PM TIPS & TECHNIQUES:

Transforming the Culture with your PMO and OPM3

By John Schlichter

Ask yourself what culture means, and you may find it difficult to state a clear and succinct definition, but it is likely that you can recall an organization in which you have worked that had a healthy culture, and just as likely that you may recall an organization that you would characterize as having an unhealthy culture. Why is that? Although culture is a many-faceted thing that may seem difficult to boil down into a sound bite, it is something that impacts everyone. The culture determines how people define themselves and their relationships with others, and greatly influences a person’s sense of self.

In organizations that thrive on projects, a healthy culture is a prerequisite to high performance because teams are the lifeblood of projects, teams of people who must repeatedly mobilize into temporary endeavors that deliver change in the midst of business environments that are always changing. In such organizations, the culture is often the thing that prevents complexity from degrading into chaos. It is nearly always the case that high performing organizations have highly developed cultures, and nearly always the case that low performing organizations suffer from problems associated with how the people work together, how they define themselves and their relationships with others, and the experiences and views that individuals have regarding their sense of self within the organization. So why don’t we see more organizations carrying out specific, measurable and effective programs to transform their cultures?

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About the Author John Schlichter John Schlichter Pis CEO of OPM Experts LLC (http://opmexperts.com), an organization development and project management consultancy specializing in Organizational Project Management (OPM). John was asked in 1998 by the Project Management Institute (PMI®) to lead the largest standards development initiative ever undertaken by PMI, to develop a standard in Organizational Project Management for industry and government designed to help organizations assess and develop the capabilities necessary to execute their strategies through projects, i.e. the OPM3 Standard. In that capacity, John led a team of 800 people across 35 countries for nearly 5 years. John is widely credited with being the foremost expert in the OPM3 standard's content and application. John was contracted by PMI to help develop the PMI OPM3 ProductSuite Assessor/Consultant Certifications beyond the PMP certification. John has implemented OPM3 in many name-brand companies, including ADP, Battelle, Harris, Panasonic, Popular Financial Holdings, Northrop Grumman, T-Mobile, and many others. John can be contacted at jschlichter@opmexperts.com.

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