Insight
On 10 February 2021 Escient hosted a panel of PMO experts to discuss the challenges PMOs face and the 4 key things all PMOs must deliver to ensure organisations make smart strategic choices and use their resources wisely to evolve into better, stronger and more sustainable businesses in 2021.
The panel, facilitated by Escient’s Victorian Managing Director, Rebecca Campbell-Burns included:
- Mike Walters, CIO/General Manager Information Services at RAA
- Rob Sleath, Executive Director, Programs & Change at Deakin University
- Matt Robinson, Escient Director and author of their annual PMO survey
- Manuela Andrysik, Escient Director and advisor in Portfolio, Program and Project Leadership & Delivery
Watch the webinar
Key takeaways:
- For most organisations, COVID was not just a reset, then back to business-as-usual. It has shaped the future direction of the organisation.
- Nearly 45% of organisations will spend the same amount on projects in 2021 as they did in 2020 while 23% will spend more than they did prior to COVID (in 2019).
- COVID forced organisations to realise they must be cognisant of change and be able to quickly adapt. PMOs play a fundamental role in helping organisations clarify how to re-focus on which projects will help the organisation thrive in the current and future marketplace.
- PMOs must help organisation decide what projects to prioritise and to invest in, monitoring and making sure benefits from programs of work are quantified and realised.
- PMOs have to become more flexible and embrace the new “digital language” of agile methodology and iterations alongside the traditional waterfall approaches.
- There isn’t a single best-fit PMO tool because every PMO is different, every organisation is different, and the nature of the project portfolio is different.
- PMOs must deliver 4 key functions to help the organisation thrive to these changes:
- Strategic Alignment
- Research Management
- Portfolio Analysis
- Dependency Management
