“Our first attempt at starting a PMO [project management office] ended in failure. We underestimated the training aspect. All the handbooks and templates in the world are not much use if project leaders do not know how to apply them. But since then, we have been able to establish an effective PMO function. There is no set formula for success, but if I could give just one piece of advice, it would be this: Get control of the project initiation process before you do anything else.“In most PMO-less companies, projects start up all over the place, and for the strangest reasons. The inbound queue is always full beyond capacity, and any attempt to get discipline around project execution is doomed. (Some of you may remember the I Love Lucy episode where Lucy and Ethel are working on the cookie assembly line. It keeps going faster and faster as quality of execution goes downhill.)“To start the PMO you need to get control of what you do before you can start improving how you do it. We started with a simple Project Planning Pipeline report that categorized projects into Active, Next to Start and Proposed. With a few simple rules around how to ’activate’ a project, our customers quickly got used to the fact that we are doing fewer concurrent projects, but we were going to execute them well. This set the stage for adding project management methodologies, training, tools, support and all the good things that PMOs do to improve execution.” Related content news Salesforce CEO Benioff shakes up executive team with new hires Six months after the company lost its co-CEO and announced it was laying off 10% of its global workforce, Salesforce’s top team is undergoing a major personnel change. By Charlotte Trueman Jun 07, 2023 3 mins Technology Industry Enterprise Applications opinion Cisco debuts bold portfolio of network, security, and observability solutions and previews generative AI capabilities for Webex and Security Cloud Cisco’s innovative technologies help connect the dots of its network- and cloud-based ecosystem. By Pete Bartolik Jun 07, 2023 4 mins Cloud Security brandpost A guide to hybrid cloud deployment for innovation without disruption How do organizations balance their on-premises preferences and requisites with the crucial need to innovate? By Ahmed Helmy, Global Vice President, Avaya Experience Platform Product Management Jun 07, 2023 3 mins Hybrid Cloud brandpost Bringing AI to your organization? Better bring the right database Why Apache Cassandra offers the scalability, reliability, and speed required for building artificial intelligence applications. By Patrick McFadin Jun 07, 2023 7 mins Machine Learning Artificial Intelligence Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe