Agile/Lean PMO

Andrew Rusling

Agile Coach

@andrewrusling

Competencies to be gained

By the end of this session, I am hopeful that you will be able to:

1. Summarise the responsibilities of a typical PMO that are impacted by

supporting Agile projects.

2. Summarise the Portfolio Management responsibilities that are

impacted by supporting Agile projects.

3. Summarise the incremental funding approach

4. Summarise how Lean Portfolio Management achieves flow of value.

5. List the pros and cons of Stable teams vs Dynamic teams.

6. List some strategies that support Stable teams.

2

What is a PMO?

“An organizational body or entity assigned various responsibilities

related to the centralized and coordinated management of those

projects under its domain. The responsibilities of the PMO can range

from providing project management support functions to actually being

responsible for the direct management of a project.”

PMBOK 2003

“A project management office is a formal, centralized layer of control

between senior management and project management”

IS Project Management: Size, practices and the project management

office. 2007

Definitions 4

5

AIM

RE

SP

ON

SIB

ILIT

IES

Project

Management

Programme

Management

Portfolio

Management

Delivery of Project

Goals

Delivery of

Programme GoalsROI for business

Team Alignment to

Project Goals

Project Alignment

to Programme

Goals

Programme

Alignment to

Business Strategy

Portfolio Budget

Management

Consistency

across Programs

People Allocated

to Programmes

Ensure Processes are effective and efficient

People Allocated

to Projects

People Allocated

to Teams

Consistency

across Projects

Consistency

across Teams

Programme

Budget

Management

Project Budget

Management

Training & Coaching

Project Management

7

AIM

RE

SP

ON

SIB

ILIT

IES

Project

Management

Programme

Management

Portfolio

Management

Delivery of Project

Goals

Delivery of

Programme GoalsROI for business

Team Alignment to

Project Goals

Project Alignment

to Programme

Goals

Programme

Alignment to

Business Strategy

Portfolio Budget

Management

Consistency

across Programs

People Allocated

to Programmes

People Allocated

to Projects

People Allocated

to Teams

Consistency

across Projects

Consistency

across Teams

Programme

Budget

Management

Project Budget

Management

Ensure Processes are effective and efficient

Training & Coaching

Covered by Agile Project

Management Training

Limited change

People Management

9

AIM

RE

SP

ON

SIB

ILIT

IES

Project

Management

Programme

Management

Portfolio

Management

Delivery of Project

Goals

Delivery of

Programme GoalsROI for business

Team Alignment to

Project Goals

Project Alignment

to Programme

Goals

Programme

Alignment to

Business Strategy

Portfolio Budget

Management

Consistency

across Programs

People Allocated

to Programmes

People Allocated

to Projects

People Allocated

to Teams

Consistency

across Projects

Consistency

across Teams

Programme

Budget

Management

Project Budget

Management

YES, and ?

Ensure Processes are effective and efficient

Training & Coaching

10

AIM

RE

SP

ON

SIB

ILIT

IES

Project

Management

Programme

Management

Portfolio

Management

Delivery of Project

Goals

Delivery of

Programme GoalsROI for business

Team Alignment to

Project Goals

Project Alignment

to Programme

Goals

Programme

Alignment to

Business Strategy

Portfolio Budget

Management

Consistency

across Programs

Management of

People in the

Portfolio

Management of

People in the

Programme

Management of

People in the

Project

Consistency

across Projects

Consistency

across Teams

Programme

Budget

Management

Project Budget

Management

Ensure Processes are effective and efficient

Training & Coaching

People Management 11

Project

ManagementProgramme

Management

Portfolio

Management

Management of

People in the

Portfolio

Management of

People in the

Programme

Management of

People in the

Project

Move towards

Stable TeamsSupport and

empower teams

Support and

empower teams

Remove escalated

impedimentsRemove escalated

impediments

Remove team

impediments

Ensure appropriate

team & expert

allocation to

programmes

Ensure appropriate

team & expert

allocation to

projects

Ensure

appropriate expert

allocation to

teams

Support and Empower Teams

Support

• Care about peoples wellbeing, growth and morale

• Remove Impediments

Empower teams

• Clear goals aligned to business opportunity & company vision (purpose)

• Let them self organise, use a pull model for work allocation (autonomy)

• Create opportunities for learning and growth (mastery)

12

Pool of all people

Business opportunity pipeline

How should we structure ourselves?

Initiate projects to match

the work

Release people & tear

down the project

• Prioritised by Business Value

• Ordered by people availability

Pool of all peopleBusiness opportunity pipeline

Project Backlogs

Project Teams

Allocate work to one or

more stable teams

• Prioritised by Business Value

• Ordered by team availability

Pool of Experts

i.e. DBA, UX, etc.

Business opportunity pipeline

Stable Teams

Allocate & Release

experts to teams

each sprint

Teams Backlogs

Project Teams Stable Teams

+ People skills match project need + Keep performing teams

+ Clearer justification for hiring experts +100% allocation of most people

+ people skill up in business area

+ accurate prediction of delivery

- Partial allocation of many people - Dependencies between teams

- High resource management costs - Delays waiting on team availability

- Delays waiting of people availability

- Project initiation costs

- Delays in starting projects

Stable teams vs Project teams (Pros, Cons) 16

Project Teams Stable Teams

Focus on high people utilisation Not looking at throughput

Easier to second needed people, then

get a team to work cross functionally

Teams not as cross functional as

needed

Brings focus to the project goals Teams are poor at focusing, hence

working on many things, delivering

none

It’s the way we have always done it

Once initiated, sponsor doesn’t need to

baby sit it, to get a result

Continual re-evaluation of projects, can

stop some projects

Easier to prioritise within a project

Why do we choose Projects over Stable teams 17

Portfolio Management

19

AIM

RE

SP

ON

SIB

ILIT

IES

Project

Management

Programme

Management

Portfolio

Management

Delivery of Project

Goals

Delivery of

Programme GoalsROI for business

Team Alignment to

Project Goals

Project Alignment

to Programme

Goals

Programme

Alignment to

Business Strategy

Portfolio Budget

Management

Consistency

across Programs

Management of

People in the

Portfolio

Management of

People in the

Programme

Management of

People in the

Project

Consistency

across Projects

Consistency

across Teams

Programme

Budget

Management

Project Budget

Management

YES, and ?

Ensure Processes are effective and efficient

Training & Coaching

20

AIM

RE

SP

ON

SIB

ILIT

IES

Project

Management

Programme

Management

Portfolio

Management

Delivery of Project

Goals

Delivery of

Programme GoalsROI for business

Team Alignment to

Project Goals

Project Alignment

to Programme

Goals

Achieve flow of

business value

Portfolio Budget

Management

Consistency

across Programs

Management of

People in the

Portfolio

Management of

People in the

Programme

Management of

People in the

Project

Consistency

across Projects

Consistency

across Teams

Programme

Budget

Management

Project Budget

Management

Ensure Processes are effective and efficient

Training & Coaching

Portfolio Management 21

Achieve flow of

business value

Align projects to

business strategic

goals

Split large projects

Short Cycle Time

over

High Utilisation

Validated Learning

over

Business Cases

Tighten Build,

Measure, Learn

cycles

Limit Work In

Progress

Regular re-assess

value delivery

Regularly reassess value delivery 22

Period X months

Period

Planning

Inspect &

AdaptX weeks

Business

Value

Portfolio

Backlog

Period

Backlog

1. Assess delivery & potential

2. Select projects to Start / Stop

3. Split large projects

4. Allocate Teams and Budget for projects

Multiple Projects, Multiple Teams 23

Period 2 months

Inspect &

Adapt2 weeks

Period

Backlog

Sta

rt

Continue

Period 2 months

Inspect &

Adapt2 weeks

Period

Backlog

Continue

Period 2 months

Inspect &

Adapt2 weeks

Period

Backlog

Sta

rt

Sto

p,

Sta

rt d

iffe

rent

one

Period 2 months

Inspect &

Adapt2 weeks

Period

Backlog

Fin

ish

ed,

Sta

rt a

noth

er

Why focus on short Cycle Time?

• It is hard to delivery items faster.

• It is easier to work on less items.

• Hence reduce WIP to realise value earlier.

• High Utilisation, increases WIP, which reduces Cycle Time and hence

reduces Delivery Rate

24

Avg. Cycle Time =

Work In Progress (WIP)

Avg. Delivery Rate

Little’s Law, for a stable system

How do we limit WIP? 25

Portfolio

Backlog

Period

Backlog

1. Stop some projects

2. Reduce the projects that Start/Continue

Our capacityPeriod

Planning

How do we limit WIP? 26

Portfolio

Backlog

Period

Backlog

Our capacityPeriod

Planning

Split Large Project

This reduces cycle time, which increases throughput

27

Portfolio

Backlog

Portfolio

Backlog

Validated Learning over Business Cases

Business Case Validated Learning

ReasoningWe can predict what will

lead to success

We are working from

assumptions, that must be

verified quickly

Success

StrategyPlan and manage better Learn faster

Project

Selection

Projects with large

expected returns

Small projects with good

learning opportunities

28

Validated Learning Approach

Encourage Validated Learning at all levels • Project

• Release

• Sprint

• Day to day

29

Aim to test assumptions

• Plan, Design and Run Scientific Experiments

• Business Canvas

• Impact Mapping

Delivery early, Iterate Frequently

• Use narrow vertical slices

• Experiments, not marketable products

Gain market feedback

• Get out of the building

• Talk to real users

• A/B Testing

• Monitor usage metrics

Tighten Build, Measure, Learn cycles 30

Knowledge of what realises business value

Period 6 months

Period 6 months

Period 6 months

Tighten Build, Measure, Learn cycles 31

Period 3 months

Period 3 months

Period 3 months

Period 3 months

Period 3 months

Period 3 months

Knowledge of what realises business value

Budget Management

33

AIM

RE

SP

ON

SIB

ILIT

IES

Project

Management

Programme

Management

Portfolio

Management

Delivery of Project

Goals

Delivery of

Programme GoalsROI for business

Team Alignment to

Project Goals

Project Alignment

to Programme

Goals

Achieve flow of

business value

Portfolio Budget

Management

Consistency

across Programs

Management of

People in the

Portfolio

Management of

People in the

Programme

Management of

People in the

Project

Consistency

across Projects

Consistency

across Teams

Programme

Budget

Management

Project Budget

Management

Ensure Processes are effective and efficient

Training & Coaching

Move towards incremental funding.

Projects are Started/Stop (hence funded or not) at Period Planning

Links to:

• Continuous Flow of value

• Validated Learning

• Tighter build, measure, learn loops

• Smaller projects

Incremental Funding 34

The remainder

36

AIM

RE

SP

ON

SIB

ILIT

IES

Project

Management

Programme

Management

Portfolio

Management

Delivery of Project

Goals

Delivery of

Programme GoalsROI for business

Team Alignment to

Project Goals

Project Alignment

to Programme

Goals

Achieve flow of

business value

Portfolio Budget

Management

Consistency

across Programs

Management of

People in the

Portfolio

Management of

People in the

Programme

Management of

People in the

Project

Consistency

across Projects

Consistency

across Teams

Programme

Budget

Management

Project Budget

Management

Ensure Processes are effective and efficient

Training & Coaching

Consistency is needed across Process, Tools, Metrics

Aim for bare minimum of rules

Teams need freedom to innovate and deliver

Consistency 37

Apply Lean thinking

• Eliminate Waste

• Build Quality In

• Create Knowledge

• Defer Commitment

• Deliver Fast

• Respect People

• Optimise The Whole

Process efficiency and effectiveness 38

Apply Agile values

• Individuals and Interactions over

Processes and Tools

• Working Software over

Comprehensive Documentation

• Customer Collaboration over

Contract Negotiation

• Responding to Change over

Following the Plan

Continuously improve.

Don’t accept the status quo.

Training on

• Processes, Tools, Reporting, etc.

• Agile, Lean, etc.

Coaching on

• Agile, Lean

• Agile Project Management

• Validate Learning, Lean Start Up, Business Model Canvas

• etc.

Training and Coaching 39

Declaration of

Interdependence

Declaration Agile/Lean PMO Ideas

We increase return on investment by

making continuous flow of value our focus

• Regular re-asses

• Short Cycle Times

• Validated Learning

• Tight Build, Measure, Learn cycles

We deliver reliable results by engaging

customers in frequent interactions and

shared ownership

• Short Cycle Times

• Tight Build, Measure, Learn cycles

• Agile Project Management

We expect uncertainty and manage for it

through iterations, anticipation, and

adaptation

• Short Cycle Times

• Agile Project Management

We unleash creativity and innovation by

recognizing that individuals are the ultimate

source of value, and creating an

environment where they can make a

difference

• Stable Teams

• Support & Empower Teams

• Remove Impediments

• Limit WIP

We boost performance through group

accountability for results and shared

responsibility for team effectiveness

• Consistent reporting

• Regular re-assess

We improve effectiveness and reliability

through situationally specific strategies…

Wrap up

Reference Information

• The agile PMO by cPrime

• Elements of a Lean PMO

• Scaling Agile through Adaptive Governance by Sanjiv Augustine

• The Roles of the Project Management Office in Scrum by Mike Cohn

• 21st Century Portfolio Management by David Joyce

• The Agile PMO by Alex Adamopoulos (Emergn)

43

44

Thank you