PMI Fellow and former PMI Chair Philip Diab has developed a new program to help organizations get PMO’s up and running quickly. RapidStart PMO is an outcome driven approach that creates deliverables as it iterates towards understanding how the PMO can best serve the organization. And despite his stature in the PM community, Philip continues to be a practitioner, helping organizations get better at getting work done. He’s deeply wise and he’s has been kind enough to act as Yoda to me on numerous occasions throughout my career. In this interview we discuss the profound impact volunteerism can have on your PM career, keys to success for PMOs and common mistakes many organizations make when starting up (or maintaining) PMOs.

Show Notes

00:00 Podcast begins - Dave introduces Philip

00:39 Philip talks a little about his background in Project Management and with PMI

01:22 How volunteering can help your career

04:30 Volunteering takes a lot of time and energy, but it gives back even more

06:20 PMO’s - How Philip got involved in working with PMO’s, what he learned from it and why he is so passionate about it

07:27 Yes - PMO’s are very exciting… but you have to be pretty deep with the PM geek

07:50 The work Philip has been doing to help organizations that want to start PMO’s to get them up and running quickly

08:43 The PMO as a service organization that helps projects succeed (as opposed to simply providing an auditor function

10:39 Philip’s explains S.E.R.V.E. - his five strategic principles for PMO’s

13:41 The types of organization Philip works with and where they are in the PMO adoption lifecycle

15:41 A story about one of Philip’s favorite PMO projects

16:52 Philip’s optimism around his work “There is no room for cynicism in project management.”

18:05 What makes PMs successful and when the work moves beyond being about the project

19:01 Philip’s PM Origin Story - How to get the job when you have no experience and what happens afterwards

20:41 Giving yourself empowerment because of your knowledge and experience

21:30 “You can take charge and people will let you if what you are doing is the right thing for the organization.”

22:00 Why Rapid Start PMO exists and how it can help you build (or rebuild) your PMO

24:33 A step-by-step deliverable focused program

25:14 The main differentiator that that leads to success and five critical factors you need

27:05 Passion for the project and being the champion who motivates the team is critical, but what if the project you get is “just a pile of garbage” (Philip offers Dave some advice)

29:43 A strange definition of optimism

30:55 Making room in the PMO for experimentation

32:24 Common missteps made by organizations trying to start PMOs

35:22 What to do when you can’t don’t know (or can’t remember) why you have a PMO

37:37 How the course can help existing PMO’s

39:08 How to learn more about the course or get in touch with Philip

39:35 Philip’s new podcast “The Project Management Debate Podcast

You can learn more about Rapid Start PMO here: http://rapidstartpmo.com/p/rapidstartpmo

You can reach Philip via his website: http://philipdiab.com/

Or his LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philipdiab

And you can find “The Project Management Debate Podcast” on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pm-debate-podcast/id1170807549?mt=2 or Soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/user-96614158