Impact Due To Outdated Rules Created By The PMO

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The outdated rules came about because of people who left the organization long ago, but these were not revised with the change and latest technology. Sometimes these rules are created by the environment the company works in. Today in a fast-paced environment people develops a culture that supports rapid response and flexibility this culture is difficult for those, who had learned to gather the requirements completely and then move to planning stages of the project. If these rules are not beneficial to the operations or they are resulting in low productivity and dysfunctional behavior, then the PMO should take this up as early as possible. Actions planned or implemented by the PMO (Project Management Office) to change many of these rules, can result in serious internal resistance to changing the culture. This is all the more difficult because, these rules are unarticulated and generally not discussed. If you are given a task to revise these rules, you may not be totally aware of the background of each and every rule no matter how old or new you are. Such rules are like the air, they are never noticed until someone points it out to us. Implementing changes is no less than a project, and this is exactly what a PMO is supposed to do, make the work processes more efficient for implementing projects.

When these rules are encountered, no one dare to violate them. We have all been in the situation as a new employee in the company, following most of the rules without understanding the reason or intent behind them. Very few of us questions about them and prefer to follow them blindly.
An effective way of dealing with these rules is first to find out if these rules are in the entire organization. Then check for how the organization responds to revisions and changes. In a complex organization these rules will be different from one part of the organization to another. For revision or any change in the existing documents you need to check the following:
a) The benefit of the rule– Is it beneficial any longer to anyone in the organization? Whether the problem persisting at that time still exist? What were the changes done from the date of its implementation to the current date?
b) Project and Team Members –Is the company believe in team work or is it a silo culture? Are all the processes in place and are religiously followed by all the resources, if not, then the change will be of no use or benefit to the organization.
c) Response to change – Are changes always accepted and taken up in the right spirit by the employees? What are the expectation of the top management and your team members? How the information flows and is received? As an implementer, you need to be aware of the formal organizational structure, so as to deal with them appropriately.
d) Involve the entire team and let them know your findings– Document your findings with supportive documents containing few examples of other companies with similar background. Discuss your findings with your manager and your team and take their buy-in on it. To get the team’s buy-in you have to ensure that each and every member understand the identified gap and is in agreement with you.
Some tools techniques are mentioned in PMBOK 5.0, which can help us to have a clear understanding of all findings and their impact are-
a. Facilitated workshop.
b. Focus groups.
c. Interviews.
d. Questionnaires’ and Surveys.

To conclude old and unrevised rules are significant cultural factors that impact any PMO success as it may drive counter-productive organization behaviors. To deal with these rules you must put all your efforts to revise the ones with maximum impact on the project and project team, followed by the ones with relatively low impact, in the interest of your company.

About Aditi Malhotra

Aditi Malhotra is the Content Marketing Manager at Whizlabs. Having a Master in Journalism and Mass Communication, she helps businesses stop playing around with Content Marketing and start seeing tangible ROI. A writer by day and a reader by night, she is a fine blend of both reality and fantasy. Apart from her professional commitments, she is also endearing to publish a book authored by her very soon.

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