A new year is almost here which has me thinking about change. Change in any form is inevitable. What is often interesting and telling is not change itself but the differing reactions to it.
As a project manager working in a Project Management Office (PMO), I am often the indicator, purveyor and motivator for change. The job of the project manager as change agent starts with the preliminary discussion with the project sponsor to vet the project scope. It continues to the kickoff meeting, critical to explaining (and winning over team members on) the needed change. The change agent role then progresses to execution, scope monitoring, project closure and post-project review.
And if it the project manager is the change agent for the project to with he/she is assigned then what is the PMO? The PMO is the chief barometer of change. Taken collectively the projects housed in the PMO reveal the strategic direction of the organization and the changes it thinks are necessary to get there.
The project manager and the PMO…purveyors of change.
Happy New Year!
