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To those who missed a great August Chapter Meeting in Lynchburg...

Ben Clark, retired CIO for Centra Health, a multi-hospital healthcare systems headquartered in Lynchburg presented on his role in the creation of the PMO 20 years ago. Ben also provided his perspective on a PMO’s mission, opportunities and struggles in the healthcare industry. Being a weak matrix environment in a highly-regulated and 24x7 industry, healthcare presents real challenges that have to be managed for project success. Centra’s PMO is primarily IT-based but has a strong history of involvement with leading the medical technology installations and IT aspects of new construction and renovations of Centra facilities. Ben provided the historical backdrop that drove the need for a PMO and how the PMO has evolved to meet the needs of the organization including branching into other aspects of healthcare business where a structured project process is needed. The processes and tools used by the PMO were presented and how these add value and support project success. Centra developed a process guide for predicative (‘waterfall’ projects), uses an enterprise-accessible project dashboard (Upland’s Eclipse PPM solution) as a centralized project management tool and has also made adaptations to incorporate agile methods the PMO team has received training and become certified in. Ben’s presentation also shared how creativity can become a critical skill for special project issues with several examples of how out-of-the -box thinking can be used to resolve what may appear to be an insurmountable issue (at least if you happen to have a construction crane on site large enough to move something built too large for elevators that has to be moved to an upper hospital floor).

As an executive, the overall theme of Ben’s message was to place the discussion of a PMO from a leadership perspective and how a PMO aligns with the overall objectives of the organization and how leaders can leverage a PMO for better project outcomes and oversight. The presentation concluded with an engaged Q & A session and more interaction among attendees.  Check out his presentation here:  https://pmi-swva.org/index.php/files/21/Web-Files/46/Ledos-PM-Discussion.pdf

Thanks to Ben for a great event and for those who attended!

2019 PMI-SWVA Board of Directors

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Published August 27th, 2019