Beyond the Five Whys: Exploring the Hierarchical Causes with the Why-Why Diagram
Enterprise Project Office
1. Enterprise
PMO
Defini/on,
Assessment,
and
Opportuni/es
By
Imad
Al-‐Murib
Lean
Vector
Consultancy
1
2. An
enterprise
program
management
office
(EPMO)
is
a
governance
en/ty,
employed
by
senior
organiza/onal
leadership,
suppor/ng
the
integra/on
and
driving
success
between
strategic
goals
and
their
enabling
ac/on
ini/a/ves
such
as
projects
and
programs.
What
is
the
EPMO?
Agenda:
• EPMO
Organiza/on
Assessment
Readiness
• EPMO
Styles.
• EPMO
Mission
and
Objec/ves.
• EPMO
Structure
• EPMO
Risks
• PorRolio
Management
2
3. EPMO
scope
is
heavily
dependent
on
the
enterprise
environment
EPMO
has
limited
scope.
Project
PorRolio.
Skip
EPMO
EPMO
has
limited
scope.
Opera/on
Excellence
and
Business
Process
Improvement.
Full-‐fledge
EPMO
focused
on
building
market-‐
leading
business
capabili/es
The
Client
3
4. Run
The
business
Planned
Improvement
Survival-‐Induced
Change
Strategy-‐induced
Change
1-‐
Most
of
the
mee/ngs
are
focused
on
running
the
business
1-‐
Is
there
a
good
stream
of
revenue
currently
coming
into
the
business?
1-‐
Is
your
organiza/on
losing
money
or
facing
significant
reduc/ons
in
funding?
1-‐
Is
the
Org
capable
of
managing
programs
well
enough?
2-‐
The
Organiza/on
Chose
small
improvement
over
large
ones.
2-‐
Has
management
successfully
op/mized
produc/on
and
sales
capability
in
the
past,
and
is
it
commi[ed
to
con/nuing
to
do
so?
2-‐
Is
the
Org
capable
of
managing
change
well
enough.
3-‐
Has
the
business
been
delivering
reliable
revenue
and
reliable
profits,
even
if
there
might
be
more
money
to
be
made
if
new
markets
or
alterna/ves
were
more
aggressively
pursued?
EPMO
is
focused
on
Opera/onal
Excellence
and
Process
Improvement
EPMO
is
focused
on
PorRolio
management.
Control
to
stop
the
bleeding.
EPMO
focused
on
building
market-‐leading
capabili/es.
NO
EPMO
Limited
Limited
Full
EPMO
Readiness
Assessment:
Client
is
more
focused
toward
Planned
Improvement
and
Strategy-‐induced
Change
4
5. In
the
Client
case,
the
drive
for
the
EPMO
is
more
of
Pull.
Push:
The
IT
PMO
asking
for
more
authority
to
get
the
job
done
in
a
cross-‐func/onal
environment.
Pull:
The
Senior
execu/ve
entrust
few
to
become
his
eyes
and
ears
to
ensure
that
things
are
ge^ng
done.
The
drive
to
the
EPMO
could
be
either
a
pull
or
push
Source:
Gartner
5
6. The
Four
Styles
of
EPMO
EPMO
Style
What
does
it
do?
When
it
fits
Outcomes
Repor/ng
gathers
data
mul/ple
siloed
func/ons
and
detects
poten/al
issues
When
there
is
a
concern
around
projects
outcomes
and
value
Provides
the
Execu/ve
team
a
complete
transparency
of
the
state
of
the
projects
Opera/onal
All
project
managers
within
the
organiza/on
report
to
a
single
en/ty
When
the
organiza/on
want
to
centralize
all
projects
to
make
best
use
of
the
resources
Tight
control
and
high
visibility
of
what’s
being
done.
Strategic
Evaluates
projects/program
benefits
against
corporate
strategy
to
ensure
the
right
projects
are
approved
and
others
are
stopped.
When
there
are
concerns
about
disconnec/on
between
the
strategic
level
and
execu/on
level
of
the
organiza/on.
Facilitates
the
"transla/on"
of
elements
in
the
organiza/onal
strategy
into
ac/on
through
projects
Business
Transforma/on
looks
at
changing
the
very
DNA
of
the
enterprise
When
the
organiza/on
want
to
transform
and
change
the
core
business
model.
New
business
models
or
even
new
organiza/on.
Source:
Gartner
6
7. EPMO
Area
When:
• Set
up
a
strategic
EPMO
if
there
is
a
high
degree
of
change
on
the
horizon
and
if
the
various
business
units
in
the
organiza/on
will
need
to
work
together
to
achieve
the
goal.
• Establish
a
strategic
EPMO
if
there
is
a
wealth
of
good
ideas
in
the
organiza/on
all
compe/ng
for
limited
funding.
Skills
needed:
Success
in
this
organiza/on
requires
different
skills
than
classic
project
management.
Hire
for:
• Analy/cal
and
cri/cizing
skills
that
will
support/challenge
the
development
of
business
cases
and
appropriate
project
and
program
metrics.
• Strong
systems
or
associa/onal
thinking
skills
• Emo/onal
intelligence
• Facilita/on
skills
Change
management
is
another
cri/cal
skill.
Understanding
the
magnitude
and
source
of
change
directly
impacts
the
nature
of
programs
and
the
sequence
of
projects
in
the
porRolio.
What:
• Focusing
in
detail
on
the
measurement
of
value
at
the
pre-‐selec/on
phase
is
how
the
EPMO
can
assist
top
management
in
making
be[er
porRolio
decisions.
• The
strategic
EPMO
focuses
on
providing
facilita/on
and
analysis
to
ensure
that
strategy
gets
executed.
• Set
up
a
strategic
EPMO
to
help
ensure
that
projects
and
programs
are
actually
driving
strategy
fulfillment.
Increase
the
focus
on
change
management
and
strategic
communica/on.
Facilitate
strategic
tac/cs
forma/on.
Given
Client
environment
and
vision,
a
Strategic
EPMO
would
be
the
most
suitable
EPMO
style.
7
8. The
Mission:
To
ensure
that
strategy
is
translated
into
an
executable
form
(a
project
or
program)
To
ensure
that
the
project's
scope
stays
true
to
only
what
is
required
to
implement
the
strategy.
The
Func/on:
Is
to
act
as
a
"cataly/c
mechanism"
to
promote
and
enable:
1. Strategy
collabora/on
2. Change
management
3. Communica/ons
4. Program
execu/on
A
strategic
EPMO
is
a
Strategy
Execu/on
Office
and
NOT
Project
Execu/on
en/ty.
EPMO
does
only
a
very
limited
amount
of
actual
program
execu/on.
Set
up
a
strategic
EPMO
to:
• Ensure
that
projects
and
programs
are
actually
driving
strategy
fulfillment.
• Focus
on
change
management
and
strategic
communica/on.
• Facilitate
strategic
tac/cs
forma/on.
To
bridge
the
gap
between
strategy
and
tac/cs,
begin
by
applying
the
concept
of
benefits
realiza/on
as
a
basis
for
determining
to
what
extent
a
project
actually
contributes
to
the
strategy
it
is
designed
to
support,
and
use
this
as
a
priori/za/on
criterion.
Strategic
EPMO
Mission:
8
9. 1.
Strategy
Collabora/on
The
Air
Sandwich
challenge
of
Strategy
Collabora/on
*
The
Sponsor
The
What:
Execu/ves,
who
excel
at
reading
the
market,
determine
the
organiza/on's
op/mum
response
to
specific
market
condi/ons
and
the
economy
in
general,
and
then
cral
the
strategy
for
the
organiza/on
Senior
Managers
The
How:
Senior
managers
then
a[empt
to
intuit
how
that
strategy
relates
to
the
work
they
had
been
planning
to
do
anyway
and
then
"tack
their
sails"
in
a
direc/on
that
they
hope
will
accomplish
the
goal.
This
is
the
"how"
part
of
the
vision.
No
Filling
!
"The
New
How:
Crea/ng
Business
Solu/ons
Through
Collabora/ve
Strategy.“
*
The
EPMO
role
is
to
facilitate
the
collabora/on
and
sharing
of
ideas
on
how
something
can
and
should
be
done
to
move
the
organiza/on
closer
to
realizing
its
strategy.
The
filling
should
be
a
process
of
collabora/ng
on
strategic
tac/cs.
Agreements
generally
only
emerge
as
a
result
of
people
presen/ng
their
views
of
the
situa/on
and
then
gradually
arriving
at
a
shared
and,
hence,
unique
view
of
the
right
course
of
ac/on.
The
job
requires
a
great
deal
of
listening
and
probing
to
ensure
there
is
agreement.
Effec/vely,
while
not
all
aggressive
goals
are
realis/c,
not
all
opera/onal
obstacles
are
real
either,
and
both
groups
will
need
to
change
some
elements
of
their
ini/al
concept.
EPMO
as
Strategy
facilitator
is
to
make
everyone
Focus
and
Balance
these
two
Factors
9
10. 2.
Change
Management
Change
management
is
a
mul/step
process
that
begins
with
craling
a
realis/c
and
doable
vision.
CommunicaKon
is
a
cri/cal
component
of
change
management
and
will
be
invaluable
in
enlis/ng
support
and
establishing
the
reality
of
the
change.
Start-‐up
Design
Implementa/on
Create
Awareness
Employees
Educate
Reinforce
and
Reward
Acquire
project
resource
Project
Team
Provide
Direct
Support
Maintain
momentum
Build
management
support
Stakeholders
Develop
Sponsorship
Align
leadership
and
manage
resistance
The
magnitude
of
the
change
be
fully
understood
and
that
the
organiza/on
have
the
core
capabili/es
to
achieve
the
change.
3.
Communica/on
Social
Media
Town
Hall
Mee/ngs
Corridor
Discussions
VoicE
emails
Training
sessions
10
11. 4.
Program
Management
Execu/on
The
EPMO
should
set
up
a
small
Center
of
Excellence
for
program
management.
This
group
will:
1. Monitor
the
health
of
programs
in
the
enterprise
porRolio
2. Manage
the
execu/on
of
a
very
small
number
of
highly
risky
and
strategic
programs
3. Assist
in
the
management
of
other
strategic
programs
as
required
Planning
and
Control
Timescales,
costs,
outputs
and
dependencies,
risks
and
assump/ons,
a
schedule
showing
the
tranches,
the
transi/on
plan
and
the
monitoring
and
control.
Benefits
RealizaKon
Management
A
benefit
is
the
measurable
improvement
resul/ng
from
an
outcome,
which
is
perceived
as
an
advantage
by
a
stakeholder.
As
the
program
introduces
transforma/onal
change,
this
results
in
a
desired
outcome.
Blueprint
Design
and
Delivery
The
Blueprint
is
a
model
of
the
organiza/on
upon
comple/on
of
the
program,
its
working
prac/ces
and
processes,
the
informa/on
it
requires
and
the
technology
that
supports
its
opera/ons.
This
detailed
descrip/on
of
the
future
organiza/on
is
designed
to
deliver
the
capability
described
in
the
Vision
Statement.
Quality
management
Risk
Management
and
Issue
ResoluKon
The
Business
Case
Is
an
aggrega/on
of
specific
informa/on
about
the
value
of
the
benefits,
the
risks
to
achieving
them,
the
costs
of
delivering
the
Blueprint
and
the
/mescales
for
achievement.
Leadership
and
Stakeholder
Engagement
Defining
the
Vision
of
the
program
The
Vision
Statement
is
used
to
communicate
the
end
goal
of
the
program
being
an
outward-‐facing
descrip/on
of
the
future
state
following
program
delivery.
OrganizaKon
roles
and
capabiliKes
documentaKon.
11
12. EPMO
Structure
Monitor
the
health
of
programs
in
the
enterprise
porRolio
Manage
the
execu/on
of
a
very
small
number
of
highly
risky
and
strategic
programs
Assist
in
the
management
of
other
strategic
programs
as
required.
Develop
Business
Case.
Translate
Strategy
to
tac/cal
opera/on
plan
Build
Strategy
execu/on
plan
Ensure
that
benefits
are
iden/fied
and
defined.
Measure
&
Track
benefits
Align
the
program’s
desired
benefits
and
the
strategic
objec/ves
of
the
organiza/on.
KPIs
• General
recommenda/ons
range
somewhere
between
10
and
25
projects.
• This
might
entail
reviewing
and
suppor/ng
somewhere
around
50-‐60
business
cases
throughout
the
year.
12
13. The
strategic
EPMO
is
backed
up
by
two
other
organiza/ons,
the
Project
Capability
Office
and
the
business
process
center
of
competency,
whose
respec/ve
mission
is
to
ensure
that
projects
and
business
process
work
can
be
done
anywhere
in
the
organiza/on.
EPMO
and
other
governance
bodies
Combining
the
opera/onal
and
process
aspects
of
PPM
with
an
organiza/on
focused
on
strategic
execu/on
simply
doesn't
work
well
over
/me.
13
14. 14
Mostly
Delivers
Typical
Staff
Level
Examples
of
Major
CapabiliKes
Program
office
• Support
to
one
program,
for
the
life
of
the
program
• Senior
administra/ve
or
domain
experts
• Budget
tracking
• Methods
support
• Contractor
repor/ng
• Risk
tracking
• Resource
management
Project,
program
or
por]olio
management
office
• Ongoing
organiza/onal
PPM
maturity
improvements
• Ini/a/ve
repor/ng
• Experienced
low-‐
or
medium-‐
level
IT
staff
• May
include
the
organiza/on's
IT
or
business
project
or
program
managers
• PPM
maturity
assessment
and
improvement
• Status
repor/ng
• Resource
tracking
• Methods
sustainment
• Sa/sfac/on
review
Enterprise
PMO
• Advice
and
some/mes
leadership
to
major
organiza/onal
ini/a/ves
• Escala/on
of
issues
to
leadership
• Management
or
lower-‐level
execu/ves
• Strategy
implementa/on
• Expecta/ons
review
• Value
realiza/on
• Governance
linkage
Por]olio
management
funcKon
• Monitoring
ini/a/ves'
investment
"condi/on"
• Providing
impact
analysis
for
new
or
changed
ini/a/ves
• Senior
IT
staff
for
porRolio
management
and
financial
analysis
• Execu/ve
insight
support
• Ini/a/ves'
investment
analysis
• Situa/onal
impact
analysis
• Execu/ve
priori/es
and
decision
support
4
similar
names,
4
different
roles…
and
a
common
source
of
confusion
As
shown
in
the
EPMO
structure,
PorRolio
management
is
part
of
EPMO
func/on.
The
EPMO
might
also
be
asked
to
do
Program
Management
for
selected
cri/cal
projects
in
certain
circumstances.
This
is
where
the
lines
blur
some/me.
15. Risks
Risk
Impact
Possible
MiKgaKon
Poli/cs
and
concern
over
"turf"
ownership
might
hamper
EPMO
produc/vity.
The
EPMO
team
produc/vity.
The
EPMO
sponsor
(CEO
or
COO)
must
make
it
very
clear
that
the
head
of
EPMO
will
not
be
taken
any
C-‐
Level
seat
within
the
organiza/on
The
EPMO
as
an
ini/a/ve
is
primarily
linked
with
its
sponsor.
It’s
olen
no/ced
that
once
the
sponsor
is
no
longer
with
the
organiza/on,
the
EPMO
team
goes
with
him.
The
EPMO
team
job
security
Acceptance
of
the
risk.
Having
a
strong
strategic-‐oriented
team
might
encourage
other
department
managers
to
stop
trying
to
link
strategy
with
opera/on.
A
leave-‐it-‐to-‐the-‐EPMO
symptoms
might
develop
if
not
addressed
properly.
Organiza/on
maturity
The
EPMO
has
to
engage
with
the
rest
of
the
business
with
a
clear
agenda
to
help
the
line
managers
to
link
their
opera/ons
with
the
corporate
strategy.
At
no
point,
the
EPMO
will
actually
start
doing
the
work
for
the
business
heads.
It’s
olen
no/ced
that
cri/cal
programs
might
got
assigned
to
the
EPMO
team
to
manage
it
end-‐to-‐end
rather
than
just
provide
governance
and
health
check.
If
con/nued
uncheck,
this
could
overload
the
EPMO
team.
The
EPMO
team
produc/vity.
At
a
certain
stage,
it
might
worthwhile
considering
the
Opera/onal
EPMO
style.
15
16. Business
Case
for
Project/Ini/a/ve
Seeking
approval
Por]olio
Model
Support
business
func/ons
that
primarily
impact
the
bo[om
line.
Grow
top-‐line
revenues
and
enhance
the
reason
why
customers
choose
to
buy
its
products
or
services
enterprises
that
are
lacking
appropriate
infrastructure
and
compliance
are
likely
to
have
an
unacceptable
degree
of
risk
These
investments
represent
"good
risk"
for
the
enterprise
and
ensure
that
it
stays
ahead
of
the
compe//on
How
much
revenue
that
investments
can
deliver?
Rate
of
return?
Time
to
return?
Hard-‐dollar
cost
savings,
sol-‐dollar
produc/vity
and
cost
avoidance
in
the
financial
analysis
of
benefits
Calculated
risk
approach
to
determine
the
business
damage
from
not
making
that
investment
The
degree
to
which
success
could
create
compe//ve
advantage.
Governance
16
17. 16M
50M
12M
300K
33M
5M
Com
pe/
/ve
diffe
ren/
ator
s
Com
mod
i/es
and
oper
a/o
ns
Infra
struc
ture
and
com
plian
ce
Inno
va/o
n
and
gam
e
chan
ge
Budgeted
Strated
IT
Investment
in
2014
IT
spending
is
a
good
indicator
of
the
organiza/on
spending.
2014
budget
was
focused
on
Commodity
and
Opera/on
efficiency.
Only
1.8%
of
the
Compe//ve
Differen/ators
projects
actually
started.
Was
it
due
to
unrealis/c
planning
or
execu/on
difficul/es?
Nothing
has
been
treated
as
Experiment
and
Write
Off
approach.
17
18. Strategy
execu/on
framework
An
important
EPMO
role
is
the
facilita/on
of
Strategy
execu/on.
SEM
is
an
Execu/on
Model
for
Strategy
will
be
discussed
here.
SEM
provides
a
structured
method
for
iden/fying,
documen/ng
and
communica/ng
the
interdependencies
among
organiza/onal
business
units'
strategies
as
they
a[empt
to
execute
the
corporate
strategy.
18
SEM
requires
a
strategic
EPMO
func/on
to
carry
out
different
tasks.
However,
even
a
minimum
EPMO
(repor/ng
EPMO)
Can
help
facilita/ng
strategy
execu/on.
Other
frameworks
and
tools
to
help
Strategy
ExecuKon:
1-‐
Business
Capability
mapping
2-‐
Balance
Score
Cards
3-‐
SEF:
Strategic
Execu/on
Framework
–
Stanford
business
school
4-‐
Gartner
Risk-‐Adjusted
Value
management.
19. Step1:
coherent
strategy
and
measurable
goals.
"how
this
will
be
done"
(the
lever)
"amount
of
change
we
expect"
(the
measure)
The
EPMO
can
aid
in
the
ar/cula/on
of
these
levers
and
measures
as
part
of
the
business
case/por]olio
review
process.
Step2:
iden/fy
the
areas
that
need
to
be
involved
to
make
a
strategic
ini/a/ve
happen.
Cascading
Success
Measures
Are
as
Difficult
to
Come
by
as
An/cipated
Benefits
If
we
will
grow
revenue
by
5%
through
new
geographical
channels,
then
we
need
to
grow
X
area
by
Y%,
“Grow
revenue
by
geographic
expansion"
(the
lever)
“5%
grow
for
2015"
(the
measure)
Step3:
Cascading
Success
Measures
“Implement
a
reverse-‐aucKon
system
that
will
maximize
the
number
of
suppliers
compeKng
against
each
other
to
sell
raw
material
to
manufacturing,
resulKng
in
lower
prices
for
nonstrategic
raw
materials.”
Step4:
EPMO
should
support
Business
Units
in
Providing
an
Early
Look
at
How
They
Intend
to
Accomplish
Their
Changes
The
goal
at
this
step
is
to
collect
just
enough
informa/on
so
that,
when
socializing
it
at
Step
5,
the
various
business
units
can
see
where
they
are
working
together
and
where
they
are
working
at
cross-‐purposes.
• Proposed
high-‐level
solu/on/project.
• Benefits
of
proposed
solu/on/project
—
This
should
con/nue
to
refine
the
strategy
statement
in
Step
3.
• Solu/on/project
dependencies:
what
other
business
units
will
need
to
provide
assistance?
• Solu/on/project
risks
Step5:
Circulate
a
composite
view
of
what
every
business
unit
has
submi[ed
and
capture
the
various
organiza/onal
dependencies
that
the
proposals
might
engender.
Step6:
Convene
some
form
of
governance
or
advisory
group
to
mediate
any
differences
that
become
visible.
19
21. Summary
• It
is
important
to
decide
which
type
of
EPMO
is
right
for
the
client.
• EPMO
will
have
a
crucial
role
in
strategy
execu/on
of
the
organiza/on.
• EPMO
will
be
adopt
Change
Management
and
Capability
modeling
prac/ces
to
drive
changes.
• It
is
important
to
understand
the
role
EPMO
plays
in
PorRolio
Management.
• EPMO
will
be
backed
up
by
other
governing
bodies
within
the
organiza/on.
• It
is
important
to
understand
the
risks
involved
with
the
EPMO
in
order
to
establish
a
successful
prac/ce.
21