PMO for a global FMCG organisation goes beyond controls and governance

Technology is the digital heartbeat of any organisation. For our customer, a global FMCG organisation, it is critical to their entire operation. From consumer interactions through social media, managing customer orders, warehousing, transportation and employee’s day to day activities, technology is a key driver of growth and an enabler of efficiency. 

Our customer had the vision to deliver value by driving efficiency, superior experiences for colleagues, customers and consumers. They recognised that significant complexity, duplication and cost had accumulated across their technology and transformation was needed to unleash the capability, capacity and power within their organisation. 

To deliver this highly complex global transformation they approached Project One to mobilise a Programme Management Office. The PMO we built was much more than admin! 

The global multi-year Technology Transformation Programme gave our customer a unique opportunity simplify and adapt for the future with impact right across their business. The strategy was to drive efficiency, deliver superior experiences and use new capabilities to fuel growth with speed, scale and agility, all while delivering significant savings. 

The path to deliver the strategic goals was unclear;

• Change required to meet the organisations strategic simplification goals wasn’t known, while significant savings and simplification had been committed to. 
• Significant financial pressure and saving demands along with global variation in processes, requirements and objectives made defining the transformation challenging. 
• Although significant technology complexity was known, clear understanding of the strategic destination for technology or where complexity could be found was lacking. 
• How this programme would be structured, effectively governed or delivered were unknown, and time to obtain funding was running out. 

Embedding to support our customer mobilise this transformation, we needed to rapidly put the basics in place to scope and prepare for delivery. Our objective was to create the right controls quickly, so as the change was shaped and evolved the programme could easily adapt to keep control. 

What the PMO did 

As the programme was just beginning, we were able to bring our proven controls to enhance the few processes which were already in place and support the customer team as they were getting to grips with complexity of the transformation needed. 

Recognising that the full scope of change needed to deliver on our customer’s strategic objectives wasn’t known, we were able to structure the programme allowing different projects and initiatives to be quickly introduced to the scope as the required changes were identified. By building close relationships with each initiative within the programme, PMO was able to support, guide and coach delivery teams to get the most from our tools and governance. 

With the dynamic nature of the programme having the right governance forums to make decisions quickly and appropriately was key. We established and then evolved steering groups, programme boards, stakeholder engagement groups and financial reviews to keep key stakeholders informed and decisions being made to move the programme forwards. As the programme grew, multiple portfolios were established, allowing us to co-ordinate and rive the programme, creating accountability across reporting, actions, progress, and risk, issues and financial management. 

Our structured approaches, adaptability and experience allowed us to continue to refine and evolve governance, ensuring it remained appropriate as the transformation programme matured.  

Going beyond controls & governance 

Once the foundations were in place, capabilities in business as usual and the programme operating effectively, we were able to bring some of the breath of Project One Consultant’s experience in tackling the trickiest problems.  

Using data analysis and modelling capabilities we were able to help projects understand the impact of strategic decisions on the financial commitments which had been made, while quickly giving clear, data-based actions to deliver the most business value and savings for investment. 

We could also see momentum building across the organisation around the need for simplification and the demands of rationalising technology, but many questions being raised by business stakeholders were going unanswered. Where exactly is this complexity? What is driving it? How can we simplify it?  

By partnering closely with the customer’s Enterprise Architects and bringing together disparate threads and silos of information together, we were able to help the organisation understand just what they had. Where they were spending money and most importantly how they could address this complexity, moving to strategic destination solutions to deliver on their vision. 

By actively embedding with our customer, responding and reacting to the changing demands of the programme we were able to create a Programme Management Office which continues to support the programmes effectively delivery of our customer’s strategic goals. We transitioned BAU PMO-run activities to internal team members, upskilling them in governance and control methods to leave an enduring capability after our departure. 

By developing a greater level of understanding into the nature and location of technology complexity than the customer had ever had before, we were able to support them in identifying a work-stack of transformation opportunities. With this understanding, and transformation opportunities the Leadership Team is able to make strategic decisions and drive a global shift to simplified, standardised technology enabling growth for years to come. 

The Project One value add:

• Our customer needed to quickly mobilise a programme which could deliver a complex, global transformation 
• We were able to get the basics in place fast, then evolve controls and governance to support the evolving programme 
• We went beyond PMO to support the customer to understand the true nature and scale of their technical complexity challenge, something they’d never had before. 

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theteam@projectone.com