

March 4, 2011

Project Management Office

Project prioritisation matters

In business, how often do you see a list of tasks or initiatives, yet only the high priority ones are worked on? Lower priority initiatives are then delayed until they are forgotten or until they become high priority. Worse still is when lower priority initiatives are halted before completion, so higher priority initiatives can commence. […]

March 2, 2011

A new paradigm for program management

There is often a gap between the strategic vision and plans of a corporate executive or board and the immediate needs experienced by staff at the coalface. Responding to the latter is generally a more tactical focus, possibly consuming resources that might otherwise be directed at addressing the corporate strategies. Likewise, without comprehensive communication and […]

February 25, 2011

Project, program and portfolio governance, the basis of successful delivery

Project, program and portfolio governance is vital to deliver on time, on cost, with the desired quality, and to deliver to stakeholder expectations.

February 22, 2011