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Welcome to

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Transforming a PMO And a Journey to the 2014 APM Award Finals

25th June 2015

Sam Anderson Director

PMO

Maura Kelly Senior Team Manager

PMO

Andrew Jenkins Senior Manager

PMO

Allstate Northern Ireland PMO Leadership Team

4 Allstate Northern Ireland

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Technology PMO Global Resources. Role of the PMO

Technology PMO with ~1,800 projects delivered annually ranging from $30K - $30M.

Resources located globally – US, Northern Ireland and India.

PMO includes Project Managers, Portfolio Managers, and the tools, methodologies that enable project delivery.

Allstate

Nation's largest publicly held personal lines insurer, protecting households from life's uncertainties through auto, home, life and other insurance.

Understanding the Environment

6 The Transformation Journey Begins: Focus Areas

• A single independent view of project health;

• The right people, with the right skills, to the right work;

• Common role definitions, methodologies and tools;

• Optimized cost structure.

Under the brand of ‘One PMO’, the ATSV PMO was established as a new collective organization. Leadership identified four objectives:

1. A single independent view of project health

Consistent Status

(~80 1)

Monthly Executive

Project Review (MPR)

First Portfolio Executive

Dashboard

As a newly consolidated organization, our initial step was to create transparency into the health of our projects, and ultimately our portfolio.

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2. The right people, with the right skills, to the right work

Limited to recording events Influencing Outcomes Project Journalist Entrepreneur

The foundation of our transformation journey is based on moving project managers from project journalists to entrepreneurs.

Right People

• Consistent Recruiting & Onboarding Plan

• Increase Entrepreneur New Hires

• Top Grade Talent

Right Work

• Human Capital Plan

• Band Optimization

• Global Staffing (skills, not location)

Right Skills

• Build Global Leadership

• Standard Practices

• Acting as Owners (drive work, escalate issues)

• Employee Development, rotations

We did this by focusing the right people, with the right skills on the right work.

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3. Common role definitions, methodologies and tools

With a need to streamline our processes, increase speed to market and improve quality, a significant standardization effort began.

Consistent Processes

• Reviewed disparate practices

• Designed a single, consistent set of processes to ensure quality delivery and minimize risk

PMO Boot Camp

• Created and delivered four day Boot Camp with hands on training and simulations

• Established baseline understanding of processes and tools

Reporting & Tools

• Delivered an integrated tool and reporting environment to create a single user interface and dashboard

• Provides the foundation for portfolio transparency

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10 4. Optimized cost structure

A modernization of our operating model was foundational to our opportunity to optimize our cost structure.

PMO Cost Per Project Hour Managed ( 39%)

Annual Project Hours Managed per PM ( 81%)

* Note: Trend over time (2012-2014)

11 Measuring our Success O

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• Entrepreneurial PMs increased from 18% of workforce to 29% (CEB Benchmark)

• Improved portability of project managers through rotations and employee development

• Fully integrated global teams focused on common goals

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• Created the first view of total portfolio health, covering a portfolio of greater than $400m (~1,300 projects, 3.5 million hours)

• Boot Camp processes consistently adhered to 95% of time

• PMs view tools and process as enablers rather than inhibitors

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• Productivity increased 53% in 2014

• Improved quality through “Shift Left” focus

• Improved

transparency on large, high risk programs

• Reduced small

projects from 33% to 15% of portfolio

12 Lessons Learned

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• Strong senior leaders accelerate change

• Top grading the team requires focus and takes longer than expected

• Communication is key – many times and many ways

• Create a solid foundation (PMO Boot Camp)

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• Process and tools are enablers, but it is really all about the people

• Measures of adoption must be established early and shared broadly

• Consistency of process is key to achieving the full effectiveness of a tool

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• Pace of change must be thoughtful

• Influencing delivery partners requires strong leadership, and perseverance

• Follow the 80/20 rule– nothing is perfect

• What gets measured gets done

13 Our Journey to the 2014 APM Award Finals

Leadership buy-in

Core Team

Stakeholders and support

network

Know your story

Tell your story

14 Guidance

• Build the right team

• Tell a compelling story

• Reflect on and recognise your accomplishments

• Learn

• Develop relationships and harness knowledge

It is a journey – individual, team, organization

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