Beyond Standardisation Tailoring Your PMO for Maximum Impact ft. Marisa Silva
Have you ever found yourself wondering how you can improve your service delivery as a project management professional (PMO)? Many PMOs partner with organisations to help them perform better and fulfil their business potential, but find it challenging to deliver impactful value in terms of helping them deliver projects on time, within the provided budget, on scope and in alignment with their core strategy.
PMO expert Marisa Silva believes that this is because many in the industry are still using outdated ways of doing things, and that in order to become modern industry players they need to critically examine whether they’re providing all the value they can.
In this podcast, Marisa Silva explains to Elise Stevens that it’s not that PMOs are unable to add value, but rather that they use outdated, standardised models without gauging if it’s appropriate for their business. In essence, PMOs need to find out what works for the organisation and how they perceive value.
Marisa Silva is the founder and owner of the Lucky PM and an experienced PMO and PPM Consultant. She establishes, embeds and matures best-fit practices and building capabilities in organisations undergoing transformational change.
Points raised in this podcast:
- Too many PMOS are too focused on standardisation and enforcement, which creates resistance. People don’t like to be hounded and chased.
- A common trap PMO’s fall into is failing to show how they’re adding value. As a result, people don’t understand what they do, and leadership cannot see the progress being made. There needs to be a matching of expectations between what is achieved and what is expected.
- Both short term and long-term improvements are crucial for sustainable value, and PMOs should understand that the perception of value evolves over time.
- PMOS need to start selling and marketing themselves better. What is your personal brand and is it fun and engaging? Could you provide a total stranger with a 30 second elevator pitch summarising your services? You need to create a roadmap for your professional path forward and reach its relevant milestones.
- Create a community of practice in the organisation – nobody will destroy what they helped to build