What Makes an Effective EPMO (Blog 3)

For the past two weeks I have been wondering if an EPMO aligned and integrated with an organization’s cultural dynamics would make it more effective. I decided to read several books about organizational dynamics and organizational culture to see if that helped me determine if this is a sound idea or not. One book was “Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture” by Kim S. Cameron and Robert E. Quinn. They state that an organization resides within one of four quadrants based on how collaborative, creative, controlling or competing an organization is in its approach to conducting business on a daily basis. For example If the organization’s cultural & operational dynamics are based on “control” then the EPMO would need to be organized, controlling, monitoring, and focused on efficiency.

Assessing and considering cultural dynamics and then actually designing the EPMO to align with them would take careful consideration, but would it in turn enable an organization to embrace the project management processes and tools at the core of the EPMO more quickly and efficiently?




The views expressed on this blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer, Robbins-Gioia.

What Makes An Effective EPMO?

I have been thinking about what makes a truly effective Enterprise Program Management Office (EPMO). Most people agree that for an EPMO to be effective it has to meet the needs and requirements of the people who are going to use it, whether that is for a decision making tool, a mechanism for knowledge sharing, a training center, and/or a communication hub. I have not stated anything new here, I mean establishing an EPMO based on a defined set of requirements is fairly common place. So I ask you, why aren’t the EPMO’s that are created based on a specific need working the way they were envisioned?

I suggest to you that EPMOs are being created in a practical, rigid manner without regard for the cultural dynamics at play within the organization. Doesn’t deploying an EPMO using a structured and practical approach make the assumption that every organization is the same? But, every organization is not the same. Each organization has its own culture and dynamics that impact how business is conducted, how individuals interact with one another, how reports are created and used, and even how projects are managed on a day to day basis.

The views expressed on this blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer, Robbins-Gioia.