Project Management

 There is a new trend in Indian companies today: constituting a PMO (Project Management Office) division. The launch is always grand. Big announcements. New designations. New dashboards. New presentations. For the first year, everything looks energetic and promising. And then—slowly, quietly—the PMO starts dying. Not because PMO is a bad concept. But because PMO in Indian companies is fundamentally misunderstood. 🚧 THE FIRST REASON PMOs FAIL: THEY ARE NEVER INDEPENDENT In theory, a PMO should be an independent decision-making body , second only to the Board or Directors when it comes to projects. In reality, in Indian companies: PMO exists on paper Authority remains with management Directions come from people who do not understand project management Every decision is questioned, diluted, or overridden This is the biggest irony. Directors feel they know project management because they built the company. They believe: “I have worked in every departme...

  Indian companies often ask a painful question after a project goes wrong: “What went wrong?” More often than not, the answer is simple: the wrong person was given the responsibility of project management. Recently, I had an interaction with one such case. A senior executive—holding the title of Vice President —was responsible for submitting an execution program to the project consultant. On paper, the designation looked impressive. On ground, the decisions reflected a complete lack of project understanding. And this is not an isolated case. I have seen many poorly equipped engineers climb to senior project roles , not because of competence, but because of time served —what I call experience without learning . 🚧 THE CONTRACTUAL REALITY (WHICH WAS ALREADY FLAWED) The contract milestones were defined as: 25% financial progress in 10 months 50% financial progress in 14 months 75% financial progress in 17 months 90% financial progress in 20 months 100% ...