Tài liệu Creating the project office 2 pptx

x Contents
7 Implementing the Project Office: Case Study 167
Alfonso Bucero, PMP
8 Keep Moving: Getting Your Arms Around Chaos 197
Colonel Gary LaGassey, USAF
9 In or Out? Staffing and Operating the Project Office 219
PART THREE: MAKING CHANGE STICK 245
10 Looking Forward: Embedding Project Practices
in the Culture of the Organization 249
Dennis Cohen, Strategic Management Group
11 The Tale We Tell 277
Appendix: Templates for Project Office Planning 291
References 299
Index 303
xi
PREFACE
F
aster, cheaper, better. Accidental project manager. In or out? Are you done
yet? We’re in a mess! Why can’t we ? If these challenges sound familiar
within your organization, welcome aboard.
This is a book about improving organizational performance by implementing
a project office system that develops project management as a core competency
and thus adds value to the organization. A project office consists of a team dedi-
cated to improving the practice of project management in the organization. The
improvement in organizational performance is achieved by obtaining more value
from projects, making project management a standard management practice, and
then moving the organization toward the enterprise project management concept.
Enterprise project management is an organization-wide managerial philoso-
phy. It is based on the idea that company goals are achievable through a web of
simultaneous projects supported by a systemic approach that includes corporate
strategy projects, operations improvement, and organizational transformation

as well as traditional development projects. This means that companies view
marketing programs, advertising campaigns, promotional events, new product
launches, software development, change management, and continuous improve-
ment, as well as traditional design and construction of new facilities, as projects,
using project management approaches to bring them to completion. Virtually
everything can be dealt with as a project under the enterprise project manage-
ment concept.
The project office is the linchpin for implementing and maintaining a project
approach across the organization. The project office is a gigantic building block
for making enterprise project management become a reality in an organization.
The project office adds value to the organization by ensuring that projects are per-
formed within procedures, are in line with organizational strategies, and are com-
pleted in a way that adds economic value to the organization.
The audience for this book includes everyone involved in project manage-
ment—project managers, team members, and middle and upper managers at-
tempting to change their organizations into project-based enterprises. All projects
involve change and thus every project manager and team member is involved in
an organizational change process. Since the emphasis here is on improving the
organization through better project management practices, this book will help
project participants and managers at all levels make sense of the change processes
they are experiencing.
Inexperience and ignorance about leading organizational change can be
costly to the organization and the individual. We are not wont to disagree with an
early reviewer who said, “This book can save careers.” Another added, “This book
can save organizations!”
The book began as a result of workshops on the topic of Implementing the Project
Office for Organizational Change, sponsored by the Strategic Management Group and
R. J. Graham and Associates. These workshops blended consultants and practi-
tioners (most writers for this book participated, along with a few of their friends),
who worked through the problems and processes of changing organizations to

embrace the enterprise project management concept. This book reflects the ma-
terial covered during those workshops as well as contributions from a constituency
of consultants and practitioners through lifelong experiences. Contributors to the
book include consultants Graham, Dinsmore, and Cohen, along with practition-
ers Storeygard, Bucero, and LaGassey. Englund plays a dual role, currently a con-
sultant but drawing on many years as a practitioner and in an HP project office.
Many other professionals also graciously shared their learning and worked their
way into the collective knowledge compiled herein.
The design of the book is the result of suggestions from workshop partici-
pants. Other books on the project office acknowledge the importance of the of-
fice in facilitating change in the organization. Despite this acknowledgment,
however, concepts on using a project office as a vehicle for organizational change
are often left to the last chapter, almost an afterthought. Workshop participants
who were currently working on implementing project offices agreed that this em-
phasis, although important, came too late. It is difficult to change the perception
and function of any organizational entity after it has been established. Therefore,
xii Preface
if the ultimate goal is to change the organization, then that should be the focus
from the beginning. That is why we wrote this book.
The emphasis in this book is not on the day-to-day operation of the project
office, although that topic is covered. Rather, the focus is the process of imple-
menting a project office in an organization with the goal of bringing about orga-
nizational change that ultimately adds to the economic value of the organization.
Not every reader plans to go all the way to implement the full Monty—a strate-
gic project office—and some may even get discouraged by the pitfalls we describe.
However, we also include specific skill-building approaches and revised ways to
think about things that offer value to these readers. The implications of power,
operating across organizations, and project portfolio management processes are
examples. These have wider applications than just a project office, but are even
more potent when the PO leads the effort. We draw from a variety of fields and

historical references in pursuit of our goal to cover the why, what, and how to lead
the organizational change process.
PO of One
The term project office is not without baggage. For some people it means overhead
and bureaucracy. They want a lean organization where competencies and action
are dispersed across the organization, not in a central (expensive) unit. These same
people may ask if they can establish POs of one, meaning that each project man-
ager embodies all the traits, skills, and knowledge that we cover in this book.
We believe a PO of one is a worthy concept. We are talking about an orga-
nizational culture that supports the essence of a project office but not its struc-
ture. Individuals learning to unfreeze, change, and refreeze the people around
them offer tremendous value. The steps along the path we describe can be taken
by individual project managers. In fact, they may not have that title; they just hap-
pen to be doing projects or leading a change effort. They want the results they
create through a set of activities to be great instead of average, and the outcome
to contribute and fit with organizational goals instead of going on the shelf. The
missing pieces that help make this happen are the process, experiences, and knowl-
edge of best practices.
A PO of one may not be an established norm or term in usage, but it can live
in the hearts and aspirations of devotees. We hope this book provides inspiration.
We also hope that success then expands enterprise project management possibil-
ities to higher levels of maturity.
Preface xiii
Book Organization and Outline
Organizational change comes in three phases, so this book is organized in three
parts to follow those phases. The first outlines ways to create the conditions for
organizational change. The second covers operating the project office to make the
changes themselves, and the third goes through consolidating the changes to
embed them in organizational reality.
Part One consists of the first five chapters of the book. Chapter One covers

the problems associated with organizational change processes and gives a step-by-
step guide to the process of using a project office as organizational change vehicle.
Chapter Two gives more detail on the first important step of that process, creat-
ing a sense of urgency for the change and making sure that the result of the change
will ultimately add economic value to the organization. Any change process in-
volves power and politics, so Chapter Three is a program manager’s guide to or-
ganizational politics with an aim toward using that knowledge for creating a
powerful coalition for change. Chapter Four covers many of the details concern-
ing the functions and operations of a project office so that organizational change
agents begin to develop a vision, strategy, and communications plan to let people
know what the office is and what it does. Chapter Five is a case study showing how
many of the concepts covered in the first four chapters were applied at 3M.
Chapter Six begins the second part of the book, covering the problems and
processes of managing change when the project office begins to have first contact
with members of the organization. Chapter Seven is a case study from HP Spain
that shows how the manager of that project office managed its interface with the
rest of the organization. Chapter Eight is another case study, from a U.S. Air Force
Base in Italy, that describes implementing a project office in a very short time,
under rapidly changing conditions, and in a highly bureaucratic organization.
Chapter Nine calls on information from case studies as it covers the important
topics of staffing and operating the project office.
Chapters Ten and Eleven cover the final part of the change process, that of
consolidating the changes to make them an organizational reality. In these chap-
ters we acknowledge that most change processes fail because they only develop
surface changes and leave the basic assumptions of organization members un-
touched. Chapter Ten covers the steps necessary to change basic assumptions of
organization members and thus integrate the new processes into the organiza-
tional culture. Chapter Eleven adds a few more important insights into the process,
and discusses the action-planning templates in the Appendix, whose use will help
make the changes stick.

xiv Preface
We are aware that organizational change is a messy process and that few po-
tential readers for this book will follow the seemingly smooth process outlined here.
In fact, readers may find themselves at different points on the continuum of
change that the book proposes. However, we believe there is potential value for
all readers, regardless of where they are in the process.
For those just beginning to think about implementing a project office, the first
two parts are most important. The ideas and case studies presented in these sec-
tions preview problems you will face, along with suggestions from those who have
gone before you. If you have implemented a project office but find that progress
has stalled, you will probably find Part One very helpful. People who experienced
stalled implementations report that they did not spend enough time—or any
time—creating the initial conditions for organizational change. Reviewing the first
five chapters of this book may highlight important elements that were missed, el-
ements that when put in place will move the implementation forward. Those read-
ers who have a project office operating successfully will probably want to
concentrate on Parts Two and Three so that they can prepare to consolidate the
changes and finally make an effective and efficient project-based organization an
organizational reality.
The path is arduous but worthy. We offer steps along the pathway and point
out probable hurdles and roadblocks, based on experiences of others. The hero’s
journey includes options to push on, modify your approach, or stop. This book is
designed to be your partner along the way.
January 2003 Randall L. Englund
Burlingame, California
Robert J. Graham
Mendocino, California
Paul C. Dinsmore
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Preface xv

To all the executives, project managers, and professionals
who contributed directly or indirectly to this work by providing
their experiences to be shared with the reading public.
xvii
THE AUTHORS AND CONTRIBUTORS
Authors
Randall L. Englund is an independent executive consultant, author, trainer, and
speaker, serving to guide management and project teams through an organic ap-
proach to project management. His background was as a senior project manager
at Hewlett-Packard Company (HP) in the Project Management Initiative, whose
purpose, as a corporate project office, was to lead the continuous improvement of
project management across the company.
During twenty-two years at HP, Englund consulted with product developers
on cross-organizational projects, developed workshops, documented best prac-
tices, and assisted teams to conduct project start-up meetings, implement project
management practices, and prioritize project portfolios. He was a program man-
ager in computer system product development and a major account marketing
engineer. He also worked in field service for General Electric Medical Systems.
He holds a B.S.E.E. from the University of California, Santa Barbara, an
M.B.A. in management from San Francisco State University, and an honorary en-
gineering and management degree from Cal Poly State University, San Luis
Obispo, and attended Stanford University’s Mastering the Project Portfolio Pro-
gram. He is certified by the Product Development and Management Association
as a New Product Development Professional and as a Certified Business Manager
by the Association of Professionals in Business Management.
Englund and Graham joined forces, leveraging their practitioner, consult-
ing, and executive education skills, to coauthor the book Creating an Environment
for Successful Projects: The Quest to Manage Project Management. Both are frequent con-
tributors to the Project Management Institute (PMI), as presenters, workshop
facilitators, and authors.

You can reach Randall Englund at
Robert J. Graham is an independent management consultant in project manage-
ment and organizational change. Previously he was a senior staff member of The
Management and Behavioral Sciences Center at The Wharton School, Univer-
sity of Pennsylvania. While at Wharton he taught in the MBA and Ph.D. pro-
grams and was a part of the Wharton Effective Executive program teaching
project management to practicing executives.
Graham held visiting professor positions at the University of Bath and the Uni-
versity of the German Armed Forces. He was adjunct professor at the University
of Pennsylvania and the Project Management Unit at Henley Management Col-
lege in England. His first book was Project Management as if People Mattered, followed
by Creating an Environment for Successful Projects, and then, with Dennis Cohen, The
Project Manager’s MBA: How to Translate Project Decisions into Business Success.
He developed a simulation, The Complete Project Manager, where participants
make decisions and receive feedback around a number of behavioral issues in
project management. The Strategic Management Group delivers a full multime-
dia version as a computer simulation called Project Leadership.
Graham has a B.S. in systems analysis from Miami University, as well as an
M.B.A. and Ph.D. in operations research from the University of Cincinnati. He was
a postdoctoral fellow at The Wharton School. In addition, he has an M.S. in cul-
tural anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania. He earned Project Man-
agement Professional (PMP) certification from the Project Management Institute.
You can reach Robert Graham at
Paul C. Dinsmore is president of Dinsmore Associates and a highly respected spe-
cialist in project management and organizational change. He received the Dis-
tinguished Contributions Award and Fellow from the Project Management
Institute. He regularly consults and speaks in North America, South America, Eu-
rope, and Africa. He is the author or editor of numerous articles and several
books, including Winning in Business with Enterprise Project Management and the AMA
Handbook of Project Management. Dinsmore, a certified project management profes-

xviii The Authors and Contributors
sional (PMP), writes the “Up & Down the Organization” column for the Project
Management Institute’s PM Network magazine.
Dinsmore has a B.S. in electrical engineering from Texas Tech University, a
postgraduate degree in business administration from Getulio Vargas Foundation
in São Paulo, Brazil, and attended the Advanced Management Program at Har-
vard Business School.
You can reach Paul Dinsmore at
Contributors
Alfonso Bucero, PMP, is now an independent project management consultant
and speaker. He is operations manager of the International Institute for Learn-
ing (IIL) for Spain and Portugal. His background was as a project manager at
Hewlett-Packard Consulting, where he developed and managed the PMO im-
plementation whose purpose was the continuous improvement of project man-
agement discipline across the organization. He assisted in rolling out the PMO
practices to a global project office.
During his thirteen years at HP he managed various customer, infrastructure,
development, and change management projects. He spent the last two years at
HP selling and implementing the project office; his case, presented in this book,
explains the problems he had, the things he learned, and the way he contributed
to organizational change through a PMO implementation. Bucero has a B.S. de-
gree in computer science engineering, and he is a frequent contributor to inter-
national project management conferences and project office workshops.
Dennis J. Cohen is vice president and executive of the Project Management Prac-
tice area for the Strategic Management Group in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He
works with clients to maximize project performance. He coauthored, with Robert
Graham, the book The Project Manager’s MBA: How to Translate Project Decisions into
Business Results. He served the Wharton School as a research associate, senior fel-
low, and adjunct assistant professor of management, teaching courses in man-
agement and entrepreneurship and leading seminars in executive education

programs. Cohen holds B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of Califor-
nia, Berkeley, and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Penn-
sylvania, as well as M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Wisconsin.
Colonel Gary C. LaGassey is program manager of Aviano 2000, the largest air base
construction program in NATO and the U.S. Air Force. His Program Management
The Authors and Contributors xix