Emma Arnaz Pemberton and Dave Powell A PMO success story

Emma Arnaz-Pemberton

Dave Powell

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

The PMO Journey

2008

2009

20102011

2012

The PMO Journey

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

2008

2009

20102011

2012

The PMO Journey

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

2008

2009

20102011

2012

The PMO Journey

• 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

2008

2009

20102011

2012

The PMO Journey

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

2008

2009

20102011

2012

The PMO Journey

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

2008

2009

20102011

2012

The PMO Journey

2013 and Beyond

2013Year 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)

• 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!?

Current Gaps

• Resource planning

• AOP Alignment

• Benefits Realisation

• PPM Tooling

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