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A day in the life of a Programme Management Officer

Category: Generation (Age Friendly)

Katie Herman discusses three main characteristics that make effective PMOs and how the PMO function in Capgemini Invent operates commercially.

I joined Capgemini Invent’s Accelerate Graduate Scheme in October 2019, in my first role as a Programme Management Officer (PMO) for one of our accounts within Financial Services (FS). The PMO role is often a ‘rite of passage’ for many in the Accelerate Programme, but when you don’t have any practical experience in this area, it can be difficult to know what the role consists of on a day-to-day basis. First and foremost, what is the PMO function?

The PMO role covers three main disciplines of account maintenance; forecasting, commercial cover and good governance.

This is different from a project manager who is ultimately responsible for the quality of delivery and client satisfaction. Therefore, a key skill of the PMO is having the ability to maintain control and good governance on various elements of the project whilst not being responsible for influencing the project direction. The three main characteristics that make effective PMOs are; commercial awarenessproactivity and diligence.

8.15am – I’m a morning person, so like to get into the office bright and early to check my emails ahead of any meetings scheduled for the day. Several emails have usually come in since the previous evening. I work my way through them and flag any that need following up that I can’t action immediately.

9.00am – I have a 15 minute catch up with my manager every day, we give each other the heads up on any issues we are facing and a brief of our respective to-do lists.

9.15am – The resourcing team send me an updated list of those on the bench each week. I update my list and flag any skills that may be useful on the account if we have open roles. I also update the resource tracker with any new roles that I have been notified about from the Engagement Leads. I then distribute this to the team ahead of our meeting later in the day.

10.00am – The client has requested an amendment to the contract for the upcoming quarter. I make the relevant updates to the Work Order (WO) and Internal View (IV) and send this across to the engagement lead for review. Once approved, this is submitted to the client. I make a note of any tags that may need changes for Q2.

11.30am – Once a week, we have an Operations meeting with the Engagement Leads, Portfolio Lead and PMO team. I engage with a variety of stakeholders in this function, which is great as a new joiner, as I can leverage their expertise and meet colleagues from across the business. The agenda for the meeting usually covers the contracts status, delivery and execution progress of each project within the portfolio and resourcing updates. I update the deck ready to send to the client and follow up with any actions from the meeting.

1.00pm – Lunchtime, on the menu today is … another sandwich from Pret. Clearly my New Year’s resolution to bring a pack lunch is going well so far!

2.00pm – Check the emails/ skype messages that have come through over lunch and spend some time responding to any queries.

2.20pm – I block out a couple of hours in my calendar to run through the expenses of all the consultants on my account for the month. I draw up invoices for each project and cross check the claim against the client policy.

4.00pm – Every fortnight I have a one-to-one meeting with my Performance Development Manager (PDM) to run through my objectives for 2020 and brainstorm some specific project objectives. I give her a brief of my internal work and an update on how my project is going, as well as how I’m settling into the Accelerate scheme.

4.30pm – I spend an hour doing some research for a Point of View (PoV) we are creating for one of our clients. The purpose is to present our findings on an issue the company is facing with the view of securing future work. It’s an exciting piece, closely aligned with Capgemini’s capabilities and is widely heralded as a key challenge facing the industry in 2020 – so I get stuck in!

5.30pm – Home time! Time to log off for the day and leave the office.

The PMO function has taught me a great deal as to how Capgemini Invent operates commercially. This insight will be incredibly valuable as I progress into my next role and gain further experience from the diverse range of projects the business has to offer.

For further information on the Accelerate Scheme head over to the recruitment page found here.

Author:

Katie Herman

Katie joined Capgemini Invent in October 2019 as an Associate Consultant within Accelerate. Her previous experience is largely within Financial Services. She has a keen focus on and passion for operations.

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