Three Reasons Why a PMO Should Love the Recession By Karen Quagliata, PMP Loving a recession is a lot like loving a cockroach – you have to look long and hard past the obvious to make it happen. The fact is that you have to have a strong stomach to read the economic news today. And much like a cockroach, the latest figures are not pretty. Not only are organizations hemorrhaging jobs, but some experts are predicting that U.S. businesses will cut capital spending by more than 10% in the next 12 months (www.usatoday.com). information technology spending – and projects as a result – will slow down in 2009 due to the recession. In fact, industry analyst firm IDC predicts spending on technology to grow by just 2.6 percent in 2009 (www.news.cnet.com). The effects are being felt in all parts of the organization, including the Program Management Office (PMO). After all, when the organization tightens the purse strings, projects are shortened, deferred, or flat out canceled. Surely this means the end for the PMO right? Wrong. A shrewd PMO is one that recognizes that the current recession can be its best friend. Here’s why: most PMO’s and project leaders are so busy during normal business climates that they barely have time to catch their breath, let alone step back and truly assess how they manage projects. Yet this slowdown can be the perfect opportunity to do just that. Here are 3 reasons why your PMO should love this recession: Reason 1: You can do a reality check The slowdown in projects is a perfect time to perform a reality check on the health of your project management practices. Is your organization managing projects well? Is there room for improvement in your project documentation and processes? Can you streamline them? Do you have redundant documentation and processes? The PMO personnel should go through every document to assess its value. Furthermore, don't just look at empty templates. Look at the completed documents from historical projects. Examine the quality of the information that was entered into them. It's not enough that the required documents were completed. Assess whether your project leaders are capturing quality information in those documents. If not, then maybe you need to revise the template or provide training. Reason 2: You can be your own CSI unit Crime scene investigation (CSI) units are specialized groups of law enforcement personnel who use their training and experience to solve crimes. Well why not use this down time to turn your PMO staff into a CSI unit that solves problems instead of crimes? Chances are that your organization has been gathering some type of data on projects – duration, cost, lessons learned, issues, etc. Now is the time to start looking at that data. Let the data show you the trends and problem areas. These special investigative groups within the PMO can conduct in-depth analysis of the problems. For example, are your vendor-solution projects consistently going over budget or schedule? If so, why? Is it one particular vendor that is causing problems? Is it your vendor management process that is causing problems? Your PMO people can dig into the root causes by interviewing project leaders and using analytical tools such as fishbone diagrams. Remember fishbone diagrams from your Project Management Professional (PMP) certification exam? Some PMO personnel might discount such tools as the fishbone diagram as relics from academia. Yet these tools can force you to: 1) clearly state the problem (not as easy as you might think), and 2) identify the various components of that problem (people, processes, tools, policies, etc). Your analysis could then produce a top-ten list of areas for improvement that could keep the PMO busy during the down times and improve project management at your organization. Reason 3: You can further position yourself as the subject matter expert Your PMO should want to position itself as the project management subject matter expert (SME) in your organization. And when the projects slow down, the PMO has several opportunities to further position themselves as that project management authority. There a few opportunities for the PMO to do this. First, the PMO can conduct its own training. If project spending is slowing down, then it’s a good bet that your training budget will evaporate as well. Why not use this slow time to conduct your own in-house training? There are SMEs under your very nose. Have those SMEs conduct classes and brown bag seminars. Some of the topic areas could include requirements gathering and management, estimating, and improved communication among stakeholders. This approach not only shares information, but it also helps to build a relationship between the PMO and project leaders. It also shows the value of the PMO to the organization. Next, be your own consultant. If your organization is working with consultants, consider letting them go (if you haven't already) and be your own consultant. Most PMOs are made up of senior project leaders and program management people who should be able to handle the consultant's area of specialty. This approach not only helps keep the PMO busy during slow times, but it helps cut company spending. Finally, take the time now to look for areas that could be improved through automation. Are you using manual forms or processes that could be automated? Not only does automation improve ease, but it allows the PMO the opportunity to start gathering data into a database. The data is much more useable in this format because it can be analyzed and trended. A slow down gives the PMO an opportunity to identify potential internal automation projects, do research on off-the-shelf products, and even gather high-level requirements. When the economic picture improves this work could lay the groundwork for future automation efforts. Not many people love cockroaches, just as not many people love recessions. Yet both are a fact of life. Savvy PMOs can use the slowdown of a recession to find ways to improve now and to lay the foundation for improvement in the future. © 2009 allPM.com Karen Quagliata, PMP, has worked in the ITfield for 10 years in industries such as telecommunications, insurance, and financial services. Her experienceincludes requirements management, technical writing, project management, process improvement, and metrics analysis.She is currently a member of the PMO ata global investment firm headquartered in St. Louis,Missouri.