We partnered with a financial services business to take control of multiple IT projects and lay the foundations for an effective Project Management Office (PMO). We embedded experts who went on to form the firm’s permanent PMO team.
The firm was struggling to deliver multiple projects across its information and technology division, while simultaneously establishing a central PMO to share best practices, implement consistent reporting standards and drive continuous improvement company-wide.
At the heart of the challenge was a lack of resources. Budgets were too tight to engage more experienced project managers and internal managers had no time to take on the work or train up junior project managers.
Inevitably quality was suffering. Additionally, our client had become reliant on contractors with a high turnover rate, leading to a loss in intellectual property.
Our role was to provide a PMO team that could deliver transformational projects successfully without breaking the bank.
We deployed our highly effective POD model, which involved embedding a team of project managers with the expertise to rapidly assess and address the specific challenges our client was facing.
The POD included a senior PMO Practitioner who provided a single point of contact for our client. They were supported by four consultants from our Pioneer programme who arrived equipped with the skills needed to make an immediate impact, such as best practice expertise and a clear understanding of governance and reporting standards.
They quickly integrated into the business and worked closely with C-suite executives and regional MDs to drive efficient and effective project management. This included developing status reports, RAID Logs, project charters, lessons learned logs, requirement documents and project plans.
Within four weeks we’d established a PMO delivery function and our Pioneer consultants were providing support to project and senior management, on their own, within six weeks.
This led to an increase in collaboration at all levels, consistent sharing and implementation of best practice, and the upskilling of internal project and change management teams.
Tangible impacts were quickly unlocked, including:
In short, our POD model delivered a solution to the immediate project management challenges the business faced and established a framework for ongoing PMO success.