2014 IPMA Summit of PMO SIG Leaders celebrates Project Manage

News: IPMA Event Press Release
2014 IPMA Summit of PMO SIG Leaders
July 2014
2014 IPMA Summit of PMO SIG Leaders celebrates Project Management Offices as key enabler for project-oriented organisations
By Reinhard Wagner, IPMA VP of Standards, Research & Awards
The Project Management Office is not an invention of this century, but it is getting more and more
recognition throughout the world. This is the main message from IPMA´s 2014 PMO Summit. At the
end of June. about twenty experts from twelve countries met in London to share their experiences.
PMOs are a hot topic for IPMA´s member associations; about twenty of them have a Special Interest
Group (SIG), and more are considering forming such a group in near future. The 2014 IPMA Summit
of PMO SIGs aimed at bringing together key people of the PMO SIGs within the context of IPMA,
informing about respective activities, exchanging ideas as well as forming an international network of
PMO SIGs.
As with all IPMA events, the PMO Summit was planned for a maximum of interaction using a variety
of facilitation methods, such as Elevator Pitch, World Café and Workshops.
The participants of the 2014 IPMA PMO Summit (Source photo: Les Squires, IPMA)
After a general introduction, the participants shared their understanding of what a PMO is. The answers demonstrated the huge variance in PMO practices. Some see a PMO as standard setting body.
Others define the PMO as support unit, helping the practitioners to apply the standards according to
their needs. Only a few participants defined a PMO as a project management unit, performing project
management (e.g. for internal projects) and being accountable for the results. PMOs have definitely a
role in managing multiple projects, portfolio management or as support for the Governance function /
body in the world of projects, programmes and portfolios (e.g. supporting the decision making).
© 2014 IPMA
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News: IPMA Event Press Release
2014 IPMA Summit of PMO SIG Leaders
July 2014
The participants claimed that a PMO typically is responsible for increased performance in project
management, identifying synergies and helping the Senior Management to lever these. A PMO should
enable the change in an organisation whilst developing the maturity in project management from an
initial to a professional state. It could be seen as a PM Excellence Center developing the eco-system of
projects, programmes and portfolios.
The PMO Summit participants worked in small-groups (Source photo: Les Squires, IPMA)
This is the reason why most of the PMO SIGs in IPMA intensively discuss the various roles a PMO
could have and the related expectations of the stakeholders. Often this question is directly linked to the
benefits a PMO offers to these stakeholders. It´s tough to start a PMO without a clear definition of the
benefits it offers to the stakeholders. In addition, some PMO SIGs also talk about a roadmap for establishing and developing a PMO in an organisation. Some argued, that a PMO could even be closed
when the job is done and the (line) organisation is mature enough, to perform projects on their own.
Other topics related to a PMO are standards, templates, tools, competences of people involved in a
PMO, good practices and trends for the future (e.g. virtual PMOs).
The mission for most of the PMO SIGs in the context of IPMA is to promote the concept of PMOs to
the most important stakeholders, including but not limited to the executives of organisations in the
private and public sector. The latter is asking more and more for support, setting up a PMO to enable a
government, a municipality or the administration in general to perform projects in an effective way.
PMO SIGs bring together key experts and stakeholders, share experiences and good practices.
They analyse the market and relevant trends, develop concepts (e.g. jointly with other SIGs) and elaborate on case stories to spread their ideas.
© 2014 IPMA
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News: IPMA Event Press Release
2014 IPMA Summit of PMO SIG Leaders
July 2014
In some IPMA Member Associations (MAs), the SIG is not only dealing with PMOs but also with
topics such as Project Governance or Portfolio Management. Other Mas do not have a SIG but similar
activities for their corporate members or the public sector. Like the above-mentioned topics in the area
of PMOs, their set-up is also very diverse.
All participants presented their activities in the area of PMOs. Most of them have reported of regular
meetings, performed as face-to-face meetings or online meetings such as webinars. Site visits and case
stories are preferred formats of some of the SIGs. In Germany for example, the PMO SIG brings together about 350 people to a “PMO Day”, a pre-conference of the national “GPM PM-Forum”. Other
SIGs perform research and identify trends, practices and potential improvements. Social media play
increasingly a decisive role for SIGs, exchange on specific LinkedIn groups, blogs or flash mobs are
some of the creative formats being used by the IPMA SIGs. Finally, some PMO SIGs publish leaflets
and / or books, participate in standards development and present their ideas during national or international conferences.
IPMA VP Reinhard Wagner (at left) strikes an expressive pose (Source photo: Les Squires, IPMA)
The participants liked the format of the 2014 IPMA PMO Summit very much; it offered many possibilities for exchange and networking. There were unanimous agreement of continuing the exchange on
an international level. During the upcoming 28th IPMA World Congress in Rotterdam there will be a
“meet & greet” of the participants with other PMO experts and presenters. The group is also aiming at
having a special stream during the 29th IPMA World Congress in Panama next year.
For further exchange, a special LinkedIn group was started to make the communication easier and allow access to related information. The German PMO SIG performed together with the Swiss Project
Management Association a PMO survey, which will be shared amongst the IPMA PMO SIG Leaders.
© 2014 IPMA
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News: IPMA Event Press Release
2014 IPMA Summit of PMO SIG Leaders
July 2014
In addition, other resources such as links to blogs, portals and or publications will be made available.
This leads into a rich exchange, which is aiming at the mission of IPMA to “facilitate co-creation and
lever the diversity of our global network into benefits for the profession, economy, society and environment.”
ABOUT IPMA
Founded in 1965 and registered in Switzerland, International Project
Management Association (IPMA) is the World’s first professional project management organization. The IPMA federation of national project management societies serves Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and
the Americas.
The IPMA World Congress, with this year’s edition planned for 29
September – 1 October 2014 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, is one of
the most important gatherings of project management authorities and
leaders each year. For further information about IPMA please visit us at www.ipma.ch.
IPMA Media Contact: Stacy Goff, IPMA VP of Marketing & Events. [email protected].
© 2014 IPMA
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