Navy Federal Credit Union is “the Best of the Best”

November 11, 2015 | by J. Kent Crawford

We’re here at the PMO Symposium in Phoenix, Arizona with PMO leaders from all over the world. It’s always exciting to be among “the best of the best” as the PMI Awards Program logo declares. And among PMOs, the best are definitely represented here.

Chief among these, of course, are the finalists for the PMO of the Year Award, which, as I write, has just been formally presented. And (drumroll here) the winner for 2015 is …

Navy Federal Credit Union, the world’s largest credit union, serves members of the US military wherever they serve, both at home around the globe. The NFCU Information Services Department’s PMO has done remarkable work in helping the credit union to live up to its mission to serve its members. As the PMO director, Kristin Earley, commented, “the mission to serve members of the military is energizing” for the staff of this rapidly evolving PMO. Read all about the massive project they recently pulled off in record time—a global implementation of “Instant Card Issuance” —in the ebook we’ve produced about the Award winner and finalists here.

The two finalists of course also deserve high praise, as it is not an easy matter to make it into the top three in this competition. They are (in alpha order):

Symcor, a Canadian B2B firm that provides banks with processing services for checks, statements and ATM transactions (among other services) is one of the few companies I’ve ever seen that puts their PMO head up on the website with all the other executive staff. Way to go! This is something we’ve been hoping to see evolving. Symcor’s PMO leader, Haresh Desai, reports directly to his CEO, establishing a key role for the PMO in strategy execution.

Likewise, Ticketmaster International’s PMO has worked out a unique method of involving project and non-project staff across the 13 far-flung markets they serve in strategic planning. As many studies have shown, involving a broad cross-section of the company in strategic planning is a critical differentiator for companies to execute strategy effectively.

As you read the ebook, you will see that all three of these PMOs have been really smart about the ways they have leveraged technology to serve projects, as well as placing primary importance on the skills and knowledge of their staff. I know you’ll find great ideas in the case studies compiled here, as well as in the articles now on the PMI site, and those to come in PM Network. When it comes to great PMOs, one piece of advice you can’t go wrong with is … follow the leader(s)!

Check back here next week for a series of interviews with the winner and finalists to be posted by our editor in chief, Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin.

About the Author

J. Kent Crawford

Kent Crawford is the founder and CEO of Project Management Solutions, Inc. (PM Solutions) and PM College. His experience spans more than twenty five years, where he has been responsible for the development of systems requirements and the functional design of integrated project management systems for a number of Fortune 500 organizations. He is the Former President and Chair of the Project Management Institute (PMI®). During his tenure in office, Mr. Crawford implemented innovative programs, which resulted in an astounding fifty percent membership growth for the Institute. His leadership in PMI has been widely recognized as a primary driver in PMI's success. Mr. Crawford is a recipient of the PMI Fellow Award, PMI's highest and most prestigious individual honor. A prolific speaker and advocate of the profession, he is also the award-winning author of The Strategic Project Office: A Guide to Improving Organizational Performance (for which he won a David I. Cleland Project Management Literature Award from PMI), Optimizing Human Capital with a Strategic Project Office, Project Management Maturity Model: Providing a Proven Path to Project Management Excellence, and Project Management Roles & Responsibilities.

View Posts by J. Kent Crawford

J. Kent Crawford

Related Posts:

• Understanding PMaaS-Part 2
• When You Needed Results Yesterday: Understanding the Role of Project Management as a Service (PMaaS)
• PMaaS and Organizational Performance, Then and Now
• What We Mean When We Say PM as a Service
• A Festively Decorated Big Box of …. What Now?!
• Value Delivery Skills Webinar Attendees Had Questions: Here Are Some Answers
• Seven Actions for the Adaptive Organization
• High Performers Value These Skills
• PM Skills Benchmark Study: Your Second Chance to Participate
• Managing Projects…Or Delivering Value? Eric Foss’s Challenge to Project Managers
• A Look Forward, With Hope and Confidence
• Some Thoughts About Governance, PMOs and the Thinking Project Manager
• PMO of the Year Finalist Ontario Power Generation
• The Future is Already Here for These PMOs
• State of the PMO Research Webinar – Your Questions, Answered: Part 2
• State of the PMO Research Webinar – Your Questions, Answered: Part 1
• Will A.I. Kill the PMO? Part 3 in Our A.I. in PM Series
• PMO Research Reveal: What You'll Learn in This Week's Webinar
• The Evolution of the Enterprise PMO: What Comes Next?
• Think Your Business Is Too Small for a PMO? Think Again.
• The Enterprise PMO Delivers
• PMOs: New Research Shows Benefits Outweigh Cost
• The PMO at 20: New Research Findings Released
• Extended: The State of the PMO Research Study, Thru Feb. 18.
• Why Research Is Important
• 2022: What Is the State of Your PMO?
• Your Questions, Answered: Part Four-- Agile and the PMO
• Your Questions, Answered: Part Three--Hybrid PM? Industry-Specific?
• Project Management Carried On During 2020: Here's How
• Blog PMI series #3 The SAFe PMO: Two Experts Respond

(6 votes. Average: 2.5 out of 5)