How I Build PMOs in Less than 6-Months

Establishing a PMO at an organization can be the difference between execution and hoping for the best. Here I share some key strategies I followed in the past at mid size organizations (200 - 5000) employees to bring up a well-oiled PMO in less than 6 months.

Secure Leadership Buy-In: It is extremely important to have one C-Suite executive on board with the CIO in this initiative. Having executive leadership sponsorship will empower the PMO leader in promoting ideas throughout the organization, gaining momentum and stakeholder engagement.

Engage Experienced Stakeholders : Create a network of experienced partners throughout the organization in different areas of operations, strategy, management, leadership, and customer facing roles. This network will be able t provide valuable insights on bottom-line value proposition and ensure the PMO is helping delivering the right KPIs and organizational objectives. A team of PMO advisors are not only your ears and eyes on the ground, they are your advocates and sounding board.

Clearly Define Objectives and Scope: Before initiating the PMO setup process, clearly define the objectives and scope of the PMO. Determine the specific goals, functions, and services the PMO will provide. This clarity helps in streamlining the establishment process by focusing efforts on the most critical aspects of the PMO.

Leverage Existing Resources and Templates: To expedite the PMO setup, leverage existing resources and templates that have been proven effective in other organizations. This includes project management methodologies, frameworks, templates, and guidelines. Utilizing these resources saves time in developing PMO processes and documentation from scratch, allowing for a quicker setup.

Adopt Agile Implementation Approach: Instead of pursuing a lengthy and comprehensive implementation approach, consider adopting an agile methodology for setting up the PMO. Break the PMO establishment process into smaller, manageable phases or iterations. This allows for early delivery of some PMO services, providing immediate value to the organization while continuing to build and improve the PMO incrementally.

Keep it Simple & Organized: Start off with spreadsheets to track projects, initiatives, requests, issues, risks, objectives and organizational goals. Then build your simple, but modular and flexible internal PMO database. I typically leverage Salesforce.com to build my clients PMO backbone. The ease of application development allows for data storage and relationship building, workflows, approvals and reporting. I also have used SharePoint sites or internal Google Sites to display impact and showcase reporting. Data can be pulled out using tools like PowerBI or other integration tools, Form Assembly can be utilized for demand management and issue tracking, or other input capture throughout the organization.

Foster Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing: Promote collaboration and knowledge sharing among project managers and teams within the organization. Encourage the exchange of best practices, lessons learned, and project management expertise. This helps in establishing a culture of project management excellence and creates a fertile environment for the PMO to flourish. Our educational brown bag lunches were great ways to build competence throughout the organization and promote strategies, collaboration, knowledge and skills. 

Invest in PMO Team: A key component I have always found invaluable is investing in my project management team's training, conference attendance, internal brainstorming sessions, creating an environment of learning and innovation. It not only boosts team morale, but also keeps the team on the cutting edge of problem solving, strategic thinking, stakeholder engagement and goal achievement.

Drop me a line and let me know how it goes!

High Performance Teams: Got What it Takes?

Effective teams exhibit and embed in their daily activities several key elements of:

• Trust and openness
• Common purpose
• Clear roles
• Effective processes
• Clear expectations
• Leadership acceptance

Does your teams have these? Share with me your experiences in inculcating these elements into your team. What worked and what did not?

Creating Energy

Creating energy within a group is a responsibility of each member of the group. The leader of the group is in the best position to facilitate the proper environment and group dynamics for the team members to bring energy. "Am I an energizer or a demotivator?" is a question each one of us should be asking each day.

Team members who walk away on the group, disappear, set the wrong priorities, can not keep up promises are big energy drains. They demotivate their entire team bringing performance and capabilities down to the bottom. Moreover, demotivators are contagious. I have witnessed entire organizations brought down to their knees because of a first demotivator, he starts to whine and complain rather than propose and solve, or she misses a deadline followed by another and another and eventually those dependent on her miss their deadlines. De-energizers are easy to spot and they suck the energy out of the whole team.

This morning a colleague sent me an email asking for advice regarding a board meeting she chairs that gradually its members started dropping off like birds on a utility pole being shot one after the other. In her latest meeting no one showed up at all.

In my next post I will share seven ways that one can bring energy into their circle. Until then enjoy the TED presentation below on first followers and the energy they bring into their domain, a demonstration that energy is created and the responsibility of the whole team and not just the leader. Just like first followers play a role in energizing a group, they also play a role in draining a group and leaving it as a dead corpse.

Authority and Influence Through Servant Leadership

Many leaders miss the whole point of leadership. It is simply to serve. An effective leader is one who can serve and has the influence to make things happen to allow him/her to serve. Unfortunately many leaders believe that their role is to control and police. That is a fallacy. Leadership is not about enforcement, it is about strategy, vision, developing others and sustainability. Enforcement is a tactical task and does not need a leader, it needs an executor in the form of an employee.

Servant leadership was introduced in 1970 by Robert Greenleaf, however the concept is not new to humanity. God through his revelations to Ibrahim (Abraham), Moses, Jesus and Mohammad (peace be upon all of them) guided mankind to the true understanding of leadership. When God addressed Ibrahim (pbuh) he informed him that he is making him a leader to all of the human race. Ibrahim asked God to give leadership to his offspring and generations to come, but God corrected Ibrahim and clarified that leadership is not to be given to transgressors. Those who go over the boundaries of God. God wants the human race to follow Ibrahim. The question then becomes what is it that Ibrahim possessed that made him required by God to carry the burden of leadership on his shoulders? The answer is submission. In the Quran, in the chapter of the Cow, God shares with us a beautiful conversation that took place between God and Ibrahim and it ends showing us that Ibrahim confirmed his submission to God, this submission encompassed compassion, love, service to God and care for mankind through his building the Holy Kaaba, making prayers and supplications that God accept from him and his son, make them remain submitters, and that God give the best of bounties, guidance, to his offspring, and send a messenger from among themselves that guides them and purifies them.

"the answer is submission, followed by compassion"

God teaches Mohammad (pbuh) that should he been harsh and difficult people would have walked away from him. After submission (belief), compassion is positioned at the heart of being a servant leader. We have many examples of the Prophet being a compassionate servant leader; spending long hours of time with the youth of his community, joking with the elders, caring for the orphans, looking after the needy, serving the neighbors and coaching the young to take over responsibility and leadership. Mohammad (pbuh) was an empathetic listener, when talking with others he would give them his full attention, and fully turn towards the speaker, he would never get go of a handshake until the other party did first, he would always smile in the face of others and be an attentive listener, reflecting on what is being said to him, analyzing it, acknowledging and sharing the feelings of the speaker. The Prophet (pbuh) always recognized others' needs and feelings. He was well aware of their issues and acknowledged their concerns and needs.
 
A servant leader is one that is able to accept criticism, just like Omar Ibn Al-Khattab, when a woman from among the audience one day jumped up and recited a verse from the Quran which contradicted Omar and strongly corrected him. Omar was accepting the advice and smiled. A servant leader is one who endures, and is courageous, such a leader is courageous to take risks to serve others with what pleases God. A servant leader will make sure policies and procedures are flexible and efficient to serve the people, the servant leader will take risks to try new things and will be courageous to stand next to his/her decision. Servant leaders do not hide behind bureaucracies and policies that are handicapping and find them as shelters for excuses for not serving the followers. Mohammad was a courageous leader, taking risks when signing treaties with his enemies, accepting behavior from others at times of distress. Omar was risk taking as well, he stopped the application of Hudud (Islamic rulings on major crimes) at times of poverty and economic downturns.

A servant leader is one who transforms an experience and a follower, a leader who not only embraces change, trust, delegation and integration, but also one who acts in a powerful way to transform the behavior of his followers. Mohammad (pbuh) has many instances when he transformed Omar from the angry disbeliever who was after killing him to the submissive crying believer. He transformed the ruthless thug and disbeliever who attacked him under the tree while sleeping into a humble, compassionate believer. He transformed Arabia, he transformed the world. Ghandi is another modern example of a servant leader who exhibited transformation in our times.

"A servant leader is one who transforms an experience and a follower, a leader who not only embraces change, trust, delegation and integration, but also one who acts in a powerful way to transform the behavior of his followers."

Servant leaders humble themselves and work for serving the cause of God through serving the people with wisdom and best of advice. They build bridges of cooperation, trust and compassion. They care for others more than they care for themselves.

Servant leaders are leaders who are hard to spot in the middle of a crowd, they are easy going, cheerful, accepting and trustworthy. They have authority not through control, but rather through love and admiration. They respect others, the can not sleep the nights when they know that one of their followers is hungry, has a problem or is in need.

A servant leader is one who cares that each young person under his responsibility is protected in his deen (way of life, religion) and has the means to get closer to his/her Lord. A servant leader is one who cares that each elder person under his responsibility has their needs fulfilled and the capabilities to look forward to a bright tomorrow.

"Ibn-Al-Khattab did, .. ask yourself did I cry today because I fell short in my leadership responsibility?"

Servant leaders care about the core and not the surface. They care that the hearts are satisfied and the minds are at peace. They do not care too much about what people say about them, or how they view them, or whether people see them following policies and rules. After all policies and rules are to benefit and assist in growth, not to block success and impede progress.

To every leader out there, I remind myself and you if you want to lead, then be a servant. Put your face in the dirt and humble yourself just like Omar Ibn-Al-Khattab did, and ask yourself did I cry today because I fell short in my leadership responsibility?

"I follow the footsteps of Omar when coaching leaders .... and I follow the footsteps of Abu Bakr when I coach followers"

When I coach leaders I follow the footsteps of Omar when it comes to coaching leaders, I bang on them real hard. I do not just criticize, I send them a blow into their face. Call it a wake up call, call it a reality check. No sugar coating, no sweet talk, direct dump of feedback from the heart. Coaching a follower is very different. I follow the footsteps of Abu Bakr when it comes to dealing with followers.

In 2000 Larry Spears summarized Greenleaf's servant leadership writings into ten characteristics:

• Listening
• Empathy
• Healing
• Awareness
• Persuasion
• Conceptualization
• Foresight
• Stewardship
• Commitment to Growth
• Building Community

Servant leadership is deeply rooted in the Islamic way of life. Traits of compassion, submission, patience, generosity, frugal life-style, humility, humbleness, love, caring, sincerity, integrity, courage, honesty, dedication, commitment, perseverance, steadfastness and ihsan are all components of a servant leader.

"compassion, submission, patience, generosity, frugal life-style, humility, humbleness, love, caring, sincerity, integrity, courage, honesty, dedication, commitment, perseverance, steadfastness and ihsan"

I share this little knowledge I have with every leader out there, whether a member of the board of a non-profit, a county executive, a country president, a teacher, a parent, a principal, a CEO, a head of class or a self-leader.

_________________________
pbuh = peace be upon him

Rare But Catastrophic

Accidents are a fact of life, simply because we are humans and have been created with two key characteristics; (1) decision-making, and (2) limited abilities. Only the creator of the universe has full control over every single element in the universe, ranging from the smallest part of an atom to the largest galaxy.

Personal accidents are very common and their impacts could be trivial to severe, and are usually local. Examples are simple fender benders, a child pushing another one while reaching out for a toy doll, and a house fire.

 

Organizational accidents on the other hand are less common and their impacts are more significant, and usually devastating and affecting others not related to the organization or its services. The root cause of an organizational impact can be due to an individual choice, a group decision, or a larger organizational error. However, at the end it is within the context of an organization. Individual accidents could also have origins in organizations. Hence, the line of separation between individual and organizational accidents is subtle and often quite not clear. Examples of organizational accidents are aircraft crashes like Air India's recent crash 1, 2, 3, and BP's oil well leak 4, 5, 6.

Key differences between individual and organizational accidents are listed below:

	Individual	Organizational
Root Cause	Individual or personal error, negligence; poor decision-making; poor personal quality.	Accumulated errors; altered relationships between systems and human elements; altered states of the environment due to technological innovations
Impact	Local, usually agent and victim could be the same; small to devastating	Wide-spread, reaches to uninvolved populations; small to devastating.
Frequency	High	Low
Predictability	Easy	Medium
Complexity	Low	Medium  - High
Survival Rate	Medium – High	Low – Medium
Defenses	Weak or lacking	Medium to strong

A main challenge in understanding organizational accidents is defining where the boundaries of the accident end. Both time and causality are seamless and do not have natural boundaries. To best analyze an accident, to prevent it from happening again, one may limit the scope of interest to things that people in the organization can manage. Accidents are usually triggered when some weakness in a defense system appears, the weakness could be a latent condition that exists and turned into an active failure. Latent conditions are similar to pathogens in a human body, they can be present for a long time and might not be detectable, however once triggered they turn into failures leading to immediate accidents. All organizations young and mature, simple and complex include latent conditions within their boundaries. More about latent conditions and active failures in my next post.

Organize Your System: Architecture versus Framework

Architectures and frameworks are among many other artifacts that could be used for organization. So what is the difference between an architecture and a framework?

Architectures define a unified structure of a system. It is concened with the purpose determination, concept, structure, use and behavior of the system. Architectures could be physical, operational, technical or functional.

Frameworks define the data and information that needs to go into an Architecture. For example a framework will define that a functional architecture will include functions, inputs and outputs of these functional blocks, controls and maybe actors performing these functions.

Common frameworks are DOD Architecture Framework (DODAF), The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF), Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework (FEAF), and they define what needs to be in a C4ISR Architecture, Enterprise Architecture and a Federal Enterprise Architecture respectively.

More to come on this topic soon...