DIGEST: Module 9

Deloitte BPS Project Excellence Programme

6 April 2021

Module 9 focussed on ‘The role of the PMO’ and welcomed three expert guest speakers, Jonathan Smart,

Emma-Ruth Arnaz-Pemberton, Jo Stanford and special appearance from Gary Mitchell.

QUBE Learn

Jon Smart a business agility practitioner and

thought leader presented ‘Playbook for your

[Digital I Agile I DevOps I Cloud] approved PMO’ a

thought-provoking humorous walk through the

agile PMO journey, sharing lots of top tips and

things not to do including:

▪ Use Milestones. Do not predict output at point

of knowing the least. Motivational Tool!

▪ Language is important. The words ‘Deadline’

and ‘Drop Dead Date’ force Agile.

▪ Do Agile Project Management. Learning and

value traditionally tends to come right at

the end, 18 months later – a lot of improvement is needed here to gain value throughout project

▪ Do not have hundreds of artifacts to cover every possibility or force everyone to follow a one-size fits all

process, which evolved for the riskiest context, with no trust and is based on fifty years of audit points or

else. #CYA #JustDoingMyJob.

▪ 26 stage gates and governance committees will not deliver a project…

▪ Compliance over risk. If in doubt say ‘no’ or get someone else to say ‘yes’. #MaximumPossibleCompliance

but no delivery

▪ Typically, in companies priorities and finance work once per rotation of the sun (year) make sure that

people are planning for half a rotation and delivering not just (re)planning each year

▪ DO NOT create OKRs (output and key red milestones). Milestones are GREAT as they act as a motivational

tool for performance. Bonuses are tied to exceeding OKRs (aim low). Success is hitting a key red milestone

(not value or learning). Red Rag statues is shame, bad news. Instead look at time to value generation and

Learning

▪ PMO act as the enforcers, what do we want: a Gantt Chart, when do we want it: now! NOooooo.

Q: How to be politically correct and remove admin tasks as these can slow process down?

A: Less admin in context of change – unless you’ve done it a thousand times before you don’t know

what you don’t know- min time to learning – don’t treat as predictable.

Q: In order to be good in agile approach, do you need to dominate to be agile?

A: As Agile is a bit more difficult than the traditional approach, if not experienced, some coaching from

someone who does agile is recommended. This is where PMOs have withered.

Q: Transformation within companies: how to get the company to acknowledge they need transformation in

their business when they plan a project?

A: Firstly, look at the company. Does it have some problems that need to be fixed? Are they not lean/agile/

new ways of working? START with the Why? Start with question ‘how’s it going, is it working well?’ If there

are grumbles, then there is reason to change.

DIGEST: Module 9

IDENTIFY ANY SYSTEMIC PROBLEMS THE COMPANY CAN HAVE

IF TOO SLOW TO CHANGE, THERE ARE APPROACHES THAT WILL GIVE YOU BETTER OUTCOMES

FOCUS ON THE OUTCOMES NOT THE OUTPUT

We finished with LearnBySharing

with the key learnings:

▪ There is no ‘one size’ fits all.

▪ The importance of flexibility.

▪ Ask myself if change is needed.

Simon’s tip: A good question on a

major project is to ask what they

are doing about things they do not

know they don’t know ...it’s

amazing what suddenly comes into

discussion...then ask how will they

plan for the unknown unknowns?

Eddie’s tip: Statistics show most

change fails - so it's crazy to

attempt it unless it is really needed

and gives value.

Emma-Ruth Arnaz-Pemberton, Director of Consulting Services and SCSR Lead at Wellingtone, Sookholme

England presentation analysed the role of a PMO but also inspired and initiated mindset change and how to

approach it with the PMO rule no.1: there is not one size to fit all to manage projects.

Looking at and talking

through a typical

service catalogue, the

task was set.

Thinking about what

are the expectations

of the PMO customer,

it is as important for

the PMO to know this

as relevant to the

organisation, as well

as the structure down

to who you report to?

DIGEST: Module 9

Each group faced a blank chart to

decide what services go where?

Discussions took place as charts were

completed across Strategy, Delivery

and Capability.

The PMO Service Catalogue is most

digestible when split into three

distinct functions:

Strategy:

Supporting the Business to define,

monitor and implement its Strategic

change portfolio whilst maintaining a

view on doing the right thing.

Delivery:

Providing tools and support to the

management teams delivering

change whilst assuring the

Leadership that things are being

done in the right way.

Capability:

Providing the capability to the

Project and Programme Community

in order that the Strategic Priorities

are successfully delivered against

their defined criteria.

DIGEST: Module 9

The PMO nature:

TACTILE: PMO with a focus on performance of

both project/programme delivery and the PMO

itself.

GOVERNING: PMO with a focus on the

standards and governance surrounding change

in the organisation.

SUPPORTIVE: PMO with a focus on people and

centre of competence, enabling capability

growth for all involved in change.

STRATEGIC: PMO with a focus on business

goals, alignment of change to those goals and

the resulting demand.

We ended with

LearnBySharing

DIGEST: Module 9

Jo Stanford a Projects Portfolio Professional and Head of Profession at Health Education England (HEE) sets

up and leads the organisational approach to corporate portfolio, programme and project management

ensuring the organisation is kept up to date with the best practice, alignment to government and

professional body standards with the right information to support effective prioritisation and decision

making. They have been delivering projects on QUBE for the past five years and recommend as a great tool

to learn by doing and accelerating projects.

Jo welcomed everyone to the HEE qubicle qubicle for her session on ‘The Future of Learning and Work’ and

she shared insights into pace of change, learning and emphasized that curiosity and learning are essential

skills to be imbedded in everyday work.

Looking at how do we adapt and how do we approach projects in a very foggy world, with WAM (World After

Midnight) and the rate of Change V Learning. Jo presented the 5Ps PET covering Business Changes over the

next five years. Everyone was then set the task of completing the EvolveDominateorDie PET looking at what

your organisation/you did pre-Covid (Old World) and what will need to happen in order to be successful in the

post-Covid (New World).

DIGEST: Module 9

Looking at the Old World and New World, Jo’s

fear is the FEAR OF FALLING BEHIND and

emphasized an important area she needs to

keep up with is the ‘future of work’ and how do

we build on this and build on those with a fixed

mindset.

Jo has been looking at change management and

learning from a Neuroscience (Growth Mindset

and Learning Culture) perspective which covers,

developing the growth mindset delivered by a

brain chemistry using neuroscience and opening

up the mind and building stronger pathways

engaging with change and not a fixed mindset,

as the biggest problem is the people who resist

and block progress/change.

Jo recommended a new book out by Daniel Kahneman and Jonathan Norman recommended Pattern Making and

Pattern Breaking by Ann Alder.

Simon inputted ‘this time people have had to change.... will be interesting if those who return to old ways get

left behind...’

One of the many ways HEE works

on QUBE is in their own Learning

Lab, delivering a Lego Serious Play

session.

These are exceptionally

productive and a group of key

team players, with everyone

contributing, pull everything

together in a build.

The model is then taken and

moved into a plan for delivery

using various PETs and Tools on

QUBE to deliver and change.

Works collaboratively and

effectively

DIGEST: Module 9

Anthony Willoughby inspired HEE and the art of mapping and getting people into the space for managing

change. Another person added: ‘I find Anthony Willoughby's thoughts insightful - transformation requires

moving the whole village - so the village needs to be involved’

QUBE Do Homework

The good news is, there is no homework, APART from sharing what you’ve done with your colleagues, line

managers etc. (as last module's homework).

The Performance Enhancement Tools (PETs)

Hopes&Fears engaging everyone from the start.

LearnBySharing allows you to share your learning with the group and forces you to think about applying it in real life

circumstances.

EvolveDominateorDie an effective tool for helping people to realise that we need to change the way we work and approach our

challenges, in order to thrive in this fast-changing world.

2StepsForward A fool-proof method of ensuring that when you set out to improve a system you don't make it worse by accident.

TimeWeb A way to organise and prioritise your strategic events to maximise impact.

The next two Modules 10 on 28 April 09.00 to 12.00 and Module 11 on 6 May 09.00 to 12.00 are taking place

on QUBE I Deloitte I ElectivesQubicle 2021, your chosen elective has their own classroom within this space.

Also don’t forget Darryl Claret will be running short complimentary workshops for the electives don’t forget

to sign up for them - go to the electives qubicle and add your name on the notice board.

We will see you again for Module 12 ‘Projects in Programs: Innovation/Transformation’ on 18 May 2021 09.00

to 12.00.

Enjoy the electives sessions.

Very best wishes

The Pentacle Team