Jul17The Global State of the PMO (Survey)Posted at 08:53 in Dubai, Leadership, My Work, Project Management, Risk Management

In March 2011, ESI International conducted a Global PMO Survey: The Global State of the PMO: Its Value, Effectiveness and Role as the Hub of Training. Some of the key findings of this survey were highlighted in a recent seminar I attended in Dubai (Risk Management Practices for Establishing and/or Sustaining a Project Management Office by Raed Hadddad):

• There is a paradigm shift from PMO Maturity to PMO Value and benefits realization
• There is a general struggle in measuring the PMO effectiveness, and in defining the appropriate metrics for this measurement
• The PMO sometimes acts as a hub of project management training, but does not measure the impact of this training in effective performance
• Most of the PMOs operate more at a tactical level and are not involved in portfolio management or benefits realization

All those topics and more will be covered during PMI's 2011 PMO Symposium in Orlando in November. If you are interested in getting more out of your PMO, make sure you do join.

May06PMO Symposium 2011 Agenda publishedPosted at 06:09 in My Work, Networking, Project Management

The Agenda for the PMO Symposium 2011 has been finalized. Go have a look at the fantastic lineup of high profile speakers and interactive sessions, and if you did not already, register now!

Feb14Frederic, 318 connections changed jobs in 2010Posted at 06:48 in Chaos, My Work, Networking, Risk Management

Frederic, 318 connections changed jobs in 2010. Did you reconnect? is the title of an email I received yesterday from the well known business networking portal LinkedIn. I got lost for words. 21.24% of my network (on this site) changed job last year (me too). In other words, at this pace, in 4 years and 8 months ... statistically everyone I'm connected to would have transitioned...

Being optimistic by nature, I would assume that most of them made the jump by choice. But I cannot believe that, especially in the current economic context. The crisis did hit them hard. Really hard. It has completely reshuffled the cards, and I would assume that some of them now have a job they are not 100% satisfied with (it's a tough job market). One consequence of this situation is that as soon as the crisis is over, and there are better opportunities out there, they will be gone.

Now, let's assume for one second that you're a Project Manager, and that some of those guys and girls from my network are esteemed members of your project team. Let's look at the potential risk strategies available there...

• Avoidance: While this may typically be seen as the ultimate response to any particular risk, it also means losing the potential gain that goes along with that risk. Not hiring those "risky" employees, would mean not having someone doing some work for you, which is not really a practical solution.
• Reduction: This can take the form of reducing the severity (or likelihood) of a risk happening, or finding a balance between this risk and the benefit of the activity. You could look at outsourcing as a valid method of Risk Reduction in this scenario, if the outsourcer can demonstrate a higher capability at risk management than yours.
• Transfer Technically more of a Risk Sharing, this could take the form of and Insurance Policy that protects you financially from this risk (although not being able to perform a job has more than just a financial impact).
• Acceptance: If you can't do any of the above, well, you will have to accept the fact that they might just leave. Some risks just can't be avoided, reduced or transfered, in which case acceptance is a viable strategy, as long as properly documented, and a risk response accordingly formulated.

What would you do?

Sep11IBM Wins PMO of the Year AwardPosted at 09:36 in My Work, Project Management

The Project Management Institute's Program Management Office Specific Interest Group and PM Solutions have selected IBM's Project Management Center of Excellence as the 2010 PMO of the Year. The annual award specifically recognizes the IBM group for "creating global project management standards and enterprise-wide consistency among its 26,000 project managers worldwide; establishing a dedicated project management knowledge repository and communications network; increasing project accountability; improving time-to-market by 65 percent; and decreasing the number of troubled projects by 25 percent."

Nearly 10'000 IBM employees have obtained the Project Management Professional (PMP) credential since 1996. This was when the company launched an initiative to ensure a consistent enterprise approach to Project Management and better meet customer needs. The effort to become more projec-focused included the development of the Project Management Center of Excellence. More than 10 years later, full support from the top of the company has never wavered, and the five fundamental steps for every project advocated for by the Center of Excellence have never changed. IBM also created a worldwide Project Management method, based on the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), and has nurtured a Project Management community to help employees find mentors, network, develop relationships, and share knowledge and intellectual capital.

IBM's Center of Excellence was selected from a field of more than 40 applicants from nearly every continent and including state and federal agencies, major nonprofit organizations and Fortune 1000 companies, and will be presented the PMO of the year award during the PMO Symposium 2010 on the 9th of November, in Dallas, Tx.

Download the PMO of the Year 2010 eBook for more information.

Apr27Great leaders inspire greatness in othersPosted at 09:39 in Leadership, My Work

I have recently started watching Star Wars Clone Wars, the animated series based on Lucas' universe. The first episode, "Ambush", started with the following statement: "Great leaders inspire greatness in others". The episode depicts Yohda, master of the Jedi Council, performing what he is good at: leadership. Beyond being a good leader who inspires others with confidence, he is a GREAT leader who inspires them with confidence in themselves. By doing so, he assumes the main function of leadership: to produce more leaders (not more followers). He walks besides his followers and his actions inspire them to learn more, do more and become more: He elicits the greatness that is in them already. He asks others for their ideas and suggestions, listens to others, explains himself, teaches and coaches them. He knows the way, goes the way and shows the way, takes a little more than his share of the blame and a little less than his share of the credit.

In all ways, he is an example of what a leader is: A leader leads by example, whether he wants it or not, and most often he does not need to lead, he is content to show the way. Example is not the main thing in influencing others, it is the ONLY thing. When using the word "leader", you could think that there are plenty of them all around the world, but taking a closer look in your own career, you will realize that not that many of them are truly inspiring leaders. In my career, I have been fortunate enough to work for some, and there are two names on top of my list who have had a great influence in building who I am: Jim Kinsella, and Christian Perdrier. Both of them encouraged participation and initiative, rolled-up their sleeves when necessary, spoke frankly and openly, even in tough times, and led by example, always.

Can you name leaders who inspired you and describe how?

Feb15Chaos & Project ManagementPosted at 11:15 in Chaos, My Work, Project Management

You might have noticed that I have renamed my blog to "Lost in Chaos". I'm not talking about my geographical location, although some people might argue that it would be a perfect match. No, I'm here talking about Chaos in Project Management, which is my favorite field of research, and I intend to post more about it in the future.

The word chaos did not initially mean "disorder", but this became the common acceptance of its meaning as of today. Mathematically, Chaos means "an aperiodic deterministic behavior which is very sensitive to its initial conditions" (i.e., small perturbations of the initial conditions lead to large variations). A chaotic system typically looks random but is not: It is very difficult to predict accurately, but still predictable if you have enough information (it is called a deterministic system, e.g. weather forecasting). The whole idea behind my work, and this re-branding of my blog, is to be able to reveal patterns of order out of seemingly chaotic systems (a.k.a. Projects), and why not use this information to "Control the chaos" !

Nov05One more landmark in DubaiPosted at 14:50 in Dubai, My Work

There is a new landmark in Dubai, as you can tell if you drive on Al Ain Road, just before the Outlet Mall.

Oct17Halloween Horror NightsPosted at 13:23 in My Work

Last night, I attended the Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Florida, and I have only one single word to say: WOW! In terms of experience, this ranks very high amongst what I have done in my life. It was tense, scary, spooky, and really fun. Here are my top 5 reasons why:

• It is my first halloween in North-America, and coming from Europe, this event was really taking it to another level
• I have always liked horror movies, and this event's is built around horror movies culture, background and references
• Costumes, make-ups and prostetics are really movie quality, and you can see that actors and employees have as much fun as guests
• The scare zones are absolutely thrilling, all around the Park, and - believe me - actors are litteraly scaring you to death
• In terms of Project Management & Operations approach, having seen it behind the scenes, I am puzzled to see that they deploy everything between 5PM when the Park closes, and 6:30PM when the Horror Nights open. Great job guys!

I have only one thing to add, next time, I'll take Universal Express, and this would be my single advice to you. Queues were absolutely insane to some of the haunted houses (60 to 90 minutes, almost from start to finish of the night). It is said to be the best Halloween event in America, and from what I saw, I have no problem to believe that, I have enjoyed it a lot.

Oct1335 yearsPosted at 01:00 in My Work, Personal

I turned 35 today, spending 16 hours in the plane and finally landing at Orlando, Florida. I'm staying at the Hard Rock Hotel for one week of meetings and discussions with our Orlando colleagues. I'll be back in Dubai late next Saturday, right before the CIO conference 2008. That will be a busy week...

Jun24No Walk in the ParkPosted at 18:09 in My Work, Project Management

Today was my last day at Interoute, and despite everything that's going on these days, I'm almost done with my books and magazines backlog, and while going through April's PM Network, I stumbled upon thebuzz column titled "No Walk in the Park". The article is really interesting and depicts the trend in theme park projects in various areas of the world, describing some of the big projects ongoing in Americas and Asia. However, I'm seriously questionning the numbers provided by the PWC study Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2007-2011, that ranks Middle East as the Top 5 spender in the amusement park segment by 2011, with "only" $200 million. That number has to be much higher if you look at megaprojects like Dubailand, which Universal Studios will be a part of.

Anyway, my point is that considering the amount of high end projects in that segment that are already ongoing, or due to be launched pretty soon, and the well known global shortage in project talents, it will be a real challenge to beef up my team overthere. If you are a top notch Project Leader, Program Manager, Risk Manager or Change Manager, if you feel like working for a big player like Universal Studios in a challenging geographical area like Dubai, please send me your resume and cover letter. If you know a top notch Project Leader, Program Manager, Risk Manager or Change Manager, who feels like working for a big player like Universal Studios in a challenging geographical area like Dubai, I would be grateful if you could foward this post to them.