that will Help Your PMO Overcome
its Kryptonite!
SECOND EDITION
By Ana Millan and Naomi Watkins
University of Texas at Arlington
Arlington, Texas, USA
Abstract
Occasionally, project management practices become urban legends and a curse for organizations. This case study showcases how a PMO unleashed its full potential and transformed an organization’s project portfolio and project management services into legendary stories. Learn about the 4P superpower model of Preparation, Persistence, Preservation and Progression and how it became a driving force behind the PMO to rebuild, sustain and amplify its brand throughout the organization and overcome its kryptonite. Discover strategies for each of the 4P superpower elements, including educating a variety of stakeholders, actively engaging leadership, building a cohesive culture within the PMO and using emotional intelligence to build a roadmap for high demand services.
Background
Project Management Offices (PMO) are often established to save the day at the last minute and bring order to a chaotic portfolio of projects. To embark on this journey, PMO innovators have access to a significant amount of information including extensive research papers, toolkits, consulting services, books and many other types of materials. However, it requires an approach engaging significant emotional intelligence to take this information in, properly apply it and obtain successful results throughout the organization’s PMO journey.
When the Project Management Office’s journey started at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), the Office of Information Technology (OIT) had a vision in mind: Deliver Projects! The initial approach: a rigid PMO with lots of complex definitions and PMs that were asked to become technical subject matter experts and do it all. The result: an unpopular PMO and project management framework unable to deliver projects efficiently. There was little desire to request PMO’s support across the organization.
The IT project portfolio kept growing along with the need for project management. The next approach: new PMO leadership, new project managers and a fresh look. The result: a revamped PMO focused on gaining trust, delivering quick wins and building a simple project management framework based on the existing organization’s needs. PMO was back in the game! The IT organization started to understand the value of a project management framework and opened its doors to PMO.
As more and more projects were delivered, the need for more project management services kept growing as well. The new approach: a PMO fully staffed with four project managers and a new director. The result: a disjointed PMO with all kinds of project management frameworks. Each project manager had his/her own approach and style to manage projects, some were rigid and others too lean. There was no clear vision for this PMO, and the organization was losing trust. The PMO’s value was tumbling again.
In the meantime, the IT organization was facing other challenges and new leadership was brought in. A new CIO (Chief Information Officer) joined the team with a strong belief in project management and in the value of a PMO. The IT leadership team focused on prioritizing the IT portfolio and determined top critical projects where PMO’s support was needed. The final approach: new PMO leadership, standard project management practices and new project management talent. The result: a high-class PMO with a vision and mission, standard project management practices and procedures, a portfolio of services based on customer needs, organizational goals and an implementation approach aligned with the organization’s culture. This PMO took off by building and sustaining its brand across the UTA organization, being a partner, and by looking for opportunities to improve and keep growing.
Although it took the IT organization several iterations, many failures, and trial & error, the PMO was finally established to support UTA in a collaborative and effective manner. The following sections focus on the approach taken by the current PMO at UTA. It describes how this PMO unleashed its full potential and transformed the organization’s project portfolio and project management services into legendary stories including educating a variety of stakeholders, actively engaging leadership, building a cohesive culture within the PMO and using emotional intelligence to build a roadmap for high demand services.
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Editor’s note: Second Editions are previously published papers that have continued relevance in today’s project management world, or which were originally published in conference proceedings or in a language other than English. Original publication acknowledged; authors retain copyright. This paper was originally presented at the 15th UT Dallas PM Symposium in May 2023. It is republished here with the permission of the author and conference organizers.
How to cite this paper: Millan, A. and Watkins, N. (2024). Discover the 4P Superpower Model that will Help Your PMO Overcome its Kryptonite! presented at the 15th University of Texas at Dallas Project Management Symposium in Richardson, TX, USA in May 2023; republished in the PM World Journal, Vol. XIII, Issue II, February. Available online at https://pmworldlibrary.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/pmwj138-Feb2024-Millan-Watkins-Discover-the-4P-Superpower-Model-2.pdf
About the Authors
Ana Millan
Arlington, Texas, USA
Ana Millan is a passionate leader in project and program management with over 15 years of experience. In her current role at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), she is responsible for managing the Project Management Office, execution strategic initiatives, and leading a professional and successful team of program managers, project managers, and business analysts. Her enthusiasm in project management, has been the driving force behind the PMO’s growth and success at UTA.
Ana holds a PMP certification from the Project Management Institute, a CSM credential from the Scrum Alliance, an MBA applied to Project Management and Engineering Management from the University of Dallas, and a BS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Santo Tomas University in Colombia. She can be contacted at ana.millan@uta.edu
Naomi Watkins
Arlington, Texas, USA
Naomi Watkins is a Lead Program Manager at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) with over 20 years of experience helping her customers with managing complex projects and programs. Specializing in strategy and technical problem solving, Naomi uses that expertise to develop forward-looking, sustainable programs.
By focusing on customer relationships and technical excellence, Naomi has been able to put her Bachelor of Science in Computer Science Engineering from UTA to good use. Over the years, her strengths at project management at UTA have garnered some recognition for delivering mission-critical projects, particularly those with strict regulations and tight deadlines. Naomi may spend her days at UTA, but it’s the people and problem-solving that get her up in the morning.
