“Standish also found that 31% of US IT projects were canceled outright and the performance of 53% ‘was so worrying that they were challenged.’ (Faeth, 2022).”
Strategic IT Initiatives require Strategic IT PMO Leadership Professionals
To Provide Wrap-Around Support for your PMO and Manage Your PMs
​​When you need Strategic PMO Leadership, hiring a project manager is NOT the correct skillset.
PMO Leadership and “Program management, however, is often neglected, or seen simply as jargon used to describe the conduct of a “big” project (Becker, 1999).” This is a common misconception.
Often, recruiters criticize candidates, stating that a Sr. Program Manager is “STUCK” on a title, when they explain that they are not a PM.
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A PMO Leadership Professional is NOT a PM.
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However, both a Project Manager and a PMO Leadership Professional are:
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Two Divergent, Formalized Roles, Responsibilities, & Competencies Equally Valuable to the PMO
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“Both roles benefit a company, as an effective project manager will execute projects that align with your company’s objectives and a program manager will determine what those objectives are and how they should be carried out in an inter-connected project (Atlassian, n.d.).”
PMO Leaders & Project Managers
are NOT
Interchangeable
Two Totally Distinctive Skillsets, Mindsets, Approaches, & Disciplines
PMO Leadership roles, such as “Program management is a specific approach that sits above project management. It helps senior managers by providing a clear, structured framework within which one can define organizational change requirements, articulate a benefits model, prioritize resulting projects, and conduct change impact analysis (Becker, 1999).”
PMO Leadership Professionals:
Project Mgmt. Professionals:
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Mindset: Strategic, Multidisciplinary, Macro, Enterprise-level Thinker...Metrics, Data, Analysis, Context, & Framework Oriented
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Role: Focuses on Oversight, Governance, Goal Realization, Performance Measurements, Change, Scope, Cost, & Conflict management, TSAs/SLAs, Regulatory, Compliance, Baselines, Quality, Strategic Requirements, Financial Safeguards, Principal Milestones, etc.
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People Manager: Executive-facing leadership, people managers, with direct accountability for decisions
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Manages & Mentors Project Managers & Evaluates PM Performance
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Peer Advisor for Executives, Board of Directors, and multiple layers of stakeholders
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Workloads: Manages Wide, Enterprise-Level Scope for Long-term Programs, multiple Workstreams, and/or numerous strategic roadmaps, corporate investments, or contractual Service/Solution deliveries
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Approach: Actualizing Big Picture, Centralized, Long Term, Comprehensive Corporate Strategic Values, Goals, ROI, & Tangible Outcomes. Delivering Streamlined Business Benefits linked to the Corporate Visions & Missions while acting as proficient Gatekeepers
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Aligned with V- & C-level Executives, Steering Committees, Board of Directors, and Stakeholders. Reporting to VP of PMO or CIO/CTO
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Initial Engagement: While effort is in ideation stage, POC, Pilots, and/or pending funding to Stand-up programs & formulate segmented, phasal projects
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End Game: A culmination of Success of Project Manager undertakings, Consolidated mobilization and maintenance of all moving program parts, and Strategic Realization of efficient & profitable overall program health, achievements, and outcomes
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Emphasis on Thriving Inter-relationships: Interdependencies, Intra-dependencies, & interconnected project activities, mapping, & goals. Fully staffed, cross-functional, and collaborative program teams & inter-team coalitions
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Standardizes Artifacts: Creates templates or document guidelines, Single Source of Truth Standards, Document Repository Systems, Document Archival Requirements, etc.
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Formulates Tactics for Program & Project Delivery, Benchmark Criteria, Framework Specifications, Capacities Limitations, Metric Inputs, Cadence & Project Pacing, and Problem Identification.
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​Administers Risk Governance: Risk Avoidance Measures, Risk Identifications, Risk Breakdown Structures, Risk Mapping, Risk Controls, & Risk Mitigation, whether intersecting or in parallel paths of risk resolution to eliminate all barriers to success.
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Mindset: Linear, Micro-level, Modular TTactical Thinker…Process, Timeline, Content, & Task-Oriented
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Role: Focuses on compartmentalized schedules, deadlines, task completion, status reporting, secondary milestones, and daily operations for the delivery of project requirements within the specified timeline
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Individual contributor: Front-line, tactical, independent worker, provides boots-on-the-ground perspectives, makes recommendations to decisions-makers
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No direct reports, dotted-line reporting and informal evaluation of project team members
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Peer Advisor for other PMs, Project Teams, and junior-level project support team
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Workload: Manages 1 or more projects with limited scope, cost, timeline, and specified deliverables
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Approach: Works Siloed Projects, often insulated from knowledge of the overall Executive Vision & prominent Corporate Ambitions
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Aligned with Program Managers & Peer Stakeholders, Reporting to Program Managers and PMO Director or VP of PMO
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Initial Engagement: After venture has been funded, approved, and segmented into projects, work packages, SOWs, and incremental, interconnected efforts by the Program Owner
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End-Game: Completion of Deliverables Acceptable to Stakeholders
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Emphasis on projects, project completion, and a purposeful, striving project team
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Artifacts: Completes, Organizes, and Archives document outputs based upon PMO Guidelines, Recommendations, and Requirements
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Executes project delivery Tactics outlined by PMO leadership
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Compiles weekly updates on project achievements, sustained activities, risk mitigation progress, and raises concerns if additional circumstances arise that might evolve into risks or barriers to success.
“Project managers focus on meeting deadlines, while program managers are responsible for how each project contributes to the wider organizational picture (Atlassian, n.d.).”
Program Owners vs. Project Managers
Differences in Roles, Skillsets, Functions, & Responsibilities
Senior Level IT PMO Purple Squirrels
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Q&D Technology IT PMO Consultants are ALL senior-level and executive-adjacent IT PMO Leadership professions, such as IT PMO Directors, Infrastructure Directors, Technical Program Directors, IT Senior Program Managers, PMO Managers, etc.
We Do NOT Staff PMs
Conventional PMO Hierarchy Framework
Q & D Technology, Inc. brings Risk Adverse Strategy to your Technical Solution Delivery and comprehensive Technical PMO reinforcements to the Implementation, while filling all Gaps in your PSO (program support office).