Tightening budgets put emphasis on the PMO
The pundits are warning us that government agencies are about to get pummeled again with budget woes. That means many departments are facing cancellations of plans to add badly needed IT managers and staff. Budget requests are going to be pushed back and only essential services for critical projects will get funding. We expect to see more focus on addressing very specific challenges within the project lifecycle. Very lean funding cycles typically place a renewed emphasis on IT governance and project prioritization methods. Senior managers always enter the budget preparation period thinking about how they can make adjustments to the over-all IT game-plan. The first thing they may conclude is that the long overdue establishment of the PMO (Project/Program Management Office) would have been a darn good idea but more often that resource is not on-line. What steps are next?
There are a number of well defined processes (typically found in a PMO governance suite) that can be invoked in a brand new PMO or in an operating committee setting that can address the governance issues. At the top level of this problem food chain there are a number of policy issues dealing with developing consensus about which projects are the first among firsts and where the dollars need to go. These problems are often referred to as ill-structured problems and are amongst the most complex management challenges. Actions that deal with this group of challenges must enjoy broad consensus in order to avoid becoming unraveled. The required consensus can only be generated from work done inside the process used to analyze the problems and identify the options. A good grasp of methods that support public good and keep private need in check also helps.
Which tools and techniques does your organization use to establish project priorities? How well do decisions keep their footing? Is the process stable where you work or do you jump from one project to another on a long list of top priority projects? Are cuts leveled out on a percentage basis across your IT projects?
