APM PMO SIG Spring conference: People are the PMO's best assets

1. Emma Arnaz-Pemberton
Dave Powell

2. Introduction
• North American Retail Division sells a broad assortment of merchandise
through our chain of office supply stores in the U.S. and Canada
• North American Retail Division currently operates over 1,100 office
supply stores throughout the U.S. and Canada
• North American Business Solutions Division sells nationally branded and
private brand office supplies, technology products, furniture and services
by means of a dedicated sales force, through catalogs and electronically
through our internet sites
• Office Depot sells to customers in 59 countries throughout North
America, Europe, Asia and Latin America
• International Division sells office products and services through direct
mail catalogs, contract sales forces, internet sites and retail stores, using
a mix of company-owned operations, joint ventures, licensing and
franchise agreements, alliances and other arrangements

3. The PMO Journey

4. 2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
The PMO Journey

5. 2008
• The business is in decline
• Change in Leadership for the UK&IE
– Identified there is poor change management
– No visibility
• We are now Project Management Office
• Temporary Organisation
– One external contractor as Project Office Manager
– One external Programme Specialist with experience
– Two admin assistants
• From the business
• Are available
• No Project Management knowledge
– Support from Aikona (to build the method)
• Add some visibility to change management & what is happening in the business
• Project Management is an additional role to the traditional day to day
– Selection of ‘key’ people trained in the new method
– People selected by role, interest or competency
• Boris Johnson became mayor of London, Barack Obama became US
President and The Large Hadron Collider was fired up
Year of: Plug the Gap

6. 2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
The PMO Journey

7. 2009
• Business expectation of reporting – tick in the box
• Some visibility of numbers is already available and the business wants more data
• Recruitment into the team
– One Programme Specialist to review the method and capability
• Continue to report to the business
• Train interested people in the method
• Report police
• Reporting is a tick in the box exercise done with PMO
• After training, I was left to get on with it
• Everything is a project and handed to PMs with the capacity rather than capability
• Worst Snow in 20 Years in Feb , Dave Powell got married and they found Gold in Staffordshire
Year of: Report, Report, Report

8. 2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
The PMO Journey

9. • We now have PM’s in the business
• Part-time and external professional PM’s
• Business is asking for competency & Value Add
• We are now Programme Management Office
• Recruitment:
– One Programme Specialist with strategic experience
– Up-skilling within the PMO started
• Fullest team so far with a broad mix of experience
• Re-design & Re-launch the PMO
– Vision, Mission, Values created
– Launch day
– Complementary training (not just about project management)
• PMs feel engaged
• Felt a support function in place
• Confusion in the positioning of PMO within the project & programme roles
(execs, reporting, support or project management) – conflict of interests (who reports to who
& escalation)
2010
• Longest Cold Spell for 30 Years!, Eyjafjallajoekull erupted grounding flights in the UK – The STIG was
revealed
Year of: Re-Launch & Re-Birth

10. 2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
The PMO Journey

11. 2011
• PMO re-distributed for Q1 & Q2 as per business requirements
• Business loses PM focus to define its own purpose
• Restructure means 4 PMO resource leave the business
• Up-skilling continues of original staff
• Sustain the operations already in place
– Training
– Reporting
• Carrying on with projects as normal
• Less PMO presence or support
• Feeling less proactive so PMs started to create small pockets of community to share skills &
experience
• Royal Wedding in UK, The UK Riots and an Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan
The Lost Year

12. 2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
The PMO Journey

13. Year of: Re-Group & Re-Set
• Strategic Priorities defined and communicated to provide focus
• Programmes lost urgency
• Business once again asking for PM competence
• Restructure means 2 PMO resource leave the business
• Targeted training of original PMO resource
• 1 PMO resource re-distributed to support operations
• Review and re-define the purpose of the PMO
– Vision, Mission, Values
– European Remit added
– Engagement
– Optimise Reporting to add value
• PMs more engaged
• Trained around key competencies as well as PM
• Clear definition of structure and boundaries of the PMO – roles, responsibilities
• PMO Community created for peer to peer support, sharing and expertise
2012
• “Gangnam Style” Fever hits the world, the diamond jubilee and London Olympics

14. 2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
The PMO Journey
2013 and Beyond

15. 2013
Year of: Growth
• Neigh laughing matter
• New Leadership across Europe
• EU Business Transformation Office
• Reaffirmed Strategic Priorities
• European Business asking for PM competence
• We are now Portfolio Management Office
• Structure
– PMO Manager
– PMO Officer
– 80% Business Improvement Resource
• PMO Strategy in place including full Service Catalogue
• Increase alignment & maturity across the business
• Continuous Improvement of existing processes
• Initialise opportunities for globalisation
• Increased understanding of structure and escalation as a Service Provider
• Better peer to peer relationships leading to enhanced opportunities for complementary
workshops and training
• Competency matrix to identify key skill sets (right people in the right box)

16. • Resource up
• Address the gaps in 2013/2014
• Work towards a PPM tool
• Global alignment in line with the potential merger
with Office Max
• World Class PMO!?

17. Current Gaps
• Resource planning
• AOP Alignment
• Benefits Realisation
• PPM Tooling

18. Slow Burn?
• Is the Slow Burn Approach the right approach?
– We are nearing maturity by up-skilling existing associates
– This has taken time but it has given
• Passion for the business and our customers
• The chance to grow with the business
• Ability to adapt better
• Better engagement with the PMO Community
• What if we had done it differently 5 yrs ago?
– We would have resourced with professionals
– But would we have
• An ‘off the shelf approach’ that is not aligned to Office Depot principles
• Not able to adapt as quickly
• Lost the benefit of going on the journey