HOUSTON, TX, USA | 5–8 NOVEMBER 2017

#PMOSym

PMO17BR305

Hit a Home Run: How to Evolve Your Federal PMO

Scott Hine, Director, Project Management Coordination Office

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)

Learning Objectives

• Identify ways of building upon past successes to move the PMO

forward

• Recognize unique leadership challenges faced by government

PMOs and develop new strategies for facing those challenges

• Develop tools for managing a PMO staff that incorporates the

right mix of skills among federal and contractor staff

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Presentation Outline

• Start of a revolution

• Sprinting ahead

• Evaluate and improve

• Strategic implementation

• Evolution without revolution

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What Type of Organization Are You With?

• Government

• IT

• Healthcare

• Financial Services

• Consulting

• Academia

• Nonprofits

• Other

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PMO Timeline

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Recovery Act start and PMO established

New organizational leadership

Establish communities of practice

Begin staff trainings Recovery

Act end

Evaluate and improve Strategic implementationSprinting ahead

2010 2011 20132012 20172016201520142009

Revise policies and processes

Recovery Act

• Funding increased by US$17 billion

• 3,000 high-visibility, high-profile projects

• Diverse recipients

• Accelerated timeline for completion

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30 SEPTEMBER 2010Deadline for obligating

US$17 billion and spending US$3.74 billion

$$$ $

$$$ $

$$$ $

Deadline for de-obligating over US$600 million

30 SEPTEMBER 2015RECOVERY ACT ENDS

17 FEBRUARY 2009RECOVERY ACT STARTS

+US$17 billion (US$19 billon total)+3,000 projectsStart PMO

$

Sprinting Ahead and Establishing New Strategies

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IT system development

25,000 monitoring

activities

Add staff

Working with stakeholders

Briefings

Training

Reporting

10 X audits

Hit constantly moving targets • Senior leadership endorsement

• Stakeholder engagement

• Staffing needs

• Project monitoring and reviews

• Audit procedures

• Staff training

• Adapt policies to achieve goals

Evaluate and Improve PMO During Recovery Act

• Natural evolution

• Familiarity with the portfolio

• More experienced staff

• Improve policies and processes

• Prove ourselves to senior leadership

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Natural evolution of project management

skills

Policy improvements

Build relationshipswith senior leadership

PMO Evolution

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Sprinting ahead

Strategic implementation

Evaluate and evolve program

Recovery Act start

Recovery Act end

Internal Drivers to Increase Efficiencies

• Analyzing project data across department

• Identifying high-priority projects

• Working within the processes to revise and create new policies

• Oversight of congressionally directed projects

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External Drivers of PMO Evolution

• Change in senior leadership

• New vision, priorities and expectations

• “One way” of doing business

• Identify the best way to implement the priorities

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Building a Unified Vision

• Communities of practice (CoP)

– Subject matter experts identify best practices, lessons

learned from the Recovery Act

– Agree on a structure and policies for the entire program

• Non-negotiable activities from senior leadership

• Change control board

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Centralized Resources

• Developed project management intranet site

• Established a “help desk”

• Took ownership of templates, guidance, tip sheets

• Engaging with staff

– Mentoring

– Centrally funded training resources

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Training

• Mandatory in-person, classroom training for all staff

• Project Management Professional (PMP)® certification bootcamps

• Training videos

• Project management workshops

• On-demand webinars

• Ad hoc trainings by office request

• Certifications

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Making Inroads With Senior Leadership

• Representing office to top officials

• Led monthly briefings with senior leadership for several years

• Recognition of the value and role of PMO

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Strategic Implementation of Established PMO

• Built up credibility through the successful implementation of

programs

• Continual improvements and engagement with senior leadership

and project teams

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Sharing Our Knowledge

• Lead FedPM CoP

– Central source for program and project management best

practices from across the federal government

• Support others as they establish PMOs

– Other DOE offices

– Foreign government agencies

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FedPM CoP

• Started in 2014 by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) staff, currently led by

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)

• Over 500 individuals and more than 60 agencies and departments represented

– Working groups

– Virtual and in-person meetings

– Online library and discussion board

– LinkedIn site

– Collaboration with other project, program and portfolio

management organizations

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FedPM CoP Working Groups

• Acquisition

• Capital asset

• Cross-functional

• Financial assistance

• Information technology

• Contracting officer’s representatives

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More Than 80 Member Organizations

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Evolution Without Revolution

• Building capabilities

– Prove yourself with small successes that add value

– Build your own momentum

• Building credibility

– Senior leadership

– Project staff

• Learn from those that have done it!

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Action Plan – Start Today!

• Summarize your findings and recommendations in

a report

• Demonstrate continued value to your organization

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TODAY!

• Gather data and information to build credibility

• Identify efficiencies and improvements and evaluate how to

implement

• Implement test cases or pilots

Join a CoP!

• Join local chapters

• Attend project management meet-up groups

• Join online communities

– @pmchat and #PMOT on Twitter

– Project Management Masters Google+ community

• Actively participate and contribute

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Let’s Start Our Own CoP!

• What type of organization are you with?

– Government

– IT

– Healthcare

– Financial Services

– Consulting

– Academia

– Nonprofits

– Other

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Get to Know Your New CoP

• Introduce yourself

– Name

– Location

– Organization

• Share a lesson learned from a recent project

• What is something that you are interested in learning more about?

• Collect contact information and keep the discussion going

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Come See My Other Talks!

• Knowledge Hub - Implications of the Program Management

Improvement and Accountability Act (PMIAA)

– Today, 1:00–2:30 p.m.

– Salon D – KH #4

• Lightning Talk – The Race to Recovery

– Tomorrow, 8:00–8:45 a.m.

– Salon B

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Contact Information

Scott Hine, Director

Project Management Coordination Office, U.S. Department of Energy

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

scott.hine@ee.doe.gov

+ 1 202 586 9744

Executive Sponsor of FedPM CoP

Get involved at https://go.max.gov/fedpmcop

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