Our Chicago team hosted an engaging hybrid event for senior PMO executives to collaborate on three of today’s most pressing business topics. Here are some key takeaways.
April 8, 2023, Chicago, IL — Centric Consulting’s Chicago team has hosted a community for decision-makers in the PMO delivery model space to collaborate around Portfolio, Program, Project and Product Delivery topics for over 10 years.
To kick off another year with this network, a member, an IT Project Management VP for a multi-million-dollar company, hosted a hybrid event at their headquarters offices in downtown Chicago. Over 25 executives attended in person, and an additional 25 joined virtually.
We took a new, interactive approach to this gathering, breaking members into three groups for roundtable discussions. Members voted on different topics of interest before the event, which the breakout groups covered during our meeting. Here’s a breakdown of what each group talked about, as well as some key takeaways:
Breakout 1: Evolving the PMO for the Shift to Product Management
This group discussed product-based delivery versus project-based delivery and what we can learn from a product-driven model.
- A product approach is outcome focused: Product mindsets bring different teams together to deliver more efficiently by focusing on incremental delivery, keeping the end user in mind.
- A need to clearly define what a product approach looks like: Product methodology, agile methodology and a startup mindset are all often mislabeled and mis-grouped together. They are not mutually exclusive components of a product approach. Each of these methodologies brings unique advantages and can be incorporated in different ways to successfully deliver a product.
Breakout 2: The Role of PMO: Bridging Strategy and Execution
This breakout considered how PMOs can build a stronger partnership with the business and enable greater value generation for CIOs.
- The power of storytelling: Value tracking is often lost in PMOs, so someone must be responsible for wrapping up a project by telling a value story. A PMO can help create a story that shows worth – having a narrative is more important than focusing only on dollars and ROI.
- Bring change management into projects: Incorporating change management into internal initiatives better sets them up for sustained success. It’s critical for businesses to think about these projects in the big picture, with their people as a key part of the business.
Breakout 3: How to Design Strategic Portfolios Using Business Architecture
This group discussed achieving more value by aligning your strategic portfolios with your organization’s business architecture.
- The right mindset and incentives give business architecture power: If your people don’t implement your business architecture, then it’s irrelevant. To successfully have people adopt the business architecture, you need a mindset change at the highest level and transparent commitment to it across the organization. People need to see others using it.
- Executive endorsement is also key: Enterprise-level mindset changes require top-down investment. Having a committed CIO on your side, preferably with a PMO background, gives your business architecture a better chance of success.
Allowing members of this community to pick their own topics for the event led to especially meaningful conversations people were excited about. After the breakouts, a member said it was ” inspirational and aspirational” to hear how more established organizations tackle business architecture. The event closed with happy hour at a nearby restaurant where in-person attendees connected over food and drink.
Are you a director-level or higher business leader in the Chicago area? Interested in getting involved in our 4PM Community of Interest? Our Chicago team will continue to co-host 4PM community of interest events throughout the year. Click here to learn more.