So I'm guessing that most people on the call know
who America is.
Um, some of you may not know who I am, uh,
'cause there's a few, few new names here from for, for us.
So my name's Stuart Stuart Easton, um,
and I run Transparent Choice, which is a, a software company
that does portfolio management software.
That's my day job.
My part-time job is, I, I, I
travel the world not quite as much as America does,
but I travel the world, um, uh, doing lots of kind
of volunteering and speaking, uh, to the,
to the PMO community.
And on that journey, it's been my great pleasure to get
to know America Pinto.
And, um, you know, we were, we were friends before.
He was the great exalted one in, within the PMI, uh,
when it was just the Humble PMO Global Alliance struggling a
way in Brazil, right?
We, we, we, we've been kind of collaborating, trying
to build that, that community support that community.
And it's fantastic to see it blossom and,
and expand under the, under the PMI.
Um, so America, you are most welcome to, to join us.
Uh, and the trigger for, to, for, for this webinar
was really the, the fact that we, that, you know, you, you,
you guys have just released the, the practice guide.
So why don't we kick off with just a little bit,
just a couple of minutes of the journey, right?
How did you get to the point where there's a practice
guide, uh, what is it?
And, and how did you get there?
Alright. So thank you, uh, Stuart.
Thank you for inviting me. It's a great pleasure.
I'm sorry I'm a little blue, right?
Because I'm close to, uh, a window that is,
is a little blue, so you can see that I'm, uh,
in this weird color, but everything is okay.
So actually, uh, uh, I currently,
I'm the management director
of P-M-O-G-A-P-M-O Global Alliance.
That is the PMI community of PMOs.
So it's something quite new
because actually, uh, PMO ga, uh, until 2023
was an independent organization.
I founded this organization, uh, eight, seven years ago.
And then in 2023 PMI acquired PMOJ,
and it became part of PMI actually.
So PMOJ has an organization no longer exists now.
It, it's the name, it's the brand of,
of the PMI PMO community.
And I still, uh, lead this community
as its managing director part
of the senior leadership team of PMI.
So now we are PMI actually, uh, and, and then, uh,
because of this acquisition, first of all, we brought many
of our projects, many of our and initiatives.
So we were a very vibrant community, I could say with 200,
uh, 20,000, uh, members around the, the world,
more than 100 countries.
And where we, uh, uh, uh, uh, joined PMI, uh,
joined PMI actually, uh, our reach, I could say, you know,
uh, became much, much, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, wider.
And, and this way we had a chance to expand this project
and create new ones and expand the community.
And recently the results start, started to come up,
for example, uh, the new P-M-I-P-M-O for guide,
the first publication of PM location of PMI on the,
on the topic, uh, the new certification,
gold Standard Certification,
and the V-M-I-P-M-O-C-P-P-M-O certified professional,
and many other, uh, uh, interesting projects
and initiatives.
Uh, always develop it with the support
of our community, our members.
So basically, that's the, the whole story, right?
And there is a lot of new things coming up by the way,
in the next few months to benefit all the, the,
the global community of PMOs and,
and projects professionals in general.
And, and this is the key thing is that, you know,
everything that comes out of the, the PMO GA is driven
by the community, right?
And to Tony pre says on here, I saw Tony,
I'm sure there are a few others as well,
who are very active in that community
and contributed to the creation of this practice guide.
Um, also, you know, been running the, the PMO GA
awards for the last few years.
And that's, that's been a tremendous source of inspiration
and insight into what works and what doesn't, right?
Because when you, when you look at the winners, you start,
you know, you and I, we, we have this conversation
where you start to see the common themes across, right?
Absolutely. Absolute. Yeah. This is, this is one
of our most IPO important projects that now, uh,
is part of the PMI awards program.
So, uh, but we created years ago, in 2018,
the PMO Global Awards that became the, the major, the
most, uh, relevant award for TM os in the world, no doubt.
Uh, not only because we were organizing that, but,
but especially because it, it is
very different in many ways, right?
So first of all, uh, it looks like a a,
a football World Cup, right?
And I'm Brazilian, it can explain that,
but it looks like a, a, a football World Cup,
because each country is represented by one PMO.
And we have, uh, uh, group stage round of 16th, uh,
part of final semi-finals.
And at the end we have regional winners,
and then the world winner.
Uh, we have also a very big judging committee
with more than 500, uh, fantastic, uh, uh, uh,
professionals, uh, from more than 150 countries.
And it's something very important
because, uh, it brings a lot of experience.
Uh, and when you, when you, uh, uh, when your, when,
you know, participate in this initiative,
you receive feedback from these people, they are your peers,
you know, so it's not like a group
of 10 people that are doing that.
You are doing a great job. I don't know.
I'm talking about 500 people around the board, you know?
So it's something very, I could say, meaningful.
And, and finally, uh, uh, all these PMO,
they provide the journey committee
with videos, not documents.
And it's something cool
because all those videos, they are made available
for the community at the end of the Constitution.
So it means that it's not only for prevent it, you know,
like, oh, I'm the winner.
No, no, no. Your work, uh, will be, uh,
will be something important for the community
because people can watch the videos, uh, for free and, and,
and understand what you are doing and learn from that.
So it's not only, um, award,
it's not only about being the winner,
but it's a big learning process
for everyone that is involved.
The roof, this village. So it's a, it's a project
that we are very, very proud of it, and, and,
and we have, uh, the contribution literally
of almost 1000 people, uh, in the total, uh, in terms
of volunteers that participate in this fantastic initiative.
Excellent. Thank you, America.
Now, Ashok just asked a really quick question.
So we're gonna talk a lot about the PMI stuff today,
but Ashok, uh, is a member of the A PM
and was wondering if, if there's, uh, any kind of partner,
uh, partnership in the offering.
And, and so last year, I think it was, uh, actually the PMI
and the A PM did announce a partnership where,
where there's a, there's a path now to chartered, uh,
chartered, uh, project manager through the a PM
for PMI members, for example.
And I, I bumped into Adam, who's the, the CEO
of the A PM last week.
And, uh, he was telling,
he was telling me there's even more coming, right?
He was really excited about the, the relationship
with Pierre and the rest of the team.
Yeah, no, I fully, I fully believe on that.
I, I, I remember in the very beginning, just
after the, the opposition, I had a long conversation
with Pierre or PICO, uh,
and I was telling him that, I dunno, but,
but the way that I see the future of our organization,
like PMI, is that we can, we can become a, a kind of, uh,
accelerator of communities, you know, uh, like a incubator,
because there are many great, uh, uh,
small communities doing a fantastic job, uh, uh,
around the world like us, you know?
Uh, but, but we have limitations.
We have a lack of resources. It's not easy.
Uh, so when PMI can make us part of this,
uh, ecosystem, like what happened recently
with Agile Alliance, and now
with the Green Project Management, uh, at a first glance,
it looks like, oh, PMI wants to take everything, but,
but I see in a very different way.
Because for example, now I have projects that I'm developing
with GPM, I have projects
that I'm developing with Agile Alliance.
And in the past, close something almost impossible,
because we, they didn't know me, I, I didn't know them
or had, had, had no contact.
Now we are at this same ecosystem.
It means that it's not only about acquisitions
and give to this smaller communities the possibility
of doing better what they are doing,
but it's about the synergy among them.
You know, now we can work together and it makes all sense.
So for, for the largest, uh,
professional organization in the world, that is PMI, in our,
in our landscape and project landscape,
I believe there is a very big responsibility.
Now, it's not only about, uh, uh, uh, uh, growing
in a self contained way, you know,
but it's, it's make all the community grow,
and it includes other communities, those
that are doing a good job, an ethical job, you know?
So everything is part of, of this vision of future.
I truly believe on that.
And I see that in a, that's what BMI is doing a certain way,
you know, and I'm happy with this.
So I'll tell you what, America, we are in danger
of doing exactly what Lenora for forecast that we would do.
Uh, so when America and I get together, right?
We just, we just go like this, right?
It's talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk. So,
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So,
I've, I've prepared a few little,
little breaks in this, in this stream
of consciousness from you
and me, um, that I would like to share with the audience.
Um, so we're gonna talk about the, the PMO practice guide
and some of the key insights from,
from the practice guide, and to get us going.
I'd, I'd love to do just a little, uh, a little poll.
So that should have popped up on your screens now.
And so the first question is, what level
of support does your PMO have from the leadership team?
Okay, so, you know, very often when,
when I'm at conferences, the, the biggest question I get,
you know, the question I get most often is,
how can I get the execs to listen to me?
How can they, how can I get them, you know,
how can I sell the PMO?
Um, so, uh, so jump on in.
Let's, let's get as many votes in there as we can.
If we get enough votes, we might even publish the results.
And, and I'm not sure they'll be terribly meaningful,
but we, we'll give it a go.
So jump on in. Few more. Go on fingers on buttons. Let's go.
Let's see if we can get to a hundred. Go, go, go, go, go.
Nearly there. Nearly there. We're gonna do it. Come on.
90 at least. If you haven't voted, get in there.
Super. Keep going, keep going.
We're gonna make it, we're gonna get
to a hundred nearly there.
Fantastic. And it's pretty clear what the answer is,
is gonna be, I, I'm gonna end the poll there
and share the results.
Okay. So what we can see from that is the, the,
the vast majority of people, the answer to the question,
what level of support do you have from the PMO, uh,
from the leadership is they know I add value,
but they're not quite sure what it is.
So, Americo in, in the, you know, one
of the key themes in the practice guide is,
is like cu customer centricity, right?
But making everything customer centric.
Talk to us a little bit about that idea and,
and how it can help, um, orient things
around the leadership team and,
and help win, win, buy-in and support.
So, so first of all, I think it's important to say, uh,
a little about how we develop this.
Well, I, I, I, I create a, uh, an analogy
that I think it can have, uh, uh, uh, helps to,
to understand what will have, what we have in this.
The point is, uh, we PMOs, they, they are different,
and they have to be different, right?
And, and I, I, and I say that they are like trees.
You know, there are many trees.
Trees are different trees in a forest. They are different.
And, and, and they can be very beautiful.
They can flourish in many different ways.
They can be very successful trees, right?
But each one is a different tree.
And, and these trees, they cannot understand about the life
of the other tree, you know,
because they have their own life.
They are different. They work in a, in a specific way.
They have their challenges, their life.
Uh, the way that we developed this guide was we brought many
of these trees together.
I'm talking about hundreds of them.
And we couldn't ask them exactly what they believed
that are their factors of success,
because again, they cannot compare exactly
what they're doing with other companies
because they don't know too much about the other companies.
So we work in a way that is very interesting.
I say that we, we went up and we start to see the forest.
And when we saw the forest, we said, okay, I can see that
that group of trees, they are close to the,
the river, right?
So they have a source of water,
and that's something that they have in common,
and it's a factor of success.
Those that, that other group of trees, uh, they,
they get the, the sunlight in the morning,
they cannot understand that this is one of the factors
of Texas for them.
But we can see that now because we see this group together.
So when we see the forest, we can understand a lot of
po potential aspects
that can really contribute for their success.
But if we ask them about them, not say, you know,
that it's something important, maybe
because it's like how their life is.
So this is what is behind this guide.
It came definitely from the experience of PMOs,
but not exactly what they are doing,
but what they have in common.
So it means that if we get all these great things, you know,
that are working well in different PMOs
and put them together, that's what the guide is.
And behind the guide, we have a heart, right?
And the heart is PMOs are
service providers.
PMOs have customers,
and the value will be perceived
by these customers.
So value is in the eye of the beholder.
Value for each company will be something different.
We cannot consider
that value will be perceived in the same way in every single
company, because customers are different.
They have different needs, they have different demands.
So the first point is, I need to understand
who my customer is, and then the needs,
and then the solution that will meet the needs.
And then if they are perceiving the value
that I'm generating for them, sometimes not.
And that's the, the, the, the, the, the whole idea
that will make us generate value.
The way that each female MO can generate
value will be different.
That we, I cannot copy, I cannot copy
what someone else is doing.
I have to find my all way, my all journey of value.
So this is the spirit behind the guide,
and that's why it connects many perspectives.
If you take off that, oh, o you can easily connect.
Because three O is a specific perspective,
and it, we understand that you, you shouldn't
follow blindly any perspective.
You have to learn from them and create yours.
Because how can we, can someone create something, a solution
for you without, without knowing you,
without knowing your needs?
It doesn't make any sense. Tony shouldn't believe in anyone.
You should learn from all of them
and then create your own solution, your PMO.
And that's why PMOs are different.
So, so Winston Churchill, I believe it was,
Dan is on the call, maybe you can correct me if I'm wrong.
I think it was Winston Churchill who said
that history does not repeat itself,
but it does rhyme, right?
Mm-hmm. And PMOs are little bit the same.
Not PMOs are not all, yeah, there's no two PMOs the same.
But there are common themes, right? They rhyme.
And so, so one of the, one of the common themes is this,
you know, so, so you talked about who are the stakeholders,
almost every PMO on the planet, the senior leadership team
are, uh, are absolutely key stakeholders.
They're generally paying the bills for a start.
Um, but they're also the ones who are, who are kind
of defining what success means.
So are there any common themes that you've seen that, um,
that come from the leadership team of, you know, complaints,
they have observations, they have what they, things
that they want from the PMO?
Yeah, that, that's a, a very interesting point,
because sometimes we, we think, okay,
uh, they have their needs.
Well, let's take the, the executives, right?
They have their needs.
So I have to provide something that is a solution for them.
So the best way of doing that is asking them,
yeah, you are, right?
So asking them names.
I could come with a kind of menu of things that I can do,
like methodology training, mentoring reports portfolio,
and say, Hey, what do you want?
But it doesn't work like that. And why?
Because it's not their language, actually.
It's like when you go to a doctor
or when you go to a doctor, the doctor doesn't ask you, Hey,
which medicines do you want?
No, the doctor tell says, Hey, what are you feeling?
And based it on your language,
the doctor will translate that.
And medicines in solutions.
And that's exactly what happened with BMO.
We have to speak the language of our customers,
and their, their language is based on needs
and outcomes that are expected by these needs.
But there is no important point
because we just say, okay, so it, it's, let,
let me give you an example.
I say, um, they, their need is
because they don't see a clear connection between projects
and strategy, and then they cannot make good
decisions, let's suppose.
And you say, okay, so I will provide a
good medicine for that.
I will support p portfolio management.
And then now we have a big map with all connections,
you know, so they are supposed to make good decision,
but when you ask them again, maybe they will say, no, I, I,
I still don't really think that I can make the decisions.
You can say, but come on, we deliver the value.
The value is this map. Now we can do that.
But an outcome is not the value.
The value is when the outcome becomes a recognized benefits
and benefits, they happen at the mind of your customer.
Benefits are not a number. Benefits are a
feeling, a recognition.
It's when I say, Hey, that's good.
When you provide it to me, now I'm able
to make better decisions.
And sometimes you have the numbers, sometimes you have the,
the, the, the, the, the, the, the output.
But the, the, the real outcome doesn't become a benefit
because there is no recognition.
If there is no recognition, there is no benefit,
no benefit, no value.
I'll give you a great example of that was, uh, our, our,
our security guys, cyber guys were doing some upgrades,
which of course made it much easier for all the users
to do their day-to-day work, not,
and, um, so I, I was speaking with 'em today
and saying, great, you've just, you just bagged some value,
but the users see the opposite, right?
They see cost and lovely.
And they said, well, I can come
and I can tell 'em we're more secure.
And I'm like, no, that's not enough.
That's, that's not value to them.
That's value to you, that's value to me
as the ceo. O that's value to
Me. Exactly. Exactly.
'cause that's reducing risk, but that's not value to them.
So you've got to convert it to value to them, for them to,
to understand that the value is useful. And, and
Absolutely. Absolutely. And,
and, and that's something really cool, uh,
by the way, I I I, I just presented
that in Barcelona last week, uh, in the EMI global Summit.
The point is, we have two sites
of this value measurement.
There is no one that is an individual side.
It's about each customer.
So for make each customer recognize the benefit
and see that as a value, it's, it's, it's a logical formula.
Actually, that positive impact could be higher
than the negative impact, right?
A negative impact means all efforts, uh,
including cost, right?
So if I see that, okay, now I can make a decision,
but, uh, it's a big mess.
People, they are fighting each other.
So the consequences, for example, they are like the,
these benefits.
And at the end, the balance between the benefits
and the benefits
and thoughts, it's not something good for you.
I mean, you are not really happy with that.
So it means that if you are delivering the positive, uh, uh,
benefits, but if this, these benefits
and thoughts are too high, maybe it's not a good deal.
And the benefit for PMO as a whole is a balance
among your customers.
Because, for example, you are the executive, right?
I'm providing you all this
great information for make a decision.
Now you are happy. But I have someone else,
like a project manager, that is hating that,
because now that person is being much more control.
So that's why it's a big balance among all the customers,
because sometimes what we were doing in a positive way
for your customer is impacting in a negative
way another customer.
And you have to manage all of this together.
You have to understand all the impacts
of what you were doing.
So it's not only about doing technical things,
because if you are doing something technically perfect,
people will recognize that.
No, no, no, it's about people. It's not about techno.
And all these people, they are connected
because they are your customers.
You are serving them. And the value of the PMO is the result
of how all of them understand
how important the PMO is for the organization.
Beautiful. So, I, I think that's answered some
of the questions actually, that,
that have been queuing up in the chat.
Yeah, I know. So if I'm looking this way,
I'm looking at the questions in the chat.
Um, so absolutely.
So let's pick off some of the questions
from the, from the audience.
Um, so some of 'em are quite tactical.
So for example, Lisa asks, uh, the says,
the old PMO value ring had wonderful web tool.
Will there be a web tool with a new value ring?
Right? Right. Yes. But in a different way.
In the past, we had a, a kind of transactional
software that was cool.
Uh, now the software is not aligned
with the new PMO valuing framework
anymore because it's different.
It's much, uh, which was much.
Uh, but, but, but, uh, we will do something different.
We will create these small tools.
So if you go to the P-M-O-G-A online C platform, you'll find
that we'll start with simple tools like spreadsheets.
We have one, for example, today to help you to select the
services of your PMO BA based on the expectations of, uh,
out outcomes from your customers.
So it's available there.
When we see that people are providing feedback,
and it's quite, you know, ready to be improved,
we will develop a specific small tool for this.
So it won't become, again, a very big transaction
of software because it's too complicated.
And PMI doesn't offer software.
Software is another business, you know,
it's something really complicated.
So I have to find a way of providing something
to support people,
but in a way that makes sense for PMI, my, my, my, my,
my big, uh, uh, objective is to make these tools part
of PMI infin, but we are working on this.
We want to bring all these tools to PMI Infin,
then you can use PMI Infin
to generate everything that you need.
It makes all sense. We can leverage ai.
Another super tactical question,
is there gonna be a printed version of the practice guide?
No. And there is a reason for that, right?
The reason is, uh, it's the first solution.
We have great feedback.
We have new ideas, we have pilots projects in, in,
in progress in companies.
If I print something right now, it'll be an excuse
for don't make an update in the beginning of next year.
And I don't want that actually in
the beginning of next year.
It's not usually PMI, you know,
that usually guides and standards.
They are updated every four years.
But I see that it's, it's not an option.
You know, we need an update in the beginning of next year.
There are many new ideas, things
that we can make adjustments, you know, and,
and if I have printed books, people will say, oh,
now we have printed books.
You know, so, so believe me, we will
get much more benefits if we wait a little.
So probably in the second edition next
year, we'll have a chance.
I, I would love to have my printed version right in my
a log books, right?
But, but, but it's not the best strategy.
Uh, updating it quickly with all this dynamic
that we have is something much more important.
So if it depends on me, this first ver version,
only digital, because I believe it's the best thing
that we can do for us, for our community.
Super. Right? I've got two super quick things,
and then we'll move on to the next poll.
Um, so the, the first one is, uh,
we've been talking a lot about how to get executives
to support and buy into the PMO.
This is, we get asked this so often
that we've actually created, uh, something
that we call the case for change.
I've just dropped the link into the chat.
Um, so this is a, a, a quick kind of workshop thing that we,
that we do with, uh, PMO leaders, where we look at,
you know, what's the pain from your leadership
that your leadership team suffering?
What are the root causes of that?
What are the key services
that you can deliver to solve the pain?
And how do you communicate that so that you get the buy-in?
It's a just a, it's just a way of getting buy-in.
So if you are struggling with this, right?
Book yourself a case for change.
The, the first session just takes an hour,
and then we'll figure out what we need to do after that.
Yeah. And for that, yeah, we, we don't, for that first
briefing session, that first session, which if you wanna go
and do it yourself, you can just go and do it.
There's no cost for that. Um, it's not tied to our software.
It's not about our software.
It's about PMO and,
and establishing value with the leadership team.
So if you've struggled with book a meeting,
sorry, go ahead, America.
No, yeah, I was saying
that it's a, it is a, it is a great idea.
All, all these opportunities can let us think or,
or rethink our beliefs, you know,
and this is exactly what made PMOs evolve.
You know, if we, I usually say
that if we have too many answers about
what a PMOs should be, it's very possible
that we are not in the right way.
You know, because PMOs are so dynamic, you know?
So if you believe that you are the most beautiful tree in
the world, and all other trees should be like you,
this is not the real word, my friend. Yeah. You know,
Abs, a hundred percent, a hundred percent.
Uh, Michael, thank you. Keep going.
Keep doing what you're doing. Michael keeps dropping in
links and things like that to the practice guide
and PMO resources, so, brilliant. Thank you for that.
Yeah. Member members, members can download by for free,
actually, uh, at PMI website.
Yep. Absolutely.
Um, and then just one super quick point, uh,
Rashad said something along the lines that, you know,
communicating value that, uh, complying
with the requirements and regulation is not value add as,
as a CEO of a business.
Uh, Rashad, I, I have to disagree with you respectfully.
I disagree very strongly.
Um, when you, you're doing compliance, right?
It absolutely adds value because it is reducing risk.
Compliance is all about reducing risk in the business,
and risk does have value.
So always, you know, don't think about what's the output.
The output is we've ticked a compliance box.
The value to the business is we have reduced the risk
of something bad happening,
Right? And sometimes
you can be out
of the business if you are not compliant, right?
A absolutely. Yeah.
Well, actually, a, actually, a again, don't,
don't be too assertive when you are talking
about pmo, right?
Because it depends if, if you are, if, if the CEO
truly believe and feel that it's something important
for the business and for him or her, right?
My friend, that's, that's it. That, that's a real word.
You know? So that's what you have to understand.
Sometimes it's something that you have all the right
to disagree.
It's, it's, it's okay, right?
But, but it's not about if you agree
or not, it's about what is needed or not.
I usually say, if, if it's not illegal, immoral
and will not get to fed, you can do it, right?
Because it's needed, right? You can do it.
So it's not a big deal.
So, but, but we need this connection between
what is really expected and what your adults,
otherwise, there is no perception of value.
Perfect. So, to the point
of all the trees being different, I'd love to find out
what kind of trees we've got in the audience.
All right. So the next poll is open.
Uh, where do you spend most of your time within the PMO?
Is it fighting fires on projects?
Is it pulling together reports?
Uh, is it creating
and enforcing methodologies, you know, process
and, you know, the classic process police thing, uh,
or is it optimizing delivery of business value?
So where do you spend most of your time? Be honest.
Don't tell us where you would like to spend most
of your time, or
where you think you should spend most of your time.
Tell us where you actually spend most of your time.
We'll just give it a few seconds.
Let's see if we can get up to get up
to a hundred people again.
Um, once we get up to a hundred, we'll,
we'll reveal the, reveal the answers.
Here we go. 92, 93. Come on. A few more.
Few more, a few more. Jump in in there.
You gotta be in it to win it. All right. There we go.
Will do. Let's, let's end. Paul, share the results.
There we go. Can you see this?
So it's reasonably evenly spread on this one.
America, what do you, what do you think? Where,
What, What, what do you think to that?
What's your reaction?
Well, the, the, the point is, uh,
when we talk about needs, are, there are some needs
that they are very common, right?
So, uh, and because these needs are common, the,
the medicines that you provide, they are also very common.
So, for example, why do we have methodology?
Many PMOs, they are involved with methodologies
because methodologies is a kind of medicine
that can address many different needs and expectations.
Not all of them, but many of them, right?
So what you are doing in terms of, of services,
there is no right
and wrong, actually, it's just a matter
of doing what is needed.
The problem is, p PMOs, they, they, there are many PMOs
that they fail, uh, not
because they, they are not doing a, a good job.
They are not providing good services, but
because they are providing wrong services,
it's like you are providing a great Etsy
for a pain that doesn't exist.
So nobody can see value on that.
My pain is in my head,
and you are giving me the best match in
the world for my stomach.
How can I see value on that? And why are you doing this?
Because you believe that every PMO should do that.
You know what I'm saying? But, okay,
but not here, here, my needs are different.
And this is the big point.
So PMOs, they're not like pre-established models
that you just take them
and say, okay, that's what we have to do.
So the PMO, that was very successful, uh, in, in the past,
in my company where I, where I was working,
now I'm a consultant
and I will try to implement the same PMO in all my clients.
Probably all of them will have problems and maybe fail.
Fail. And why?
Because you are giving a medicine that was really good
for your past company,
but you have no idea if this medicine makes sense
for this new companies, this new, new, new, new, new PMOs.
You know what I mean? So, so this relationship between
what we were doing and what is expected is the key.
And, and you see that both, uh, items that were,
were in the top, uh, of that list,
they are not very strategic, right?
They are quite tactical and operational,
and you can say, oh, it's not correct.
You know, PMOs should be more strategic.
Actually, it depends,
because sometimes the needs can be more operational,
the needs can be more tactical,
or they can be more strategic.
It's okay, there is nothing wrong with that.
But on the other side, sometimes PMOs,
they are much more tactical
and oppression than, than they could be in terms
of strategic, uh, approach.
Because there is a lack of maturity in the, in the, in the,
in the organization, especially at the top level.
So when we have people with a lack of maturity in our,
in our topic, right?
In project management at the top level, usually they
require much more tactical operational aspects than
strategic, uh, uh, uh, aspects.
Because actually they cannot understand the value
of these things yet.
But it's a matter of time.
That's why it's a journey of value.
We have to educate our customers,
and then they will be able to perceive the value of
what we are doing in a exist way.
Agreed. And the, so here's,
here's the way I think about it, right?
A actually, my view, my personal view is
that every PMO on the planet should have the same job
description, right?
And that job description should be
to maximize the return on investment from your
portfolio, right?
That's it. That's, that's the job description.
That's all of it. You don't need more than that
because part of your journey is to understand
where is the organization today and,
and America, to use your metaphor,
what medicine do they need today?
And fix that problem to improve the ROI.
And then once you fix that problem, you say,
what's the next most important problem?
Then you fix that problem, right?
And, and so it could be that on day one, you go in and,
and you've got to do really basic stuff like, you know,
help people understand what a risk register is, right?
And think, you know, really basic stuff.
But you know what, after six months,
everybody knows what the risk register is.
You don't need to do that anymore as a PMO, right?
So you can go and do something further up that value chain.
And so the, the key is every step, what you're trying
to do is add more value to improve that, that ROI. Exactly.
Exactly. And,
and I think, so there's a couple
of themes here coming out from the,
from the practice guide, right?
So the first one is the, actually projects are not about
projects, actually, they're so,
so we do this whole thing with ducks, right?
So we've got, I dunno if you can see the ducks
behind me here, but we, we do this thing with the, the,
with ducks and eggs, right?
Where the business doesn't care about your projects, right?
They don't care if you have a boy duck or a gold duck.
They don't care if it's waterfall, agile.
They don't care about any of that, right?
They don't care about boy duck or girl duck.
They just want eggs. They want the value, okay?
They want the value from the projects.
So right at the heart, no matter where you are on
that maturity curve, what kind of PMO you've got,
it should be about delivering business value.
Even if all you are doing is time sheets
and reporting, right?
You're doing that to help the business realize the value.
You're not doing it because of the time sheets
and the reporting in and of themselves are important.
You're doing it to help the organization add value.
And, and so that's one of the themes, Americo,
that comes across very strongly in the,
in the practice guide.
And, and then the second theme, the second theme that,
that Americo was talking about there, is that, that, uh,
PMOs evolve over time, right?
They evolve as the needs change.
That agility is really important.
So what I'd like to do is open up the third poll
and just see how we're all doing on this.
It's almost like we planned this America, which,
which I have to say we didn't really, all right,
so there's a third, third poll.
Is there that should be open.
So how well aligned are you guys all seeing that?
Just gimme a quick thumbs up if you can see it.
Um, how well aligned are you all? Yeah. Votes are coming in.
Thank you very much. Uh,
how well aligned are your PMO services to the strategy
and pain of the business, which is
what America was just talking about, right?
Just talking about the, uh, um, uh, the alignment. Oh, wow.
And again, vote for what reality is not
what you think it should be or what you would like it to be,
but where you actually are today.
Fantastic. Keep going, keep going.
We're up to about 70 votes. Keep going.
Yeah, I'll see these. Thank you.
I, I like that Stuart's motto.
Companies want more eggs, bigger eggs, the right eggs,
and fewer broken eggs.
We had the whole of Barcelona shouting that last week.
That was a lot of fun. Um, brilliant. All right, here we go.
Let's see what the results look like.
Still a few votes coming in.
We'll leave it open just for a few more seconds.
And that, there we go. That'll do. Okie dokie.
So this one. Um, so, so this is a, this, this is great.
We don't have very many people just saying, look, I'm a PMO,
I'm gonna do what PMOs do,
and I don't care about the business.
That's brilliant. Well done. Uh, I'm delighted about that.
But the, but the other three are, are,
are fairly equal, right?
So, so there's, uh, it's 30% of you
say that you're a hundred percent aligned, that the,
the services you're offering really support are aligned
to the strategy and the pain of the business.
About a third, think that it, you know, you, you're kind
of syncing up every year or so with, with the, the business.
Um, um,
and then about another third of you are saying, you know,
yeah, just kind of vaguely, we talk
to business occasionally.
So, so America, what does, what does, what,
what does the practice guide say?
And what does your experience tell you about this?
About the need to align those services?
Yeah, I, I, I, I think we need to expand
this real little bit.
The, the point is, uh, remember I, I said
that value has two styles.
We have the individual perception of value,
and we have the collective perception of value,
the organization as a whole, right?
So, uh, I'm saying that
because when we are delivering value benefits on them, value
with the recognition, actually,
sometimes it can be something very sophisticated.
Sometimes it can be something simple.
But we are delivering value in the same way.
For example, actually we have, uh, uh, uh, the,
the, someone at the C level, right?
Is not very experienced on project management,
for example, management.
And this person at this moment needs some support, uh,
to be able to make a good analysis of
that information and make decision.
So look, it, it's something quite simple, right?
The PMO can help, and you are generating value on why,
because there is a pain
and you are handling that pain, right?
So it's not something very sophisticated, you know,
and oh, we are, uh, the, uh, the, uh, changing the, the,
the, uh, something, the way that we are delivering projects.
No, no, no, you are just supporting your customer.
And this is something important
because that's the way that we establish
trust based relationships.
One day, the same customer will be more mature,
and we will need something more sophisticated.
And that's, then you'll be there, you'll be there
to support them.
So this is the first point.
Sometimes simple things can add a lot of value.
There is another point that is when we say that, okay,
the PMO is here to generate, uh, a better ROI
for our portfolio, for example, it depends.
There are some PMOs,
especially if they are not an enterprise, PNO,
that sometimes their proposed that value proposition is not,
not tactical and oppression.
So they are not really involved with the portfolio as a old,
but it's okay, you are knitting your objectives as a PMO,
which is part of the game.
So PMOs are different, sometimes more strategics,
sometimes more tactical, and, and you are doing great job.
And thirdly, if we expand this view of value,
we will see that there are many ways of
understanding what value means.
For example, sometimes it can be influenced not only, uh,
by, by the customer, but, but even by the culture.
For example, if you talk about value
with an American company, okay,
maybe ROI will be the most important point if everything's
about money, right?
But if should go to other cultures, for example, right?
Where money is not exactly what drives them sometimes,
because they have a lot of money, right?
It's much not about visibility,
prestige, you know what I mean?
And that's what people really value at the end of the day.
So it's not about the money, it's about,
or sometimes, uh, in the government,
it's about improving the chances
of your most important customer
to be reelected, for example.
So it's not about the ROI, you know what I'm saying?
So the way that people understand value will be different
the way that that companies
and sometimes the way
that cultures will interpret value is different,
and we have to be open for that.
So again, many PMOs fail, not
because they are not doing a good job, but
because they believe that the technical aspects are the
most important words.
And sometimes it's all about people, you know?
So if you don't deal with that,
and you believe that the technical aspects are enough
to generate perception of value,
possibly you'll become very, very frustrated. Yeah.
And, and your customers will become very,
very frustrated as well.
Absolutely. And it's cycle,
you know, because the way that you respond
to the frustration of your customers is
with more technical stuff.
You say, okay, I, I'm gonna do
what I'm doing in a better way.
But it's not about what you are doing,
it's about why you are doing, you know? So, so
Brings us right back, you'll point, brings us right back
to that value is at the center, right?
And and value in the eye of the beholder.
Exactly. Yeah, exactly.
And, and and value as,
as beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Exactly.
Absolute. Well, and, and so Reza has a
related question to this.
Um, so she's saying, you know, PMOs a service provider
adds some value, but, um, uh, she's wondering why the,
the PMOs potential role within the organization's broader
value stream or value chain is, is kind of missing.
And, and actually, I, I I, I, I'm not, I'm not sure it,
it, I, I think it's in there.
It's maybe just not using those languages
because of, uh, that language.
'cause if you're, if you are orienting your PMO
around business value, then you have to think about
value streams and value chains.
You can't do it otherwise, right?
I agree. I agree. I agree.
So, so, so it's a super
question, Reza, thank you for that.
Um, but,
but so, so I think this whole idea, this core theme in the,
in the practice guide around, you know,
being value centric is, is really embedded in, um, you know,
not every organization is mature enough to think about
clear value streams and know what they are.
But if you do, just plug
into that and that's gonna help you.
I, I, I love the idea.
But, but, but the only point is the guide
is not talking about this
because there's this part of the solution,
and the solution will be different from company to company.
So if you feel, and this is the point,
because if you read a book about PMOs, for example,
if you read 10 books about PMOs, you won't find
anything talking about that.
And if you say, okay, I have to follow one of their, I'm
so sorry, there is nothing about that.
So it means that PMO are supposed that,
that they, they shouldn't do that.
But you need that in your company, in your scenario.
So what the guide says is, okay, it's not common,
it's not usual, but that's what you need, my friend.
So go ahead, do that.
You know, do it 'cause it's part of the solution.
You know, so the guide focused on providing a, a mindset,
open your mind saying, Hey, don't follow models,
types of PMOs.
You know, forget about it.
The way that you'll call your PMO doesn't matter.
You have to create something that can be
really, really unusual.
You'll not see anything like that anywhere.
It's okay if it's not what you need.
Absolutely. So, you know, you have directed
PMOs and this and that and the other, right?
You've got these different types of P-M-O-I-I was speaking
with, uh, Frederick Casagrande a little while ago.
Um, so Fred's, uh, you know, Fred was on the board
of PMO ga, and he, he's super experienced PMO leader.
And Fred said, no, no, no, no, no, no. Right?
We don't have all of these, you know, directive
and controlling and all these things, right?
We don't really have those. There are only two
types of PMO out there.
There's my PMO and everything else,
Right?
They're all different, right? So, so yeah,
That's true.
We, so we've been talking a bit about value
and all that kind of good stuff.
Here's what, uh, here's what we're gonna do.
We're gonna do one final poll.
And this one is, how do you measure project success?
Is it the, is it on time, on budget, right?
Is it we delivered on time on budget,
and we delivered the scope that was asked for?
Is it, uh, we delivered the originally intended benefits,
or is it we delivered the real value for money
and ROI to the business?
Those last two are subtly different, right?
And again, tell us, tell us what you actually do.
Not what you know you should do
or what you would like to do,
but what you are actually doing today.
And you can tell, look,
this talk America has attracted all the best PMOs,
right? Oh,
Yeah. Because there is
no way this is represent,
these answers are representative of the general population.
Absolutely. No way. Excellent.
Okay, here we go. I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, uh,
I'm gonna end the poll in just a few seconds.
We're nearly up at 90. Go on. Last couple of answers.
Go for it. Go for it.
There we go. Rattle, do. So let me share the results.
So, um, so there are very few people willing to admit that.
Um, uh, well, actually I'm delighted
to see some people did click on my first option, which was,
you know, any landing you can walk away from is a good
one, right?
Yeah. So any project
that doesn't kill you, that was a success.
Yeah, exactly. PPPM, I just, just renew, uh,
very interesting, uh, uh, research on project success.
And, and actually again, it's a formula, you know?
So it's not only about benefits,
but also about the effort, these benefits.
So again, it's the balance.
So what make people understand something
as successful is, okay, what I get in terms
of positive impact is higher than all efforts.
And other thing that I had to, you know,
to do to make it happen.
It's easy. Like that, of course, there will be part
of this formula that will be not tangible,
but there will be a big part of this formula
that can maybe intangible.
And that's what make it complex.
Because sometimes, again, you have the numbers,
but you don't have the perception of value.
And then success,
and this is for me, the, the big challenge.
You know, uh, if we can bring
some knowledge from other areas outside project management
to help us, we can understand this much better.
Because by nature we are much more technical people,
you know, and, and, and,
but the people side of all of this is something
that is becoming clearly more and more important,
and we cannot ignore that.
So how can we just drink from other sources
of knowledge from other areas
and complement the vision that we have about
how people perceive value and,
and success as a consequence. So,
So when we see, when I see you in Riyad, right?
Remind me of that point.
'cause I, I need to show you some, some things.
'cause that's, that's a large part of what we've done.
Big part of what we do is, um, so little flag wave
for transparent choice, right?
Um, is, um, is we bring, there's a whole body
of research into how to do things like that, right?
Around decision science and, and, and things.
So there are techniques that you can use to quantify
that unquantifiable stuff, right?
That sentiment stuff.
And so if you can quantify it, that gives you data.
And then what we, so the way I talk about it is, you know,
we want to win the head, the heart,
and we wanna solve the heartbreak, right?
So it's the head, heart heartbreak are the three components.
So the head is, is the data, the heart is the story
that kind of goes along with the data, right?
So, so, um, uh, you know,
we've made our people happier, right?
We we're measuring that we've improved our, our the sex,
the, the, the motivation of our people, whatever it is.
Then you can maybe tell, tell some stories about that.
And then you can tell a story about something
that went really badly or wrong because we, you know,
because it wasn't working, right?
So that's the heartbreak that we're fixing.
And when, when you do that, you can really take this data,
the data is the head, then the heart is what I'm feeling,
and then the heartbreak is
what impact does that have on the business?
And when you put all three of those together, you can really
clearly get that, that value out there, uh,
and get that definition Yeah.
In people's minds. So there's lots
of really good techniques out there.
And as you say, a lot of them are coming from outside
of project management.
'cause they're, they're not project management problems.
They're, they're psychology problems
or they're decision management problems,
or they're what, whatever it may be.
So all good stuff.
Um, so the, the point of the, the question there, uh,
America, you, you're very nicely led into it, is
that the PMI, after, um, uh, many years
of lots of people lobbying, changed the definition
of project success to include va the word value,
which I'm delighted about.
Um, for all of you guys who are sort of PMP people,
PMBOK eight is being developed as we speak.
And I think value is probably gonna be shining from
that even more brightly from
what I'm hearing from the people I know who are writing it.
So I'm really excited to see what
that looks like when it comes along.
Yeah. Um, so there's, there, there's,
there's a one last question, I think from the audience,
Americo, and then, and then, we'll, that'll get us
to the top of the hour, I suspect, uh,
and I'm trying to find it, I know it's back here somewhere,
but it was something to the effect of, um,
what's the difference between A PMO and a project manager?
And it's a really interesting question when you start
to dig into that one, right?
Because, because there is a fundamental difference,
uh, several fundamental differences.
So go, go for it. Why don't you,
why don't you pick on that one first?
Yeah. Th this, this, this point is really interesting and,
and honestly, this exactly why P-M-O-G-A was created.
Because for those people that work at PMOs, they know
that it's a totally different type of job, you know,
actually, okay, it's about projects,
and that's why many people believe that it's so similar.
But, but in terms of competencies, it's different.
We are very, very different.
I usually say that, uh, project managers,
they are those people that you say, okay,
that's what you have to do.
They, they, and they will say,
okay, I'm gonna make it to happen.
We have this side with BMO people also,
but BMO leaders especially, they have a step behind, uh,
behind this specific, uh, uh, uh, uh,
this specific action that is, from time to time, I have
to create solutions.
So I have to understand needs and design solutions.
It's not only about implementing them, but planning
and implementing them.
It's about creating them from the scratch,
creating something that can be tailored
and make sense for your customers.
So it's a different kind of competence.
So that's why in the guide we have something about that.
We have a, a kind of, uh,
initial competence model for PMO people.
Uh, and, and look, the competencies
that will be required will depend on the PMO
that you have, because services,
different services will require different competencies.
If you are providing training, for example,
some competencies will be required if you are providing
reports or if you are providing portfolio management
or project management.
All these different services can require
different competencies.
So A-A-A-P-M-O competence model is something much more
complex in a certain way,
because there are many different types of variations
that can, can influence what you need
to develop in terms of competencies.
But anyway, one thing is absolutely, uh, uh, uh,
uh, uh, I believe, uh, a reality that is,
we are talking about different types of professionals,
project managers.
They are not PMO leaders, PMO leaders,
not necessarily our project managers.
Of course, there are some points in common, but,
but there is a sense of each one
I believe is very, very good.
Yeah. The, and, and the way I I think
of it is really simple that, you know,
the project manager is responsible
for landing one project, right?
If you get it right, you deliver one project
and the value associated with it,
if you get it wrong exactly.
You, You crash one value.
The PMO is should be working a level above
that usually, right?
Not, not always. You know,
there are different kinds of trees, right?
We, we get that, there'll be some trees where that,
this doesn't apply, but generally the,
the PMO is sitting a level above that and there.
And so what they do impacts every project, right?
Whether it's resource capacity planning
or methodology templates, whatever it is
that you're creating, that affects every project.
So that means Absolutely.
So you have a higher level of responsibility.
And it, and, and it's very much being a PMO is not oddly
enough, I I don't think it's about
project management at all.
It's a business management function. Yeah.
It's about, Go ahead. Go
Ahead. No,
there an interesting point about that.
Yesterday night, I was, uh, event, uh,
and someone ask like, okay, but,
but PMO professionals, they will, they will,
they will be replaced by ai, right?
Or PMOs will be replaced by AIS and by ai.
And, and I see, especially when I'm talking about PMOs,
I see that in a different way.
First of all, I truly believe that PMOs,
they are the main drivers of AI in organizations
because project managers, they are the end users, right?
PMOs will introduce AI in the organizations.
Definitely, right?
And maybe we could think, okay,
but ai, can AI replace the PMO?
I don't believe so. Actually, there are two options.
PMI will improve PMOs a lot,
or they will destroy PMOs.
Many PMOs. And why?
Because AI is about
how you are doing things, right?
So in terms of automation, in terms of prediction,
actually I can support you a lot,
but if you are not aligning with the real needs,
it's like you are boosting the wrong medicine.
You know what I'm saying? So actually you'll do much better
something that you are not supposed to do,
and it'll appeal you very quickly, right?
So AI can bring you to another level, I believe,
I truly believe on that if you are aligned
with the real needs of value.
But if you are not, if you are doing
what you believe you have to do,
because that's how PMO works, you know, it'll just
improve something that has no value at the end of the day.
And all this lack
of alignment will become much more explicit.
And then you're gonna go, so
AI can be a great solution,
but can be your sentence of death.
Do you know what my friend, we've done it again.
We've used up all the time, Alec a allotted to us
and a couple of minutes more.
So we're, we're gonna have to bring it to an end.
I mean, it's a shame 'cause there are some fabulous
questions and comments and everything in the audience.
Um, yeah, big, big round of applause for America.
Really, really loved it.
Um, a couple
of people have said we should do this more often.
Absolutely. We do this every month, right?
So watch, watch for the newsletters from, from, uh,
from the transparent choice team.
We, we have a great thought leader on, uh, every month,
next month we've got somebody called Rebecca Reynolds who's
gonna be talking about the, the link to strategy, right?
So if, if, if your C-suite is, is the head and the,
and project execution is the body, right?
Strategic planning and, and the PMOs, you know, the,
the prioritization piece, it's the neck.
It's the bit that joins the two together, right?
So we're gonna be talking about the neck next month.
So come join the, join us for that.
Um, and again, if you were in the lower, um, the, the lower
rankings for some of those maturity questions earlier on,
book that case for change.
'cause if you're gonna improve things, you've gotta take the
executive team with you and the case
for change is how you do that.
So go and book that case for change, um, America, A million.
Thanks. I can't wait to see you in Riyad
and give you a proper hug, um, uh, in, in person. Uh,
Absolutely. Yeah.
Alright. Always a pleasure.
Uh, thank you very much for everyone that came with us.
Remember that, uh, May 13th is the
international PMO day, right?
And we have to celebrate the value of our PMOs, right?
That's why we, we, uh, created together with, with, with,
uh, uh, uh, the house of P-M-O-P-M-O, with, with, uh, uh, PM
officers, with the PO leader, all of us.
We created this, this important day.
We out together, not because of us, but
because of you, right?
So it's the day that we will celebrate the great job
that we are doing or reflect about what we are doing,
you know, and, and, and, and understand
what will be our
mission for now.
One, you know how our PMO users,
Awesome. And then
I have one more thank you, which is a personal one.
Americo, I wanna thank you for all of the effort
that you've put in over the last 10 years
or so, building the P-M-O-G-A, you've,
you've really brought the PMO community together.
And by landing in the PMI, you've given it a platform
to go mainstream and change the world, right?
And I know how hard you worked on that.
So I wanna thank you on behalf of everybody on this call
and all the other PMOs
who couldn't make it today. Thank you,
My friend. Absolutely.
Actually, I, I'm very grateful for good stuff.
You know, having, having the privilege of,
of counting on the support
and the trust of so many people around the world like you,
I see so many of them here to connected with us.
You know, for me it's a privilege to, to deserve, you know,
the stress of all of these people and,
and, and have a chance to voice the great community
that we have and develop PMOs that are something I believe
so important for companies, uh, and for each of us
and the projects professional.
That is what we are at. We are at the end of the day.
And now, PMI is also not only the home of project managers,
but the home of PMO professionals.
And this is something that I believe is a, a great legacy
that we are leaving to the,
the home community.
There we go. That's a great note to end on.
Thank you everybody. Thanks for joining
and, uh, do look out for, for next month's session.
Thank you guys. Thank you everybody. Thank you America.