The PSO of the Future

In the short-term the PSO will evolve into a support organization for business projects, programs, processes, and portfolios — the four Ps that appear in what I have previously named the BP⁴SO. ² So far we have seen glimpses into that probable future.

The professionals who support the BP⁴SO will have some level of expertise in four different disciplines (project management, business analysis, information technology, and business processes). The integration of all four of these entities is future-oriented and certain to be part of your successful contemporary organization someday. For now, the best strategy is to make decisions that will accommodate that integration when it occurs.

Think of the BP⁴SO as the PSO of the future. It does not exist today but by my estimation the trends I see portend of just such an entity emerging in the foreseeable future. My message to you is to begin laying the foundation for it by designing your PSO and putting a plan in place so that it can begin evolving into the BP ⁴SO of the future.

Hub-and-Spoke BP⁴SO

In preparation for the BP⁴SO, the PSO hub-and-spoke organizational structure introduced earlier in this chapter is probably the only organizational structure that makes good long-term business sense.

Figure 13-11 illustrates the final form of the demand-driven evolution of the PSO hub-and-spoke structure to the BP⁴SO of the future. The BP⁴SO will be implemented in several phases. Initially the Enterprise BP⁴SO will be established and serve the support needs of the enterprise. As demand grows division level BP⁴SOs will be established and offer support services as needed by the division. These support services might encompass all four disciplines. Once a second division has established, its BP⁴SO Communities of Practice will begin to appear in order to establish communications links between divisions.

As demand in a division increases the spoke that feeds that division is established. The initial discipline of the Enterprise BP⁴SO will probably be PM because of the strong historical roots of the PMO. There is already a growing trend in establishing a Community of Practice (COP) and Center of Excellence (COE) in BA so that will most likely be the second discipline that is integrated into the BP⁴SO. That will give the BP⁴SO a strong generalist orientation in PM and BA. From that point the IT and BP disciplines can be added as demand grows for specialists in the division BP⁴SOs.

At some point in time, usually when two or more division BP⁴SOs are in place, COPs for all four disciplines will emerge. They may support all four disciplines in an integrated model or support single disciplines as the BA COP now does. These will be the only direct communications link between division-level BP⁴SOs. A sharing of best practices will develop, as will training, consulting, and other support services that can be shared. Some of these can continue to be offered by the Enterprise BP⁴SO.

Figure 13-11: BP⁴SO of the future

Staffing the BP⁴SO

For me the only staffing strategy that makes sense is to rotate project managers and business analysts between the Enterprise BP⁴SO, division-level BP⁴SOs, and their home business unit. That accomplishes three very important things:

• They maintain a professional relationship and credibility with their peers in their home business unit.
• They seed their home business unit with practices and techniques used elsewhere in the enterprise BP⁴SO and the division-level BP⁴SOs.
• When they return to a BP⁴SO, they bring best practices back from their home business unit and pick up some clues about improving existing tools, templates, and processes.

Most attempts at spreading best practices across the organization have been a disappointment. “My project is different” and “Not invented here” are the major obstacles.

Rotations are a great way to reward a professional and give them a chance to recharge themselves. This is especially important after a really tough assignment. The rotation can happen in two ways:

• Between projects, when they are “on the beach,” they can be assigned special projects within the BP⁴SO. These would be short-term projects.
• They can periodically take a sabbatical from their business unit to be assigned a major project within the BP⁴SO or simply provide consulting support across the organization. These could be competitive assignments awarded based on a proposal. The proposal could be unsolicited or a response to an RFP from the BP⁴SO. These are great ways for the BP⁴SO to do process improvement projects.

Other Considerations

There are three support areas that I see becoming more central to the role of the PSO of the future. They are briefly discussed below.

Portfolio Support

Many PSOs already provide this support to portfolio managers. That will increase and strengthen. The PSO of the future will provide project proposal intake services, evaluation, alignment, and prioritization services to the portfolio managers.

Assigning Project Managers

The PSO of the future will maintain the skills and competencies inventory of existing and “wanna-be” project managers. This coupled with their current and future assignments will be the input that guides assigning project managers to new projects.

Career and Professional Development of Project Managers

This support service must be centralized, and the PSO is the logical home for such a service. The project management subject matter expertise resides in the PSO and not in the HR department. The PSO will have its eye on the trends in projects and is in the best position to give advice on areas of need for skilled project professionals. Chapter 18 provides more details on what this career and professional development support service might look like.