For many businesses, greater uncertainty, an accelerated pace of change, increased competition, and more empowered customers mean organizations produce value in an increasingly complex environment. The ability to implement new strategic initiatives and change rapidly is becoming a key differentiator. These changes are also exerting greater pressure on PMOs to demonstrate their contributions to benefits realization and value creation. PMOs are evolving to meet these challenges by:
- Focusing on critical initiatives. While all projects are important, strategic initiatives can significantly impact the organization’s future, its relationship with its stakeholders, and its capabilities. PMOs are shifting from being project watchdogs to orchestrating conversations between senior leaders, business unit heads, product owners, and project teams. These conversations provide accurate insights into project performance, threats, and opportunities that can affect important strategic initiatives. Such focus promotes clarity and course correction around emerging issues and the fullest possible realization of business outcomes.
- Instituting smart and simple processes. PMOs are right sizing their organization’s capabilities by establishing just enough process and practice discipline to enable effective communication, collaboration, and continuous improvement without adding wasteful steps or overriding processes that are producing value.
- Fostering talent and capabilities. PMOs are playing a more proactive role in recruiting and retaining talented team members. They are developing and nurturing technical, strategic, management, and leadership skills within project teams and across the organization.
- Encouraging and enabling a culture of change. PMOs are becoming change leaders by actively building organization-wide support for and commitment to outcomes and benefits-focused performance and organizational change management as competitive differentiators.
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