PMOs Migrating Upward: A Preview into the State of the PMO Research Results

January 13, 2012 | by Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin

The State of the PMO research study will close in just a few hours (you might still be able to put in your two cents if you hurry) and already we are sifting through the initial findings. One startling change is that the percentage of PMOs that report to the CIO or other C-level role has risen dramatically: to over 43%, compared to just 27% in 2010.

That's quite a steep trajectory, indicative of the increasing role of PMOs in managing strategic functions. Seeing this statistic reminded me of a colleague's conversation with the CIO of a national food-service firm recently. That CIO remarked on the fact that all projects in the organization now "touch on" IT. This puts the IT PMO on an immediate convergence with enterprise project portfolio management. Yet how many IT PMOs are really capable of rising to the enterprise-level, transformational role without major business-process improvement? How many have the personnel with both program management and business management savvy to cross that line?

The average CIO tenure is less than 5 years, and falling; little time to pull off major organizational change programs, which is what the majority of large-scale IT projects really are. Any time you change work processes, culture is sure to change - or resist - with it. We're doing our part to help these beleaguered executives: stay tuned for a new white paper on organizational change for CIOs, coming out this month. Here's a sneak preview of the content:

The CIO's Change-Readiness Checklist: Questions to Ask Yourself

  •     What, exactly, will change?
  •     What is the specific business reason for the change?
  •     Who will be involved in the change?
  •     What do they need to know about the change?
  •     Who will manage the change?
  •     What will we need to do to bring everyone on board with the change?
  •     How will we deal with resistance to the change?
  •     What resources are needed to insure the change is implemented effectively?
  •     Is the organization ready for change?
  •     How will we know the change was worthwhile?

 

About the Author

Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin

Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin is editor-in-chief for PM Solutions Research, and the author, co-author and editor of over twenty books on project management, including the 2007 PMI Literature Award winner, The AMA Handbook of Project Management, Second Edition.

View Posts by Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin

    Tags:

      No tags.

    21021

    (13 votes. Average: 2.7 out of 5)

    Rating:

    No comments yet. Be the first one!

    Leave a Comment