Description

This initiative involves having key stakeholders from across different departments in weekly Project Management Office (PMO) team meetings, having a staff member from the PMO onsite at the Operations Centre one full day a week and holding monthly PMO and Finance meetings to address rework, duplication, and other inefficiencies.

Who

It was agreed by both teams, with Coordinator and Manager of Capital Works approval for a representative of the PMO to attend onsite, as well as the staff member.

How

The idea came for a team representative to be onsite to assist Project Managers and the Capital Works team during peak season on a particular annual process. The process had changed from previous years and required additional training. It was identified that onsite training would be the best approach. It was agreed by both teams, with Manager approval, for a representative of the PMO team to attend onsite for a few weeks. The positive feedback led to an agreed weekly Business As Usual commitment.

PMO and Finance are in the same division yet work independently reaching out the Project Managers multiple times for different, yet similar, information which can cause confusion. The change required both teams to represent as one when sharing and presenting to the organisation.

The intent was to build rapport with other teams and departments to build trust and collaboration and to eliminate the perception of policing vs supporting, as well as advising best practice that reduces risk to Council.

Outcome

The initiative has fostered trust and proactive collaboration between teams, shifting from reactive to proactive problem-solving. Project managers now seek support early, leading to increased participation in PMO activities and improved capital works performance. Staff confidence in PM systems and processes has grown and all staff have found it useful to have someone onsite, they are more inclined to reach out proactively. As the teams are working better together, it has flowed up the management line between Managers and Director level.