Category: For the PMO

Is PMO Gamification a way to drive quicker adoption?

What do the introduction of new technologies, business re-engineering and process improvement projects all have in common? The answer is simple, these types of projects typically touch almost every aspect of a business and classified as organisational change projects. The nature of these projects require some form of integration and I don’t just mean the … Continue reading

5 Simple Steps to Project Status Reporting that People will Read

According to 2016 PMI’s Pulse of the Profession, “74% of PMO Directors believe their senior management understand the value of project management” and yet 33% of projects still fail because of a lack of involvement from senior management. In my role as CEO of Project Portfolio Office (PPO), I often perform the role of executive … Continue reading

Three Steps to Stop your PMO become a Statistic (50% close in 3 years!)

Three Steps to Stop your PMO become a Statistic (50% close in 3 years!) I recently read that the Association for Project Management says 50% of PMOs close within three years. It’s a very scary statistic considering the amount of effort organisations are putting into establishing PMOs. It then got me wondering what are we … Continue reading

3 ways to get your CEO to value your PMO

Even though I’ve spent the last 15 years in the project portfolio management (PPM) space, I started my career as an accountant and have always loved numbers and analysis. I recently attended the Gauteng Project Management South Africa (PMSA) PMO Forum, an invitation only forum of PMO leaders and executives, and the session re-affirmed the … Continue reading

4 Steps to Nailing the Project Kickoff

You never get a second chance to make a first impression. I think we’ve all heard that expression, right? And it makes sense…that first impression – especially with an all-important project customer who’s trust and confidence may be critical to the success of the project – is extremely important. If you don’t make that good … Continue reading

Becoming a project-oriented company

With competition across all sectors steadily increasing as well as the challenge of having to respond to constantly changing demands from customers, organisations now need to deliver projects faster and with a greater success rate than ever before. So says Andre Nortier, managing director of TenStep Southern Africa, specialist in consulting and training in business … Continue reading

11 Must-Haves to Mobilize Your Projects Quickly

Executives today look for project managers who can set up and mobilize a project quickly before it starts. In the past, it could take weeks or months to set up files, directory structures, tools and templates; meanwhile, the project begins before the tools are set up. In order to stand out against others and win … Continue reading

Can anything be a project?

Probably. Is it a good idea? That depends. Project management best practices, when applied to various efforts, usually help produce positive outcomes – sometimes making drastic differences on many engagements. But is everything a project and can everything fit the definition of being a project? Still not sure? When I first became a project manager, … Continue reading

Preparing for the project manager interview

Whether you’re preparing for your first project management interview, or you’re a seasoned project manager looking for his next gig or more senior level PM position, preparation is always a must. The job market is not back to what it was in the 1990s yet, that’s for sure! Analysts like to say unemployment is down … Continue reading

Why you need a work breakdown structure (WBS)

Work breakdown structure – that term used to make me cringe and it still does, to some degree. It sounds too rigid for my taste…too formal…too structured…too “official”. One definition of the WBS goes as follows: “A work breakdown structure (WBS) in project management and systems engineering, is a tool used to define and group … Continue reading