Creating the project office 16. This is a book about improving organizational performance by implementing a project office system that develops project management as a core competency and thus adds value to the organization. A project office consists of a team dedicated to improving the practice of project management in the organization. The improvement in organizational performance is achieved by obtaining more value from projects, making project management a standard management practice, and then moving the organization toward the enterprise project management concept | Pathway to Organizational Change 10. Refreeze 6. 8. Manage change First contact with significant resistance typically occurs when you start doing something instead of talking about it. This chapter covers creative and flexible implementation of the change process managing complexity in a turbulent environment conducting effective start-ups implementing project portfolio management and working the plan. We describe the role of a project office to assist in a project prioritization process. Y CHAPTER SIX CONTACT MANAGING THE CHANGE At this point the reader has read about the change process and may be ready to go on a quest an act or instance of seeking defined as pursuit or search or as a chivalrous enterprise in medieval romance usually involving an adventurous journey. Don Quixote immersed himself in reading tales of chivalry he then exchanged a modest country life for that of a knight-errant full of zeal to perform heroic deeds. His exploration of life s biggest questions in which he discovered things and people were not what they seem develops through a series of ingenious and animated anecdotes such as tilting at windmills believing them to be opponents in battle. Like Don Quixote modern managers may read all the literature about project management and want to embark on a quest to implement a project office only to find themselves dreaming what appears to be a dream as impossible as Don Quixote s. The vision is there but implementation struggles. Too many projects are under way cooperation is lacking and chaos reigns. People may not pay much attention to the project manager-errant during the planning phase but their resistance will surely arise when they discover how the change affects them. Contact occurs. All animals emerge from the jungle to challenge intrusion by new players into their territory. It is now time to manage the change. 129 130 Creating the Project Office The tale we tell Establish sense of urgency clear danger Make change stick new PBO culture
