What defines an effective PMO for life science companies? What benefits do companies see when bringing in an experienced consultant to oversee the project? And what are the main challenges faced by companies when first setting up a PMO? We answer these questions and more in a panel interview with members of the Enterey Consulting Program Management Office (PMO) team: Austin Srejma, Ryan Coughlin, Mike Staudinger and Katie Georgi.
Q: Let’s start with what life sciences companies looking to set up a PMO should strive for. In your experience, what does a ‘healthy’ PMO look like?
"Another characteristic is that a healthy PMO isn’t over-committed. They have a long-term roadmap that aligns with the organization’s strategy, are able to identify critical projects and allocate existing resources appropriately to execute them on time and within budget."
- Ryan Coughlin, Director.
Q: And why is an effective PMO important in life sciences companies?
An effective PMO gives leaders visibility over projects and resources to ensure teams are working on projects that align with strategic objectives. In turn, the time spent updating leaders on a project’s status is reduced, which frees up a project manager’s time to actually manage and optimize the project."
- Mike Staudinger, Managing Consultant.
Q: What are the main challenges faced by companies when setting up a PMO?
- Katie Georgi, Senior Consultant.
- Austin Srejma, Sr. Director, Operations.
Q: What are the benefits of bringing in an experienced consultant to oversee the project?
- Ryan Coughlin, Director.
- Austin Srejma, Sr. Director, Operations.
Q: What is Enterey’s approach to PMO creation, and how does the company define success?
"In phase one we want to get to know you. What are your organization’s strengths and where are the opportunities that you see for improvement? This will allow us to ensure we assess the current process in terms of what is important to you and your organization. From there we look at the tools and templates you are currently using and the current state process documentation. This helps us understand what supports your future state vision and what needs to evolve to get you where you want to go. Using this information, we can develop an implementation and training plan that will get you to your goal by the most efficient route possible.
In phase two, we implement the agreed-upon process. We start by conducting small-scale initial training, pilot the process and adjust as necessary based on internal customer feedback. Once you are comfortable with the finalized process and tools, we execute full training based on those tweaks, and develop and execute a handover plan.
Throughout our two-phase approach, we focus on ensuring that the people we're working with are buying into the changes we’re making. This is how we ensure that results are sustained long after we’ve gone."
- Mike Staudinger, Managing Consultant.
Q: What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned in the time you’ve been working on PMO creation?
- Austin Srejma, Sr. Director, Operations.
Enterey’s consultants will work with your team to develop an execution plan that they believe in. This means that the project—whether its PMO creation, or something else—will take hold quicker, and last you into the future. If you’d like to chat about how we can help your company with a change management project like PMO creation, get in touch with us.