to Deliver Value
SECOND EDITION
By Edward J. Leydon
Washington, DC, USA
ABSTRACT
Transforming the organization to manage projects and deliver value through a hybrid framework is recognition that there may be no one size fits all methodology for your organization. There must be a strategic view of what the organization wants to achieve. This strategic view will help to define the requirements for the frameworks that will be adopted. One of the key factors is how the organization delivers value to its customers. Value creation can be viewed in terms of the external or internal customers and stakeholders by delivering results related to the organizations strategic goals. A mindset shift to establishing business agility can help in structuring the portfolio management at the strategic level. There must also be a layer between the executive leadership or key stakeholders and the execution teams at the working level. This is where traditional project management and agile can work together in a hybrid approach that can be tailored under the appropriate level of governance for a variety of applications. This creates a balance between structure or rigor and flexibility. By adding in lean best practices, all the components of the framework will operate in the most efficient manner. This mixing and combining of elements of various methodologies and principles creates a hybrid framework. This hybrid framework can be aligned with the agile project management approach to ensure all the pieces are working together harmoniously.
INTRODUCTION
For organizations to be successful, there is a need for a Project Management Office (PMO) that defines the overall project management framework and governance model. There are several factors to consider in meeting specific business considerations. In many cases, there is a need to evaluate and possibly transform the organization’s approach to the project management framework. It could be that the organization is new, part of a Merger or Acquisition (M&A) or growing to the point where a PMO needs to be established or significantly changed. There could be challenges or failures to deliver effectively where a new framework or approach needs to be used as a sort of reset for the organization. In other scenarios, driven by changing business conditions, or leadership vision, new ideas are explored to take advantage of new methodologies to gain a competitive edge.
When thinking about the formation of a new PMO or transformation framework, many times there is temptation to use a proven existing methodology. This can be a satisfactory solution that requires less time to implement since transition roadmaps, training materials and templates may already exist. In other situations, to deliver value to customers and work within particular boundaries, complexities or even specific industries, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. A better approach in these scenarios may be to develop a hybrid framework that takes best practices and concepts from various methodologies into a blended approach that can be flexible and tailorable as needed.
To develop this type of hybrid framework, there are many areas of the business, including the way projects are managed, to consider that will help define the requirements for this hybrid model. The first consideration needs to be some level of understanding of the organization’s strategy and expectations of how projects are managed to deliver value to its customers. Project management and execution cannot be just a way to oversee the completion of tasks but must be focused on value creation through the organization’s products and services. It is helpful to think of this value creation concept when thinking of the project management framework itself since ultimately the PMO has customers, both internal and external, to serve through its own products and services.
When considering the framework for managing projects in a business environment that supports innovation, many PMO’s are starting with industry standard project management guidelines and then layering in agile methodologies. A better approach may be looking at those industry standard project management guidelines and finding ways to apply those best practices through a business agility approach. There are several aspects to business agility, but in this context, it is more about a shift in mindset, rather than a mix of methodologies. This mindset or approach is one where there is a level of flexibility where new ideas are explored, changes are expected, and where it is acceptable to not have every detail figured out before there is action.
Mixing methodologies to build an organization-specific framework starts with support and buy-in from leadership. Once that support is in place, the PMO has the opportunity explore benefits, constraints, and challenges from any number of methodologies in a cafeteria style approach to build the best fit framework for the complexities in the organization. This can include combining agile and lean best practices in combination with traditional project management techniques. At the working level, the framework can define how development, security and operations work together to continuously deliver solutions that meet several needs at once. Finally, this framework can bring the work at the execution level and tie it to the governance and reporting at the leadership level for a holistic approach that serves multiple levels of stakeholders in the organization.
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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 9th Annual University of Maryland PM Symposium in May 2022. It is republished here with the permission of the author and conference organizers.
How to cite this paper: Leydon, E. J. (2022). Transforming the Organization in Project Management to Deliver Value; presented at the 9th Annual University of Maryland Project Management Symposium, College Park, Maryland, USA in May 2022; republished in the PM World Journal, Vol. XI, Issue X, October. Available online at https://pmworldlibrary.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/pmwj122-Oct2022-Leydon-transforming-the-organization-in-project-management.pdf
About the Author
Edward Leydon
Washington, DC, USA
Edward Leydon is an influential leader with proven success in creating PMO frameworks, devising best practices in Program/Project Management, and coordinating with program heads and senior leadership of the organization. Edward is currently Project Management Office (PMO) Head with Computercraft at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), part of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). His employment history includes key accomplishments as Staff Systems Engineer and Engineering Program Manager at Lockheed Martin, PMO Director at Honeywell Aerospace and Director of PMO and Strategy at Beacon Red.
Edward has a track record of designing and executing enterprise programs by establishing vision, influencing team members, and setting direction to deliver consistent results on time, within budget, and complete scope requirements. He has a rich background in deploying several right-sized PMO frameworks by identifying the specific appropriate level of oversight and proposing solutions to deliver consistent results. He has a history of increasing project efficiencies, scalability, and adaptability by managing business operations, developing system as per company standards, and using lean/agile processes.
Edward has led successful enterprise-level $100M+ annual budget transformational business initiatives working with leadership teams and executive (C-Level) leadership managing program performance budget, schedule, scope, resources, and critical deliverables. In addition, he has a passion for sharing his expertise and is a successful coach, trainer, and mentor. He has worked on developing teams in China, Czech Republic, India, Puerto Rico, UAE, UK and USA.
Edward holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA), Bachelor of Science (BS) in Project Management, Associate of Applied Science (AAS) in Engineering Technology, is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP), Certified SAFe® 5 Program Consultant (SPC), Design For Six Sigma (DFSS) Green Belt and has received many other awards and recognitions throughout his career. He can be contacted at edward.leydon@gmail.com
