It would be understandable if you are hard-pressed to figure out the connection between EPMO ( Enterprise Project management Office) and making a difference in the lives of patients and their families. Making a difference in the lives of people is not something that readily springs to one’s mind when talking about PMOs. Well, this is what the CAMH EPMO has pulled off, as touchingly summed up by Carrie Fletcher, Senior Director, Health information management and Enterprise Project Management Office (EPMO) at CAMH ( Center for Addiction and Mental Health) at the end of the video. A richly deserved honor as 2017 winner of the PMO of the year ensued.
I along with a roomful of project practitioners had the privilege of listening to Carrie Fletcher and Jacqueline Phan at the PMI Toronto’s event on February 5, 2017. Here is what I learnt : by facilitating project management rather than policing it, by getting the business to trust the EPMO and by speaking the language of the business (tracking the before and after metric as Jacqueline Phan states in the video is one example) the EPMO has delivered the outcomes ( improving patient safety, reducing wait times….) that continues to make a difference in the lives of patients and their families. So, kudos to the folks at CAMH, for not only wining the PMO of the year award but for making a difference in the lives of people.
As project management practitioners we can take vicarious pride in their success as well as learn from it. So, here are some key take aways from the meeting
- EPMOs should focus on facilitating project management rather than policing it
- Partnering with the business means taking joint accountability and ownership for delivering business outcomes. This is how the business begins to trust the PMO.
- Leading from the front is absolutely required if you want to business to begin to trust the discipline of project management to deliver desired outcomes.
Would love to hear the thoughts of the folks who attended the presentation.
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