one project manager; everybody on the team manages their own sub-projects. And all you have to do is manage your immediate suppliers.
The value chain eliminates the need for those scarce super-project managers who can control what every individual throughout this long supply chain does every hour of the day.
The market works in any industry. Consider the general contractor who sold you a home. He or she hired plumbers, electricians, sheet-rock installers, roofers, etc. And each subcontractor delivered a product -- a component of the house -- not just staff for the general contractor to manage.
The market model can be applied within organizations as well. For every project, one group can be considered the "prime contractor." This prime can subcontract to peers within IT for help.
The key is subcontracting for deliverables, not for people. For example, an applications developer (the prime on an application project) can subcontract to peers for a logical data model, a physical data model, installation into production, etc. Other managers can figure out how to produce these sub-deliverables.
In this paradigm, the subcontractors become project managers for their components. Thus, the prime is still fully accountable for the entire project, but much of the project-management workload is shared with subcontractors.
Note that with this systemic approach to project management, you no longer need a small group of super-project managers on top of every detailed task. Instead, everybody is a project manager for their respective deliverables, and the PMO helps them all succeed.
How It All Plays Together
Back to our original example. The client wants to buy an application. Regardless of complexity, it's clear that they buy the solution from the applications development group.
Both at the proposal stage and the implementation stage, that prime contractor subcontracts for all needed components -- other applications groups for data feeds, the web CMS group for the front-end, DBMS engineers for the data model, etc.
And let's not forget one very important subcontractor: In any line of business, a project manager can (and should whenever needed) subcontract to the PMO for project planning services, project management advice, and project data administration. In this way, excellence in the discipline of project management is available to any project in any line of business.
Just remember, to avoid confused accountabilities and disempowerment, the PMO serves a subcontractor, not the prime, helping everyone succeed as project managers in their respective lines of business.
Three Rules
There are three rules needed to make this work:
First, everybody is the prime contractor (i.e., project manager) for products and services within his or her line of business; and nobody sells products or services outside their line of business (not even the PMO).
Second, the first job of a prime contractor is to line up needed subcontractors. This involves working with peers to gain commitments for deliverables, not people.
Third, everybody is accountable for delivering their products and services as promised, whether it's the prime contractor delivering the whole solution to clients or subcontractors delivering their components to the prime. This degree of integrity is based on two more principles: Never make a commitment for others. And never make a commitment you can't keep.
The Proper Role of PMOs
The proper role of a PMO is to help every body become a good project manager -- not to be a project manager for a few big projects. It's not to disempower others, but rather to empower others with advice, training, methods, tools, and services that make everyone successful at delivering their projects.
There are two levels at which a PMO can help others:
At a high level, a PMO can help others plan their projects. This includes planning the steps in the process (PERT charts, Gantt charts, work breakdowns, etc.) and how they will control project resources. High-level advice may amount to a little bit of help up front, or active involvement throughout a large project. But regardless of how involved the PMO may be, they are still a "subcontractor" to the real project manager within the appropriate line of business.
At an administrative level, a PMO can help others administer project specific data. The PMO not only helps them control resources but also helps them report project status to their boss and their customers in a consistent fashion.
How to Implement Effective Project Management
The first step in implementing systemic project management is to charter a PMO carefully. Its job is to serve peers, not supplant them, sharing its in-depth knowledge of project management without actually being the project manager.
Next, every group in the organization must know what it sells. That is, every group is defined as a business within a business.
More on the lines of business within organizations....
Every group in the organization must identify its products and services, both those sold to clients and those sold to peers within their immediate organization (in this case example, IT).
one project manager; everybody on the team manages their own sub-projects. And all you have to do is manage your immediate suppliers.
The value chain eliminates the need for those scarce super-project managers who can control what every individual throughout this long supply chain does every hour of the day.
The market works in any industry. Consider the general contractor who sold you a home. He or she hired plumbers, electricians, sheet-rock installers, roofers, etc. And each subcontractor delivered a product -- a component of the house -- not just staff for the general contractor to manage.
The market model can be applied within organizations as well. For every project, one group can be considered the "prime contractor." This prime can subcontract to peers within IT for help.
The key is subcontracting for deliverables, not for people. For example, an applications developer (the prime on an application project) can subcontract to peers for a logical data model, a physical data model, installation into production, etc. Other managers can figure out how to produce these sub-deliverables.
In this paradigm, the subcontractors become project managers for their components. Thus, the prime is still fully accountable for the entire project, but much of the project-management workload is shared with subcontractors.
Note that with this systemic approach to project management, you no longer need a small group of super-project managers on top of every detailed task. Instead, everybody is a project manager for their respective deliverables, and the PMO helps them all succeed.
How It All Plays Together
Back to our original example. The client wants to buy an application. Regardless of complexity, it's clear that they buy the solution from the applications development group.
Both at the proposal stage and the implementation stage, that prime contractor subcontracts for all needed components -- other applications groups for data feeds, the web CMS group for the front-end, DBMS engineers for the data model, etc.
And let's not forget one very important subcontractor: In any line of business, a project manager can (and should whenever needed) subcontract to the PMO for project planning services, project management advice, and project data administration. In this way, excellence in the discipline of project management is available to any project in any line of business.
Just remember, to avoid confused accountabilities and disempowerment, the PMO serves a subcontractor, not the prime, helping everyone succeed as project managers in their respective lines of business.
Three Rules
There are three rules needed to make this work:
First, everybody is the prime contractor (i.e., project manager) for products and services within his or her line of business; and nobody sells products or services outside their line of business (not even the PMO).
Second, the first job of a prime contractor is to line up needed subcontractors. This involves working with peers to gain commitments for deliverables, not people.
Third, everybody is accountable for delivering their products and services as promised, whether it's the prime contractor delivering the whole solution to clients or subcontractors delivering their components to the prime. This degree of integrity is based on two more principles: Never make a commitment for others. And never make a commitment you can't keep.
The Proper Role of PMOs
The proper role of a PMO is to help every body become a good project manager -- not to be a project manager for a few big projects. It's not to disempower others, but rather to empower others with advice, training, methods, tools, and services that make everyone successful at delivering their projects.
There are two levels at which a PMO can help others:
At a high level, a PMO can help others plan their projects. This includes planning the steps in the process (PERT charts, Gantt charts, work breakdowns, etc.) and how they will control project resources. High-level advice may amount to a little bit of help up front, or active involvement throughout a large project. But regardless of how involved the PMO may be, they are still a "subcontractor" to the real project manager within the appropriate line of business.
At an administrative level, a PMO can help others administer project specific data. The PMO not only helps them control resources but also helps them report project status to their boss and their customers in a consistent fashion.
How to Implement Effective Project Management
The first step in implementing systemic project management is to charter a PMO carefully. Its job is to serve peers, not supplant them, sharing its in-depth knowledge of project management without actually being the project manager.
Next, every group in the organization must know what it sells. That is, every group is defined as a business within a business.
More on the lines of business within organizations....
Every group in the organization must identify its products and services, both those sold to clients and those sold to peers within their immediate organization (in this case example, IT).
one project manager; everybody on the team manages their own sub-projects. And all you have to do is manage your immediate suppliers.
The value chain eliminates the need for those scarce super-project managers who can control what every individual throughout this long supply chain does every hour of the day.
The market works in any industry. Consider the general contractor who sold you a home. He or she hired plumbers, electricians, sheet-rock installers, roofers, etc. And each subcontractor delivered a product -- a component of the house -- not just staff for the general contractor to manage.
The market model can be applied within organizations as well. For every project, one group can be considered the "prime contractor." This prime can subcontract to peers within IT for help.
The key is subcontracting for deliverables, not for people. For example, an applications developer (the prime on an application project) can subcontract to peers for a logical data model, a physical data model, installation into production, etc. Other managers can figure out how to produce these sub-deliverables.
In this paradigm, the subcontractors become project managers for their components. Thus, the prime is still fully accountable for the entire project, but much of the project-management workload is shared with subcontractors.
Note that with this systemic approach to project management, you no longer need a small group of super-project managers on top of every detailed task. Instead, everybody is a project manager for their respective deliverables, and the PMO helps them all succeed.
How It All Plays Together
Back to our original example. The client wants to buy an application. Regardless of complexity, it's clear that they buy the solution from the applications development group.
Both at the proposal stage and the implementation stage, that prime contractor subcontracts for all needed components -- other applications groups for data feeds, the web CMS group for the front-end, DBMS engineers for the data model, etc.
And let's not forget one very important subcontractor: In any line of business, a project manager can (and should whenever needed) subcontract to the PMO for project planning services, project management advice, and project data administration. In this way, excellence in the discipline of project management is available to any project in any line of business.
Just remember, to avoid confused accountabilities and disempowerment, the PMO serves a subcontractor, not the prime, helping everyone succeed as project managers in their respective lines of business.
Three Rules
There are three rules needed to make this work:
First, everybody is the prime contractor (i.e., project manager) for products and services within his or her line of business; and nobody sells products or services outside their line of business (not even the PMO).
Second, the first job of a prime contractor is to line up needed subcontractors. This involves working with peers to gain commitments for deliverables, not people.
Third, everybody is accountable for delivering their products and services as promised, whether it's the prime contractor delivering the whole solution to clients or subcontractors delivering their components to the prime. This degree of integrity is based on two more principles: Never make a commitment for others. And never make a commitment you can't keep.
The Proper Role of PMOs
The proper role of a PMO is to help every body become a good project manager -- not to be a project manager for a few big projects. It's not to disempower others, but rather to empower others with advice, training, methods, tools, and services that make everyone successful at delivering their projects.
There are two levels at which a PMO can help others:
At a high level, a PMO can help others plan their projects. This includes planning the steps in the process (PERT charts, Gantt charts, work breakdowns, etc.) and how they will control project resources. High-level advice may amount to a little bit of help up front, or active involvement throughout a large project. But regardless of how involved the PMO may be, they are still a "subcontractor" to the real project manager within the appropriate line of business.
At an administrative level, a PMO can help others administer project specific data. The PMO not only helps them control resources but also helps them report project status to their boss and their customers in a consistent fashion.
How to Implement Effective Project Management
The first step in implementing systemic project management is to charter a PMO carefully. Its job is to serve peers, not supplant them, sharing its in-depth knowledge of project management without actually being the project manager.
Next, every group in the organization must know what it sells. That is, every group is defined as a business within a business.
More on the lines of business within organizations....
Every group in the organization must identify its products and services, both those sold to clients and those sold to peers within their immediate organization (in this case example, IT).