Event Type: PMI-SOC PMO Branch Webinar

Speaker: Thomas Walenta

Topic: Value of a PMO

Overview:

Thomas Walenta will present a general status of PMOs, a short view on Program Management and how it fits together in a real case Setting up a PMO can be considered to be a program delivering benefits, which are measured and hence permanently show the value of the PMO. The PMO has to deal with operations, once processes, reviews, reports have been setup. It also has to align to the organizational strategy, e.g. when annual targets and priorities are set, they must be reflected in the architecture of the PMO.

Thomas Walenta will present an example of a running PMO program for a German multinational, he currently is supporting. From setting up the program, creating first values, integrating projects and operations and measuring PMO contribution to business improvement. From a 3 pillow architecture of Portfolio Management, Project governance and PM Culture specific intended benefits are derived and supported by small projects to implement outputs like a portfolio board, project health checks and a coaching concept. These outputs are operated by the PMO and continuously deliver value. 

Bio:

Thomas Walenta is a Project and Program Manager with proven successes in international initiatives, conceptual build-up of project management competencies for organizations and strategic work in international and intercultural environments. 

From 1983 until March 2014, Thomas Walenta was employed by IBM Germany and acted as Project and Program Manager for a variety of IBM clients. He deliberately decided to pursue a career in project management in 1988. At his time, he had worked on projects since 1974, halftime in parallel to his studies in Mathematics at the University of Mainz. Overall, this accounts to more than 40 years on projects and 30 years of leading teams. 

Thomas Walenta led several first-of-a-kind projects, e.g. for a Utility company and a Ministry of Justice. He established and ran a PMO for an outsourcing client in the insurance industry from 1995 as one of the first PMO’s in Germany, ran a program for an investment bank and restarted and managed large SAP roll out programs and outsourcing initiatives for a global electronics corporation. With each of these projects, he encountered a new industry and culture, as well a new technology base. From 2009 to 2014 Thomas Walenta ran a program for the aforementioned global electronics corporation in EMEA, managing all IBM business development and delivery services to that client as a program. This program integrated most IBM business areas, included business process outsourcing, cloud and data center outsourcing, offshore application maintenance, project support, software implementation and business consulting. Key for the program success was a focus on stakeholder management and strategic planning and execution. Thomas Walenta ensured engagement with 250 key stakeholders across Europe and Japan, held annual strategic planning sessions for EMEA, aligned with a global strategy, and delivered 2 digit million business results. His geographical reach in that role included EMEA, India, Japan, Singapore and the US. 

Thomas Walenta is a believer in a 100% dedicated project management role and his professional life serves as a proof that it is working. 

After retiring from IBM in 2014, he works as an interim manager to support organizations in the field of project management. Currently, he supports a German multinational with building a PMO, that has a strategic role in changing the organization to become more efficient and adaptive to market changes. One of the first processes implemented is the strategic portfolio selection with and by the C-Suite of that company to ensure visibility of the work at hand and fact based decision making. 

Thomas Walenta is a volunteer member of the Project Management Institute (PMI) since 1992 and a member of GPM since 1995 (German IPMA organization). He got involved with Leadership of the PMI Frankfurt Chapter, serving as its President from 1998 to 2005, developing membership from 111 to 750 and annual revenues from zero to more than 100K Euro. This success was achieved by establishing an annual strategy session which led the Chapter Board in their activities and ensured a long term roadmap was followed. The history of the Frankfurt Chapter is documented as a post on LinkedIn. During that period from 1998 to 2005, Thomas also served in a variety of PMI volunteer positions at global level (e.g. Project of the Year award juror, PMP item writing sessions, Standards development, REP reviewer, NomCom member, Certification Ethics Board) and was an influencer to PMI for European Chapter requirements. 

In 2005, he was elected as a member of the PMI Board of Directors for the term 2006-2008, and in 2007 and parts of 2008, he chaired the ERVI Board Committee, supporting the Board’s external relations and volunteer involvement. After his Board tenure, he was member of a Board task team to establish the strategic basis for PMI’s Educational Foundation. He serves a member of the PMI Ethics Review Committee since 2011, in 2016 as the Chair of that committee. 

He believes that ethics and values are at the core of project leadership, sustainability and personal growth. 

The PMI Frankfurt Chapter awarded Thomas with it’s first honorary membership in 2007. In 2012, Thomas Walenta was honored to receive the PMI Fellow Award. 

He is a frequent speaker at international project management conferences since 2000, many of his presentations are available on slideshare.net. In 2015 he presented for the PMI Chapter in Frankfurt, APM in London, IPMA in Panama (their 50th anniversary), PMI Sao Paulo Chapter and at a PM conference in Moscow. 

Thomas Walenta is a PMI certified Project Management Professional (PMP) since 1998, and an IBM certified senior Project Manager since 2002. He achieved the Program Manager Credential (PgMP) in 2014. In 1983, he received a university diploma in Mathematics from the University of Mainz, Germany.  From 2002, Thomas Walenta is an adjunct professor for the University of Darmstadt (HDA) and is a member of its MBA teaching team since 2006. 
Thomas Walenta is a German citizen, married to a teacher since 30 years, he lives in Hackenheim close to Frankfurt and speaks German and English fluently. His interests include bicycle riding, walking the dog and travelling the world. 

Fee: (subject to HST)

PMI-SOC Members (login before registering) - $10.00
PMI Member, Non-Member & Guests - $20.00

PDUs: 1.0

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There will be no refunds for Webinars due to high processing fees. However if you cannot attend we will give you credit for any future Webinar. Please contact events@soc.pmi.on.ca for any questions.

Registrations will close at 3pm on the day of the Webinar.