PMO: challenges for 2022

Would you like to have a crystal ball to anticipate PMO challenges in 2022?

Well, today's your lucky day, because we've organized a webinar with 3 experts to shed some light on the future. In this virtual round-table discussion, hear what they have to say: What will be the flagship projects of 2022? How are PMOs organizing for these new challenges?

3 experts of the future for this PMO 2022 vision:

• Stéphane GRAVIT, Project Logistics Development Manager - Les Mousquetaires Group
• Dominique DEJEAN, PMO - Toulouse Métropole
• Magali DARBO - Manager & PMO Expert - Noveane

Discover the highlights of the webinar in this article. If you'd like to see all the discussions in full, watch the video:

See the replay

On the program:

• PMO profile
• Transforming PMO methodologies
• Project portfolio monitoring tools
• PMO and euros: (re)weighing up return on investment
• Best of polls
• Best of questions and answers

To begin, we asked Webinar participants:

What's your PMO sketch (I'll tell you your future...!)

Define your PMO profile

There is a nuance in this PMO logic, with different typologies. So we asked participants about their role as PMO:

-Are you more of a portfolio or program PMO?

Are you more of a PMO, focusing on challenges strategic issues and major decisions?

-or more operational when it comes to supporting your various projects?

The answer in pictures 👉

How would you describe your PMO?

This first series of questions can help you define your priority objectives for 2022!

• Headcount: PMO / Number of project managers
• Project type
• Project portfolio size
• Matrix: Operational / Strategic - Program / Portfolio
• PMO creation date
• Maturity level
• Project methodology

Our speakers talk about their profiles and their PMO organization

"I'm an operational PMO, my position was created at the beginning of 2018, and we're portfolio-oriented. We're on the operational side, dependent on specific software packages and tools. We've set up development units. In terms of portfolio size, today we're at around 160 active projects. For the 2022 projection, we're going to go from 15 to 35 IT project managers. Our maturity is of the medium type, with different steps: data recovery, budgetary approach, resource management. The big mega-step to be reached by 2022 is the exploitation of portfolio indicators! Our methodology is V-cycle, and we're moving towards agility in a few areas.

"I'm in charge of Project Logistics Development. We have a staff of 25 in this department. My role is that of a strategic PMO. We have 2 operational PMOs who manage the portfolio, and another more focused on the financial side. The project spectrum is broad: we can be involved in building construction, IT, HR, real estate projects... the whole spectrum of logistics facilities. Plus a data branch within management. The notion of PMO came about in 2015, since the acquisition of the PPM tool from Virage Group , which led us to rethink our organization. We are fairly mature in terms of schedule, needs and resources. Finance is our major area of development. Our project method is rather "in-house", rather V-cycle, with agility on certain project phases on the design and realization part". Stéphane GRAVIT

Noveane is a consulting firm specializing in information system governance for digital organizations.

"I'm a service provider consultant. I'm currently on a PMO assignment, working on an operational program. Noveane has had a PMO structure for 20 years. We've noticed among our customers that the notion of PMO and project management is rather mature, V-cycle or agile." Magali DARBO

Would you like to set up a PMO unit?

Download the white paper "structuring and equipping your project management office". Discover the main roles of the PMO, and what it can bring to your organization + Bonus: which PPM software to choose to equip your PMO.

Would you like to improve the structure of your PMO unit?

Take a look at our case study with an exclusive interview with the Vyv Group's Operations Manager CIO & PMO! "Project Monitor software standardizes work methodologies and provides greater transparency for better management".

Transforming PMO methodologies

PMO methods panel

Poll - What is your project method?

👉 Participants respond during the webinar:

Become an Agile PMO

For a long time, Agility was more focused on IT projects. And today, we realize that this transformation is generalized and extended to the entire organization. We're not just talking about implementing methodology or tools. We are really talking about a transformation, an evolution in terms of the organization's culture. This transformation will revolve around three axes:

• the organizational axis,

• human

• and technical.

If we look more closely at the organizational axis, we realize that in the Agile framework, the PMO role as such does not exist in its own right. We realize that the steering role we have today on projects is scattered over several players.
In the agile method, we can talk about Product Owner, we can talk about Scrum Master, we can talk about RTE for example when we're in SaFe mode.

This steering role is therefore spread over several roles.

The challenge is that the PMO needs to change to support the transformation of organizations towards agility and digitalization.

Agile PMO: driving change within the company

The PMO must therefore adopt an agile mindset to steer the transformation. The Noveane consulting firm sheds light on the agile evolution of the PMO:

"We're not talking about mutation in terms of expertise. It's more a question of posture and mindset. We have to adjust our practices to each organizational context. In other words, we'rebecoming agile practitioners. We call them "Practitioners" in the sense that we need to understand agile practices, we need to know the fundamentals. The aim is tosupport organizations in their transformation and in the implementation of all these concepts. Our role is to coach teams in their transformation, by sharing our knowledge. We give impetus (we don't impose!), we accompany, we share our knowledge and our experience, in order to propose solutions according to their context". Magali DARBO - Manager & PMO Expert - Noveane

PMO and Methodology... 3 tips from our project experts

#1 Project methodology tools:

Stéphane GRAVIT, Project Logistics Development Manager, shares his feedback: "We are currently in the process ofaccentuating our templates, our framework, to facilitate and harmonize the work of our teams. Our aim is to ensure that our work is understood by all those involved, whatever their level of project management. We've been working on project steering committee frameworks. For example, we manage expressions of requirements in MCQ format. We have integrated them into the project portfolio management software Project Monitoras pre-established project request templates.

Centralizing all the data in one place enables us to produce indicators and facilitate alerts.

Beyond that, we also worked on the financial side and the decision-making bodies at company level."

#2 Maintaining a trajectory:

"As PMO, we capture all the company's needs. The whole project structure starts there, and then we manage our entire portfolio.
This methodology helps us to capture all our needs and manage our portfolio over the medium and long term.

We mustn't forget where we're going. "Some projects don't have a deadline of 2022, but 2027! We need to have the roadmap and we need tohave the trajectory so we don't lose focus. We have a 5- or 6-year planning horizon for some of our projects. It's essential to give stakeholders a trajectory". Stéphane GRAVIT.

Dominique DEJEAN, PMO - Toulouse Métropole completes this approach: "Today, whether it's newcomers or people who have been here for years, they don't find their way around. So, my aim is to build a platform that is visual, ergonomic and that allows anyone to feel guided, so that they can fully integrate the group's method. Just as Les Mousquetaires did with the forms integrated into Project Monitor."

#3 Take into account the maturity level of teams:

Not all teams or departments have the same level of agility or, more broadly, project management.

"We need to measure the organization's level of maturity, and then decide which methodology to implement. The implementation of agility within the organization needs to be adapted with strong specificities. Of course, we'd like to move a little more towards the principles of agility. But today, we realize that we haven't yet reached the necessary level of maturity. At Toulouse Métropole's Digital Department, I've noticed that what we're really lacking today is a formalized methodology. This is our 2022 challenge! Dominique DEJEAN

PMO tools for monitoring project portfolios

👉 Poll - Participants respond on the tools they use to manage their project portfolio :

The mission of the project portfolio manager is to know how to prioritize

"The dashboard indicators are established via databases and the Galileo datamart at Project Monitor." Dominique DEJEAN

We are able to keep up with the volume. In fact, we've doubled the number of projects in progress without doubling our workforce. So we are giving ourselves the means to work more efficiently and effectively.

...While ensuring data quality

"We need to ensure that quality indicators go beyond operational ones.

So we have quality consistency indicators (enabling people to see where we are in terms of data quality), and monitoring indicators."

This system gives teams a sense of responsibility for the quality of the data they enter, as there are rules to respect. They have access to the data themselves and can correct any anomalies. The indicators are a constant reminder of the need to control and maintain a sufficient level of quality. It's a continuous improvement objective.

PMO and euros: (re)weighing up return on investment

Project budget tracking is an important aspect of project planning. The Project Monitor project portfolio management software allows you to declare a detailed reference budget for each project, by type and budget item. You can also track actual expenditure and raise alerts.

The challenge is to take the notion of return on investment (ROI) a step further.

Stéphane GRAVIT, Project Logistics Development Manager - Les Mousquetaires Group, shares their challenge on the subject:

"Our challenge for 2022 is to complete the decision-making process by extracting value from projects.

We have monthly reporting to monitor the progress of the project portfolio (schedule, budget, resources). Now we'd like to go a step further and include ROI in our monitoring for arbitration decision-making. The logic is to integrate ROI much more into decision-making.

We are in the process of completing project indicators jointly with theDevelopment Logistics Projects Department and other departments (e.g. HR). This data is used for arbitration purposes, to take into account cost overruns or savings. To adjust the project portfolio, we need to be able to finance it, and financing requires this ROI analysis.

Dominique DEJEAN of Toulouse Métropole completes this approach: "ROI must take into account the complete and exhaustive costs of projects (project management, external contributors, etc. ....)".

Best-of questions / answers

How do you manage portfolio risk?

"There are a lot of requests, and it's very complicated to manage within an organization. We ask the project manager to be very rigorous about reporting potential risks, and to anticipate as much as possible. Once a request has become a project, we draw up action plans to cover all risks, if possible.

"To limit the risks, we apply a criticality level right from the request, to analyze whether the requests are for comfort or technical obsolescence on IT subjects, and above all, to which subject these requests are linked".

Does Project Monitor help you decide on projects once the needs have been identified?

"Yes, we've added attributes for criticality and subject sensitivity. We need to define a precise list of attributes and establish the rules. This makes it possible to establish a matrix of project priorities by level."