Enterprise Navigator

A Note from the PMO Symposium 2009

Hello from Atlanta, where the 2nd annual PMO Symposium hosted by the PMI PMO Specific Interest Group kicked off on Sunday. Much like the inaugural event in San Antonio last year, we have very good attendance here in Buckhead, especially given the cutbacks in travel budgets that so many organizations have seen. I did a rough count at the keynote session this morning and came up with around 120 faces; no doubt a few more were still in their rooms, on the phone or at breakfast. To be able to draw this many PMO managers and staff speaks well of the event, as well as the level of importance that is being placed the subject of PMOs.

Terry Doerscher

Craig Letavec
President of the PMI PMO Specific Interest Group

As I look over the agenda and topics, there seems to be more emphasis this year on the role of the PMO as a business service provider and strategic partner. I was both surprised and gratified to hear none other than Kent Crawford (ex-president of PMI, PMI Fellow and current CEO of PM Solutions) offer that the PMO needs to get beyond projects (and PMI) to accomplish effective resource management, as well as take an active role in facilitating strategy and operations. I have every expectation that Craig Symons of Forrester will continue the theme tomorrow. As you might guess, I touched on many of the same ideas in my presentation on Sunday, and finally lost count of the number of people who have came up since then to remark on the concept.

I take all of this as more evidence that the trend towards cross-functional convergence between individual management disciplines continues to gather momentum (and consensus) as it enters the mainstream of discussion. It has taken a decade, but I think we are finally near that elusive universal 'ah-hah' moment of general acceptance.

Introducing the Enterprise Management Association -- International

It was almost exactly a year ago today that a dinner conversation led to becoming involved in the genesis of a new professional association, and I am quite excited to finally share it with you.

What, another one?

Yes, and I think you will find this one to be both compelling and a breath of fresh air. What began as the idea for an independent PMO association has grown into something that I believe is much more interesting and valuable. Furthermore, imagine having the chance to create rather than just join a group; there is still plenty of opportunity for you to become actively involved in shaping what this organization will be and what it will do. If your current affiliation seems too inflexible or one-dimensional, isn't addressing all of your needs or is leaving you feeling disenfranchised, then read on.

The goal of the Enterprise Management Association -- International (EMA-I) is to engage anyone who is involved in managing the cycle of change in a professional community that shares a common set of challenges and interests.

As the founding volunteers initially discussed ideas around the fledgling PMO association, what we came to realize is that there is no standard PMO in terms of its structure, charter, scope or span of interests. However, what we could all agree on were these three points:

• All PMOs are involved in some aspect of managing change in their organization
• Managing change requires the involvement of more than just the PMO
• While there is a lot of tactical guidance, existing associations are not adequately addressing the strategic challenges of managing change

That second item is important, as we can all relate to how difficult it is to establish convergence across the different levels, roles and perspectives of the organization about how to effectively manage change. That is one of the reasons that our membership model encourages team memberships -- it takes a shared common vision between executives, directors and senior managers to execute the cycle of change.

OK, so let me give you a few highlights about what makes EMA-I different and what you can do to become a part of it:

• EMA-I is for professional executives and senior managers that are passionate about effectively executing at a strategic level
• EMA-I will be member-focused and drive broad levels of involvement; we encourage members to actively participate and share their ideas and practices
• EMA-I is truly international; we have over 50 volunteers from around the world that are working to create this organization
• EMA-I recognizes that business management techniques are continually evolving -- one of our goals is to be a clearing house for new ideas and proven methods for effecting change, rather than creating a self-serving  certification that encourages a single methodology or approach
• EMA-I is inclusive; we know it takes the combined efforts of:
  • The entire management team as practitioners
  • Product and service providers
  • Consulting and training organizations

…all working together, sharing their expertise and learning from each other in order to be successful. Our objective is to erect a big tent where everyone is an equal participant, rather than creating an 'us-and-them' mentality. This is evident by the broad cross-section of esteemed volunteers we have attracted to reach a common goal.

EMA-I will officially launch in January, with charter membership attractively priced in order to give everyone an opportunity to get onboard from the very start. In the meantime, we still need volunteers in a number of different areas to continue building out our services and capabilities.

We at Planview are excited about the prospects of EMA-I, and have pledged to be a founding sponsor of the organization. We encourage other corporate sponsors to join us and I want to personally invite each of you to help make EMA-I happen. It's the right idea at the right time for the right reasons. To learn more, please go to our temporary EMA-I Web site. Learn about who we are and what we are doing, and if you like what you see, we encourage you to get involved! Simply click on the 'Volunteer' tab and fill out your contact information.

Four-Square, Schoolyard WMD, and the Gartner Magic Quadrant

Gartner Research just recently released its 2009 Magic Quadrant for IT Project and Portfolio Management (PPM). This in-depth review and ranking of PPM application providers is of critical importance to consumers and vendors alike. The majority of our prospects indicate that the Magic Quadrant is a one of the most trusted sources of information they use to evaluate vendors for their PPM initiative. The Gartner MQ review process is a thorough and exhaustive evaluation, and we consider it to be an objective and fair assessment of the PPM landscape.

For the last several years here at Planview, our first glimpse of each new MQ ranking has resembled the opening a much awaited package; not sure exactly what it will contain, but anxious to find out. Everyone gathers around to see the results -- all eyes eagerly take in the layout of those soft yellow dots.

The first time I saw the Magic Quadrant, I was immediately struck with childhood memories of playing four-square, and this relationship has become a permanent mental association ever since. Whether during elementary school recess or out in the street, this action-packed game consumed many hours of my youth. It didn't require much room, and little in the way of equipment -- nothing more than a chunk of chalk, a ball and four willing players.

We usually used a basketball or cheap dime-store ball in the driveway, but this was simply practice for the big leagues. In the school yard, the game took on a whole new dimension by virtue of the heavy-duty red or black professional-grade play balls ceremoniously distributed each recess. To a seven-year old, these things were like playing with nothing less than rubber-coated cannonballs, and just as deadly. I'm sure the teachers simply regarded them as 'sturdy', but to us it seemed as though they weighed twenty pounds and had at least 100 psi of air pressure in them -- awesome bounce action.

While they were no doubt designed primarily for kickball, their combined features of weight, firmness and responsiveness became a lethal combination when used in more animated activities that involved personal impact. Everyone soon realized that these spherical ICBMs could take off a limb in dodge ball so their use for that particular game was banned by the UN back in the 60's. But when applied to the close-quarter combat of four-square, they were perfect. A good low transverse spike at an unprepared opponent would leave a satisfying welt, while delivery of a properly placed glancing lateral blow enabled their asphalt-roughened pebble surface to remove a layer of skin.

What, it seems I have digressed…

Anyway, in some respects, that's how I think of the MQ: corporate four-square. Highly competitive, sometimes ruthless, and greatly satisfying for those who can be a leader on this double-bifurcated rectangular field. Of the 19 vendors listed, this year finds us tightly clustered at the upper right with -- you guessed it -- three other players. On paper, the degree of separation between us is measured in scant millimeters. Functionally, perhaps the difference is even less when considered in context with the overall range of possibilities.

We are humbled by the recognition that comes with the results of the 2009 MQ assessment, but proud knowing we earned this spot through years of hard work and making sure we keep customer success as our focal point. That is an important point we can't forget -- PPM vendors are in the business of leading horses to water; ultimately it is the ability of our customers to take what we offer and improve their business that is the true (and most important) measure of our success. Customer interviews are a big part of the assessment, and I can't imagine a vendor getting very far if every customer Gartner contacted related how their PPM initiative was a disappointment. So, in some ways the magic quadrant is a measure of the ability of our customers to succeed as much as it is of our products and organization; a great deal of thanks goes out to all of you who partner with us and demonstrate what is possible.

It is gratifying to know there is still room for an independent provider that chooses to put their exclusive focus on excellence in portfolio management. It means a lot to us and I hope that it is meaningful to you as well.

Business Driven PMO Setup -- A Summer Must-Read Book

Following the lead of Donna Fitzgerald of Gartner to flag books worthy of lounging about with poolside, I want to alert you to a new book that belongs on the shelf of every PMO practitioner, sponsor and member; Business Driven PMO Setup -- Practical Insights, Techniques and Case Examples for Ensuring Success, by Mark Price Perry. It is literally still rolling off the presses but already I predict it will be quickly regarded as a seminal work on the topic of PMOs. You can get a copy at all the usual online outlets or order it directly from J. Ross Publishing. No doubt it will soon be in local bookstores as well but I can't promise that it is stocked yet since it is so new.

I finally got my copy and couldn't help diving right in. Warning: once you do, don't be surprised to find it hard to come up for air, as these are inviting waters. Now, I know what you are probably thinking; "Crimanently Terry, it's a PMO book, not some kinda' toe-curling whodunit best seller headed for a cable mini-series."  Trust me -- this is one business management book you will actually WANT to read, rather than force yourself to slog through every page.

OK, full disclosure time: Mark is a friend of mine, and yes, I am honored to have been given an opportunity to make a small contribution to this endeavor. That having been said, I am stunned by the richness and practicality of content throughout this book, from Mark's excellent insights to those provided by the 19 other guest contributors that add immensely to its value.

There are so many new ideas and different topics covered by such a diverse blend of experts, the net effect is much like taking everything you like about a really well done PMO symposium with top-notch speakers and compressing all of it into a single 500-page book. The wonderful difference is that, unlike a symposium where you are often left reeling from input overload and soon forget what was heard, you control the rate of consumption and its always there as an ongoing reference (oh yeah, don't forget that it's also much less expensive, no travel is involved and the food is probably better too).

Having it as a ready reference is a good thing, because there is no way you are going to be able to soak up all the information in a single pass. That is due to the truly unique format of this of this book. Like a themed collection of moderated short stories, Mark initially sets the stage and provides the thread of continuity by opening each of the thirteen chapters with insights from his own immense experience with setting up PMOs around the world. Contributing authors, either as practitioners or industry subject matter experts, then add their own particular insights to each topic.

The idea is brilliant, and no doubt you will see it emulated many times over in the future. Besides the obvious benefit of being able to capitalize on the different points of view and expertise of so many contributors, each one brings their own subtle differences in writing style into play. The impact this has on readability is amazing. No matter how accomplished the writer, the work of any single author is in essence a monologue, and as a result it often eventually becomes tiresome. The approach Mark takes in this book creates a dialogue; it's as if you are reading the illustrated transcript of a huge and very informative panel discussion that Mark is actively participating in and moderating.

As to the content itself, be prepared to have some of your closely held PMO preconceptions and paradigms masterfully challenged. I consider myself a forward-thinking person when it comes to all things PMO, but the discussion in this book really makes you stop and ruminate, rolling around ideas and practical guidance like you would the flavors of a complex wine.

OK, if I haven't convinced you by now, then there is no hope. Enjoy it, be sure to share your review comments and tell your associates.

Aggressive but Achievable -- The University of Utah PPM Story

If you have not done so yet, please register for the upcoming Webcast we'll be hosting on June 3rd with Rene Weston-Eborn, an assistant director and the IT portfolio guru at the University of Utah. The U of U has over 25,000 students and is recognized for its active research programs, particularly in the medical fields. Needless to say, higher education thrives on a strong technology base, so making sure that IT is managed effectively is a key element of a successful university.

I'll be conducting a live interview with Rene to explore the combined portfolio and project management initiative that she has been so deftly guiding. I think this format is much more informative and digestible for participants compared to a straight-up presentation. Expect to hear a truly impressive success story about what can be accomplished with enough support, drive and leadership, interspersed with witty banter and supporting visuals -- now really, what more can you ask for? Oh alright, we'll provide some Q&A time as well; perhaps we can even work in a few thoughtful queries as part of the interview itself.

Rene put a lot on her plate with this endeavor; in conjunction with consolidating several disparate and overwhelmed IT groups into a single centralized entity, there was much to be done to establish a formal project management methodology for the campus, develop a portfolio management program for decision support, implement a PPM platform so everything was in one tool (see if you can guess which one), define the portfolio of services to help manage operations, and create a Portfolio and Project Management Office (PPMO) to help implement and manage it all.

Oh, did I mention this was all done simultaneously?

Just pulling off one or two of those efforts would be considered a resounding success by most. Clearly, there is much to be learned from this experience, so I look forward to having you join us for this exciting discussion -- 10:00 AM central time; don't be late!

What is Really New in Project Management?

"Everything that can be invented has been invented."
Charles H. Duell, U.S. Commissioner of Patents, in 1899.

I figure leading off with this infamous (mis)quote is appropriate to open a discussion around what is really new and improved in the world of project management and how that topic relates to an increasingly public skirmish that has erupted between Gartner and the Project Management Institute (PMI). Let's address these in reverse order if we are to make sense of how they intersect.

Back in early March, Gartner analyst Michael Hanford issued a report on the new edition of PMI's Standard for Portfolio Management, giving it what theatre critics and movie-goers alike would recognize as a 'mixed review.' A few days later, that same analyst issued an appraisal of the new PMI Program Management Standard. The key finding was:

"PMI's second edition of its program management standard demonstrates an overall poor understanding of this complex discipline. It also provides practices that -- at best -- are disappointing and largely composed of reused project-centric contents and approaches."

Wow. That was enough to make even the most jaded amongst us squirm a bit in our seats.

Despite the momentary hallway buzz this generated with industry insiders, for the most part all of this excitement happened within a relatively contained audience - until yesterday, when Rachel Lebeaux of SearchCIO.com dropped this very public headline: "Revised Project and Portfolio Management Standards Get Critical Review." It arrived in an email titled like a racy tabloid expose', "Gartner gives PPM standards a thumbs down." In that article is a response from PMI spokespersons.

The brawl has spilled into the street, ladies and gentlemen -- and now everyone is watching.

So, why in the world would I put a dog in this hunt? Because we are in the business of portfolio management, program management and project management. We are firm believers that "Portfolio Management" is not the same as, nor synonymous with "Project Portfolio Management." There are all kinds of portfolios within an organization, and many of them are inter-related. This recognition opens up whole new perspectives on how to collectively manage them. The discipline of portfolio management is as applicable to strategic portfolios as it is to product portfolios, service portfolios, resource portfolios, market portfolios, etc. Ask anyone involved in product management or IT service management about their thoughts on portfolio management and you will likely get a very different take compared to PMI from them as well.

So, I have to give this first round to Michael. Quite frankly, all he did was point at and remark upon the gorilla in the room that a lot of other people saw but largely ignored. Now that the hairy fellow has been spotted over at the buffet eating all the shrimp, it would be disingenuous to ignore it. I have been asked several times why I dont reference the PMI standards for programs and portfolios, and it is because I did not find them particularly enlightening. I certainly am not going to suggest that they be used a guide for how our products function, as I think they still miss some key points.

Dont get me wrong, I am not writing this to gang up on PMI and their efforts. I have been a member for a decade, and no one can dispute the work they have done to elevate the practice of project management around the world to what it is today. But if they go astray, it is also not in the best interests of the association or the industry to give them a pass either, so I applaud Michael for his candid and largely accurate observations; it was brave and needed to be said.

I found it curious when PMI first ventured into program and portfolio management several years ago -- it is kind of like the PMO acronym; "Hey wait a minute, what does that "P" stand for?" As Gartner has essentially suggested, has PMI has wandered off into areas that are outside its core interests and expertise?

So, that leads me to the related topic -- what is really new when it comes to furthering the discipline of project management? I recall from my seafaring days that most of the really defining work on the design of steam turbines was finished by the early 1900s -- with the exception of some materials refinements, the turbines in a modern cruise ship are essentially the same as those in a World War I battleship.

So, here are the BIG questions. Is this the case with project management? Have all the PM inventions already been invented? Has PMI chosen to branch out to more strategic areas because it recognizes that further improvement in project success rates really lay in the selection process and how deliverables are effectively employed? I happen to partially believe that last statement, but I also think there is still much ground to be plowed in project management as well. For example, I noted with interest at a recent Project Management Symposium that there was a session on applying Agile techniques to engineering projects. PMI has more to do in furthering the discipline of project management, for sure. It just has to find a way to be more responsive to the current speed of developments, and recognize that using committees that number in the hundreds is about as effective as a UN resolution. Anyone get a striking moment of revelation from the 4th edition of the PMBOK?

As to Gartner's comments and PMI's take on program and portfolio management, if PMI is to successfully branch out into these areas and offer its practitioners the same level of service that it has historically provided to its project manager constituency, it is going to have to get beyond its current myopic perspective caused viewing the world through project-colored glasses.

Planview to the Power of 10

I figure most folks catch our home page on the way to here, so I haven't blogged much yet about our new product version beyond my February 4th post. The release of Planview Enterprise 10 is making quite a positive splash in the industry as well as among our current customer base -- while incremental improvements to the product are always welcome, the buzz and level of excitement about this version is clearly palpable within the user community. Analyst response has also been quite positive, even among a few of the more jaded souls who were initially skeptical about our entry into product portfolio management -- once they got a good look at what we had done… well, let's just say that seeing is believing.

Brian Sommers is one of the first industry gurus to cover it, with a nice mini-review of Planview Enterprise 10 in his blog on ZDNet. He did a good job of hitting the high points of what makes this version so special. AMR also has a great review for those that are members.

I guess it isn't necessarily evident to those outside of the business that there is so much more to a new software release than lines of code. Much like a duck serenely moving across the pond, under the water line there is a heck of a lot of paddling going on, from marketing and communications to supporting documentation, to training material updates and building new relationships, among countless other activities. Even with the software itself, there are things like streamlining code and performance improvements that may not be readily visible or get called out in the release notes, but ultimately add value to the overall package. It has been many months of hard labor, but we are mighty proud of our new baby -- she's wicked smart, very pretty and already speaks 5 languages! Visit Planview.com for the complete rundown on Enterprise 10.

Reverse Engineering Your Reality

Let's see if I can't get back on my game here a little better today. We are back from a worthwhile event in Chicago at CampIT, where over a hundred professionals gathered to spend a day focused on the intricacies of IT PPM. We had some insightful presentations and lots of great follow up discussions with a very engaged group of participants.

But the 60 degree temperature swing between there and Austin did nothing to help shake a nagging cold that is starting to impede my normally ebullient attitude. There is nothing quite like flying with a congested head -- not even tried and true submariner tricks for equalizing ear pressure worked, and I am still dealing with intermittent reception on the starboard side. To top it off, the collapsible handle on my favorite rolling computer bag blew out. Ah, the glamour of business travel.

Back to the topic at hand. The speaker that followed my opening presentation, Michael Menard of The Gensight Group, said something that caught my one good ear and triggered this post. Michael was discussing prioritization of the project portfolio and early on made a bold and nearly profound observation that I will loosely relate as best as my Sudafed-soaked memory allows: it is not mandatory that you have a defined strategy to guide the project portfolio -- the contents of the portfolio itself defines what your strategy is.

How true.

It immediately reminded me of a similar point that we make in our best practices for Application Portfolio Management. When talking about aligning applications to architectural standards, we indicate that if you do not have such standards formally established, then the applications you have serve to create a set of de facto baseline standards for what your current state architecture is. Once you reverse engineer your existing standards from them, you can then adjust those standards to guide future changes in application architecture direction.

Everywhere we look, we see examples of how the realities of our organization effectively reflect back to us who and what we really are, regardless of what might be otherwise stated in some obscure document. Back to Michael's point, even if we have a strategic plan, how we really expend our capacities is ultimately the true measure of our strategic direction. Similarly, how the organization acts day-to-day to achieve certain outcomes is what defines current processes, not boxes and lines on a flowchart. Finally, on an individual level, how we spend the majority of our time every week constitutes our job description. This is a distant cousin to, "You are what you eat." Along those same lines, I believe it was Forrest Gump who quoted his mother as saying, "Stupid is as stupid does."

So, with all this in mind, it occurs to me that this whole idea can be put to practical use as an exercise in self-checking. For example, when faced with a situation that Michael describes where the project portfolio is comprised of projects that were approved without benefit of an overarching strategic plan, there is some benefit to reverse engineering what the imputed strategic direction is. The result might be, "do a lot of really risky internal improvements" or, "approve only the requests from the business unit that makes the most revenue."

Boiling things down to their as-found state and categorizing them based on their attributes brings some factual illumination to how things really are compared to internal perceptions or intentions. If there is a mismatch, then you have a basis for making improvements and changing your reality.

Upcoming Events

With the annual hiatus in public seminars and events over the holidays, it seems like forever since I've been away from the office, even though it's really only been a month since the IQPC PMO Summit in Coconut Grove. Now that the end-of-the-year festivities and the PMO survey webcast are behind us, it's time to hit the road again.

Here are the confirmed upcoming events that I will be at, in case you are in the area and interested in attending. We have some other stuff in the works, including a few local events, but this gets us through Q1. I know, it's all wildly self-serving and normally this kind of stuff would just be twiddled on Facenet, but, dude -- I'm just not hip to all the groovy new social networking options (it seems like only yesterday that I was spray painting this stuff on the side of abandoned buildings and underpasses).

Here's the rundown:

PMI Central Virginia Chapter Meeting; January 26th at 6:30 PM in Richmond. I will be presenting "Principles of Integrated Portfolio Management" at this open-to-the-public event, which is also being promoted by the Greater Richmond Technology Council. See the chapter calendar on their website for more information.

CampIT Project and Portfolio Management Conference; Chicago, February 5th, at the Stephens Convention Center. This one-day event is targeted at senior managers and CIOs interested in furthering their IT PPM initiatives. It's just outside of O'Hare and cost-effective, at only $219 for a full day of presentations. I am the opening act, with several other speakers as well as an expert panel on the agenda.

2009 Rocky Mountain Project Management Symposium; Denver, March 12-13th, at the Colorado Convention Center. The PMO Specific Interest Group will be hosting the PMO track on Thursday at this large and well-organized regional symposium, featuring yours truly, Jim Furfari of Colorado Springs Utilities, David Sides of ESI, and Art Drake of AIG and the Executive chair of the PMOSIG, who will be moderating a panel discussion. Oh, some guy named Steve Forbes will also be speaking at this event; yeah, me and Steve, we're tight, hitting the speaking circuit together and all. See registration information on their event site and click on the PMO track for more info. Might as well get in some spring skiing while you're there.

Other Stuff…

I was recently interviewed by Ron Powell, the co-founder and editorial director of the B-Eye Network, which covers the world of business intelligence. It is a run down of Planview and how our products intersect with BI, and is now available on B-EyeNetwork.com.

It looks like the PMO 2.0 Survey is already generating some buzz in the industry; I did an interview with Katie O'Connor of Projects@Work about the survey results after the webcast last week. They have posted several articles from us in the past and are planning to feature the survey report in their new PPM Executive newsletter. More to follow on that one as it develops.

Elizabeth Harrin, author and goddess of the popular PM4Girls blog, has also picked up the survey on her own site, as well as at PMtips.net. I need to add her to my blogroll. Speaking of which, did you notice there are new links added? Thanks to the folks upstairs and behind the curtains that help me out with such things.

Cats n' Dogs: IQPC PMO Summit, PMO Track in a Can, and Gartner Predicts

Just close your eyes, click your heels together and say, "There's No Place Like Home." It's good to be back in the office again after being out most of last week. The wife and I took a relaxing long weekend on Bone Island (a.k.a. Cayo Hueso, or to most — Key West) at the romantic Heron House. Byan Lee, a blind New Orleans blues guitarist and his band was at the Green Parrot, and a good time was had by all. It was also Pirate Week and the Holiday Parade on Saturday, along with KW's unique version of the Nutcracker playing, replete with the Rooster King and little pink shrimp in lieu of snowflake dancers. Lest you think I've gone all cultured on you, you have to appreciate that I am a "ballet dad," so the whole family has been in 'Nutcracker Hell' here for many weeks now, preparing for our own local annual production.

But I digress…

After seeing the wife off to back home, I attended and presented at the IQPC 2008 PMO Summit in Coconut Grove. Travel restrictions and the market turmoil are really starting to show their impact; nonetheless it was a worthwhile and informative event. This years' summit was hosted by Cornelius Fitchner, who also produces the very popular Project Management Podcast. While there, Cornelius graciously invited me to tape a podcast session about the 2008 PMO 2.0 Survey, which will be aired after the survey is released (yeah I know, I keep saying that — an update on that topic in a moment). The event offered an opportunity to network with notables like Bob Benson of the Beta Group and Richard Maltzman from Alacatel-Lucent (who was also at the PMI PMO Symposium in San Antonio last month; see his Scope Crepe blog in my links to the right), as well as catch up with my friend Mark Perry and meet several other attendees and presenters.

Among the themes at this conference were the impact of less-structured project management methodologies like Agile on progress reporting and the PMO, the role of the PMO in staff development, education and training, and how the discipline of portfolio management was enjoying growing adoption levels. Tied closely to this was ensuring the PMO remained focused on the business value of the portfolio, rather than tactical project-level performance. Some good case study presentations reinforced many of these topics. We also had an interesting panel discussion on OPM3, followed by an evening workshop on that topic led by John Schlichter, the president of OPM Experts, LLC.

For me the key take-away was that, with few exceptions, almost all of the sessions and discussions showed a marked elevation of how PMO managers are thinking and operating, which is a good sign.

Other News…

For 2009, the PMI PMO SIG has put together a one day, self-contained PMO Track that is designed to be easily added to the agenda of regional PMI symposiums. No muss, no fuss. We'll be trying it out first in Denver at their 2009 Rocky Mountain Project Management Symposium in March. The PMO is a popular area of interest that isn't always addressed at professional development days or similar events. By setting up a plug-n-play PMO track, it is easy to extend the range and value of your regional meeting while providing more visibility to this relevant and growing SIG. Everyone wins. For anyone out there interested in finding out more about this for your local PMI event, contact Jim Carras, the SIG's Vice Chair of Public Relations at dir_km@pmosig.org.

I promise we really are going to get the 2008 PMO 2.0 Survey out to those who participated in the survey this month, and everyone else in mid-January. Leave me cookies and milk and then check your stocking. Actually, we had a review done by a statistician for some input and recommendations and are now going over those results and incorporating them.

Gartner issued an 8-page "Predicts 2009" paper on PPM (dated 4 December, ID Number G00163351), with a dire warning of restructuring or disbandment for those PMOs that are not "directly accountable for projects, programs or portfolios." In other words, if your PMO is just fulfilling a passive reporting function that is not clearly adding value, you might want to freshen up your resume. Among report Key Findings was this:

-  Organizations will be challenged to cut overhead and keep oversight staff to a minimum. This will lead to PMOs that need to do more than monitor activity — they need to be directly accountable for results.

The report also includes a look back at a few previous predictions — a worthwhile read for those of you who are Gartner subscribers.

OK, enough for now. I know many of you will be taking time off during the holiday season (as will I), so don't be alarmed if you do not get a flood of new posts between now and the first of the year. Let's enjoy what is left of 2008 and then get this very odd year behind us!