Imagine a time when PMO professionals around the world could connect and unite; show solidarity and support to their peers whilst driving forward their profession and delivering the highest value to their organizations.
What could the profession do differently; how could we start this journey; what would capture the imaginations of PMO professionals across the globe?
It starts with the PMO Manifesto…
During the summer months of 2013 in London, England, two people soaked up the evening sun whilst chatting about their respective PMO worlds.
Lindsay Scott and Ralf Finchett Jnr (previously committee members of the Association for Project Management’s PMO Specific Interest Group) created the idea and set up the first gatherings of the PMO Flashmob.
That evening on the banks of the River Thames, they recognized that there was much value in just chatting about their day – with someone else who understood the many nuances of a PMO career.
The PMO Flashmob was set up to reflect that – a social meetup with the serious subject of PMOs at its heart. The monthly meetups take place in the heart of London; over drinks and snacks in some of the most Dickensian pubs London can offer. There is no fixed agenda or presentations to listen to – this is just a mob of PMO professionals that want to talk to others on the same wavelength about their day to day job and careers.
London is arguably the most diverse city in the world, with a recent census showing only 45% of Londoners are British. The PMO Flashmob represents the glory of this diversity, with people attending from all over the world; Flashmob members come from UK, USA, Canada, South America, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, China, Middle Asia, India, East and West Europe, the Middle East…. And Manchester, England!
A regular topic for debate with the core PMO Flashmobbers was the need to move the Project Management community’s idea of PMOs away from outdated misconceptions such as the “Project Management Process Police” and towards a more customer-oriented, business-centric, nimble approach.
Ralf first presented the idea of a PMO Manifesto in Autumn 2013 to the PMO Flashmobbers, who greeted it with enthusiasm (and a request for another round of drinks!). Over the course of Winter of 2013, PMO Flashmobbers met in the back rooms of various wooden-beamed pubs of London and debated the PMO Manifesto over real ale and sandwiches whilst warming themselves next to a log fire. The PMO Manifesto you see here is the result of this collaborative process, representing the consensus view of the core PMO Flashmobbers.
We hope that you agree with the Manifesto and support its aims. If so, please show your support by signing up on the manifesto home page.
Regards, Ralf, Lindsay, Ken & Stuart
London, England January 2014