Project Management Case Reflection

To: John Strider, CEO

From: Anna Szperlak

Date: July 12, 2014

Subject: Reflection on the meeting with consultants

Mr. Strider,

As we discussed in the meeting now more than ever, new projects and new initiatives need to be successfully completed on time and on budget. There is a constantly growing pressure of having an effective project management team leading the operations. Nothing is more frustrating than working hard and expending valuable resources only to have your project canceled, fail, or to hear, “…this isn’t exactly what we wanted” - all this can be avoided through effective project management. As you had mentioned in the past, you have never witnessed the kinds of pressure that is now facing the personal computer (PC) industry. That is why our company has to take an action in current industry transition and improve existing Information Technology organization. The PMO initiative is a great solution that will provide standardization in managing our projects as well as improvements in planning and performance of any new initiatives. I believe that the PMO will become the firm experts on project practices, standards, tools and passing on this knowledge throughout the firm’s departments. Of course as prior to any major implementation there are many questions and concerns, foe example: How much PMO support is enough of a support?

Along with our consultants’ recommendations, applying the step-by-step process and going through all of the PMO phases carefully with specifying the expectations, roles, metrics, and level of approvals, this implementation will be very successful. Deciding how much control and authority the PMO should have might be one of the most important decisions. The PMO will be working closely with senior management of each individual departments and decision in regards to those departments will be discussed and made with management consultation knowing that the PMO will be too new.

However, I’m more concerned about our company’s culture, since employees are not necessarily following any methodology and do whatever they think is right. Applying and putting in place new regulation and structures might be too chaotic so again, introducing that to our employees and then the training will have to be implemented gradually. It might be very helpful prior to the implementation of PMO to get our employees’ feedback on what possibly would help their day to day tasks, what they think should be improved and what is useless since they are the one who have that knowledge and will be affected the most.

Thank you for taking your time on this important subject and considering my feedback.

Best Regards,

Anna Szperlak