Strategic Management Module
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Strategic Planning
The number of projects that are pending for approval, currently running or about to start requires coordinated activities of cross-functional teams comprised of business units, business areas, systems areas, IT groups, products, services, and systems. The PMO provides the appropriate level of support for effective and efficient project planning.
By applying well-known standards and practices (PMI and others), the PMO provides a unifying structure throughout the life cycle of projects. It contributes in ensuring that projects are delivered on time, on budget and within scope, and that the organization’s strategic goals and objectives are fulfilled.
The PMO creates the appropriate project management infrastructure that facilitates the high-level management of project issues, milestones, cross-team dependencies, etc. The PMO also facilitates the management of quality, helps maximize the use of strategic resources across projects, and manages knowledge gained across the projects through lessons learned surveys.
The PMO also analyzes, follows-up, and reports on overall projects’ progress to senior management or Governance Board. The PMO greatly assists Governance Boards in the selection and approval of projects.
Project Selection & Approval
The go/no-go project decisions are decided during the Project Selection and Approval phase of projects, a.k.a. Business Definition. This phase shapes the overall direction of the business unit from the projects’ perspective. It is during this phase that the organization’s project management processes are initiated.
Project Life Cycle
Once the Project Requests are approved, they enter a ‘life cycle.’ Projects have a life cycle that can be broken down into five major phases. The PMO has a direct/indirect involvement in each of these phases, a.k.a. (by PMI) Process Groups:
1. Initiation
2. Planning
3. Executing
4. Controlling
5. Closing
Phase 1 – Project Initiation
A Business Definition period precedes the Initiation phase when projects are initially requested. However, both of these phases can be integrated into one phase (Initiation) when a project manager is selected right from the start of a Project Request.
The PMO ensures that projects gain stimulus early in their lifecycle by participating in the Project Selection and Approval process.
A Business Area Manager or Project Sponsor completes a Business Case. The PMO helps with the scoring and prioritization of individual projects that are based on business impact and project achievability.
During this phase, the PMO
- Facilitates a complete Business Case template to the Business Areas
- Reviews Business Cases and provides guidance during its development
- Provides a Business impact and achievability criteria template to the Business Areas to help assess Project Request risk.
Phase 2 – Planning
High-level project deliverables, timeframes and ownership are defined here, as well as PMO engagement, project team organization, project management plans, and reporting structure.
Phase 3 – Execution
The team oriented structure, practices and databases/repositories are up and running, facilitating communication, coordination and rapid decision-making across the project teams.
Phase 4 – Controlling
Project milestones, dependencies, issues, and resources are actively managed.
Phase 5 – Closing/Post implementation
Knowledge gained and lessons learned are captured and stored in a central repository for use on future projects. Projects are closed and the project teams are ready for the next project/s.
The above high-level phases are further decomposed using a Project Life Cycle methodology such as the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC).