Supercharge your direct sourcing program! Here's one of the ways you can engage with independent talents!

Tuesday: Return Driven Strategy FROM THE DESK OF MILES EVERSON: Hi! We’re excited to share with you an important topic about the independent workforce through the lens of Return Driven Strategy (RDS). Every Tuesday, we publish these kinds of articles with hopes to help you effectively navigate an ever-changing work landscape as a business leader, manager, or worker. In this article, we’ll focus on one of the ways organizations can effectively engage with independent professionals. Read on to know how firms can achieve direct sourcing program success in the long run. CEO, MBO Partners Chairman of the Advisory Board, The I Institute

Supercharge your direct sourcing program! Here's one of the ways you can engage with independent talents! In today's dynamic business landscape, organizations often find themselves requiring specialized skills and expertise to execute projects efficiently. To meet these demands, many of them are turning to independent professionals, including freelancers, contractors, and consultants. However, effectively engaging with these professionals can be a challenge without a structured approach. This is where a project management office (PMO) steps in. In this article, we will explore how a PMO can play a vital role in facilitating and optimizing the effective and efficient engagement of independent professionals within organizations. Driving Direct Sourcing Program Success According to MBO Partners, a PMO is essential in an organization’s direct sourcing program because it helps supercharge a project team’s efficiency and flexibility in doing a particular task. Generally, these are some of the tasks of a PMO as it relates to or engages with independent professionals to work with: It establishes the structure and supports project management activities to derive high-quality work. It helps standardize practices, manage resources, mitigate risks, and recalibrate strategies through documentation, reporting, communication, and analysis. Simply said, a PMO offers flexible management options catering to a company’s specific needs. The team can also help reduce costs and make it easier and faster for independents to start working with a company. How else does a PMO play a vital role in optimizing engagement with independent professionals? Strategic Alignment and Resource Allocation One of the primary responsibilities of a PMO is to ensure strategic alignment between projects and the organization's goals. When engaging with independent professionals, the PMO can help identify specific skill sets required for project success and align them with the organization's strategic objectives. By effectively managing and allocating resources, the PMO ensures that the right independent professionals are engaged for the right projects. Building a Network of Independent Professionals A well-functioning PMO can proactively build and maintain a network of independent professionals with diverse skills and expertise. By establishing relationships and partnerships with these individuals, the PMO can quickly tap into this talent pool when project requirements arise. Additionally, the PMO can provide a platform for knowledge sharing and collaboration among independent professionals, fostering a sense of community and collective learning. Performance Management and Quality Assurance Monitoring the performance and quality of work delivered by independent professionals is crucial for project success. The PMO can define key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics, establish reporting mechanisms, and conduct regular reviews to ensure that the work delivered meets the organization's standards. By providing feedback and guidance, the PMO can enable continuous improvement and enhance the overall quality of project outcomes. Risk Management and Compliance Engaging with independent professionals involves certain risks, such as data security, intellectual property protection, and compliance with legal and regulatory requirements. The PMO can work closely with legal and compliance teams to establish policies and procedures that mitigate these risks. Project managers can also oversee the implementation of contractual agreements, confidentiality clauses, and non-disclosure agreements to protect the organization's interests. Knowledge Transfer Independents take their expertise and experience with them during the entire process and upon completing their assignments. Likewise, the PMO can capture valuable knowledge and lessons learned during project engagements. By documenting and sharing these insights, the PMO facilitates knowledge transfer within the organization, enabling teams to learn from past experiences and improve future project delivery. Leveraging the Capabilities of a PMO in a Return Driven Organization In the book, “Driven,” authors Professor Joel Litman and Dr. Mark L. Frigo say building a return-driven organization involves a great deal of business analysis and planning. Their idea is built on a simple theme: “If we can better understand how the success or failure of a business is driven by its plans and actions, then we can greatly improve how we value companies and how we run our businesses.” Let’s apply this in the context of having a PMO in a firm… Based on Return Driven Strategy’s (RDS) Tenet 9—engage employees and others—high-performance firms treat their employees like customers, understanding what services they would like to receive and designing systems that fulfill those needs. … and it’s not just employees that this tenet covers. “Others” refers to those who may not be employees of the firm but are critical to its success. These include independent contractors, vendors, distributors, or other business partners throughout various processes. That’s why having a PMO is important especially if a company plans to maximize its workforce through a combination of traditional and non-traditional workers! Through this management team, employees and other individuals will be engaged and aligned with the company’s goals in achieving the higher tenets of RDS. — Enterprise leaders considering implementing or improving their direct sourcing in 2023 should prioritize the development of human skills via a PMO to unlock the full potential of their operational capabilities. These crucial steps are essential for ensuring sustained growth and success for the organization as a whole. Besides, in a rapidly evolving business environment, organizations must tap into a diverse pool of independent professionals to remain competitive… and leveraging the capabilities of a PMO is key to effectively engaging with these individuals. By strategically aligning resources, streamlining processes, building networks, managing performance, mitigating risks, and facilitating knowledge transfer, a PMO can ensure successful collaboration between organizations and independent professionals. Take note of these valuable workforce strategy insights! Remember: Embracing the PMO's role in engaging with independent professionals can drive project success and create a competitive advantage in the market. So, for those of you who are business owners, leaders, or managers, start building a strong PMO within your organization now and reap a successful direct sourcing program in the future! Also, if you're looking to gain a better understanding of Return Driven Strategy and Career Driven Strategy, we highly recommend checking out “Driven” by Professor Litman and Dr. Frigo. Click here to get your copy and learn how this framework can help you in your business strategies and ultimately, in ethically maximizing wealth for your firm. Hope you found this week’s insights interesting and helpful.     The COVID-19 pandemic drastically changed the way work is conducted. Prior to the health crisis, employees across the globe crowded office spaces for the whole workweek. All of that changed due to global lockdowns. Learn more about the changes in today’s world of work in next week’s article!