Creating a Methodology

John Compton’s executive team waited until obliged by risk of losing their occupations to design and implement a uniform project management methodology for their company and understandably so. By familiarizing their company to this different style, they have the fear of any change that might reduce their roles, positions and responsibilities (Gerard, 2009). Project managers could be illusory to take over areas of control through their projects like sales, accounting marketing, Human Resource and manufacturing among others and simply leave them hanging. Once an enterprise project management methodology were put into place, then one of them could practically gather more power and control for themselves and upset the current balance by controlling 63 intellectual property over the processes of the company. All of this totals up to severe competition and a sure reduction on some of them who may be shown to have outlived their utility or rather not fit to continue growing with the organization in its new reiteration as a company that dedicates the right kind of energy and effort to project management.

My recommendation to Mr. Compton would be that, now that the executive team has gotten the foundation for the EPM from their initial iteration of a PMO, it should not report to the CIO of the company. If they have a Chief Operating Officer or someone whose title and role essentially means general manager function, then the PMO and its project manager should report directly to them. The COO would have a better understanding of the day to day operations and overall functions of the company and would best handle the oversight, mentoring, and conflict resolution needed for an executive sponsor kind of role to the PMO. If Compton is head of a small enough company that he wears this hat, then he should be the point of contact, but presumably as president it is possible that his role is more thought centered than operations driven. The CIO would be the one best benefiting from the information garnered by the PMO on practices finalized, processes further developed and lessons learned from each project that should be combined somehow into the continuing evolution of the corporate EPM. This logical property generated by the PMO and its efforts would be best seized in something like a library as well as brought into the acting model already in place.

Forward, much depends on the culture of the company as the EPM is instituted and incorporated. Compton will want his executives to back the PMO and cultivate a cooperative culture with open communication between the PMO, COO, CIO, and everyone else (Gerard, 2009). Without this kind of open atmosphere, things will surely spiral into any number of other ends with competition between departments and PMs, separated departments devoid of any collaborative dialogue with other teams, or by an ineffective mass of dog-eat-dog individuals who have no regard for the projects or the company at all. Having threatened the executives until they complied with getting an EPM together, it is now time to pat them on the back and encourage them by showing the intrinsic incentives.

 

 

 

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