Creating the project office 23. 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 | 198 Creating the Project Office The tale we tell Establish sense of urgency clear danger Make change stick new PBO culture V Staff and operate In or out Leading Organizational Change to PBO Create guiding coalition powerful forces Develop vision and strategy focus establish infrastructure people processes and tools manage stakeholders evolve capabilities and capacity review case studies Develop broad-based action keep moving implementing Manage the change short-term wins broad-based action consolidate gains Communicate the change vision tell the tale A few years ago the mayors nearest the base decided they would not sign off until the Italian government recognized and compensated local municipalities for the . impact on their respective infrastructures. A boycott of the annual projects had the potential to bring the entire program to a halt because the projects involved were on the critical path. This scenario represents one example of the challenges that affect program managers working in international intercultural environments. Responding to these challenges requires team-building and partnering with local political and regulatory agencies introducing modern project management to international and national organizations promoting the value of program management and effectively integrating a myriad diverse projects into a cohesive program. Vision In December 1998 the commander of . and NATO air forces in NATO s Southern Region stepped in with a vision of creating a single full-time program office to build the base for its customer the 31st Fighter Wing freeing the wing commander and his team to concentrate on the flying mission. Signs from program reviews indicated something was wrong. A program that had been under way since 1994 was in serious trouble delays snafus and lack of focus were just the symptoms. The Aviano 2000 PMO was to be the single belly button for execution of the program. A program manager PM was selected from within the base .
