The most effective approach to establishing a center of excellence within an organization is to start on a smaller scale, with very specific and very realistic goals defined. A famous saying can be applied here “it is not a destination, but rather a journey…” This will be true of every successful CoE imitative. Mistakes and miss-steps will occur and you will need to learn from them and use them to make adjustments to your approach. In addition, many (most?) of the early recommendations and best practice guidelines provided by your CoE will most likely be superseded as it matures and learns.
So Don’t Wait
You should not wait too long to get started as no COE will ever have “a complete toolset” or have each and every methodology documented, so don’t let this postpone starting your first “CoE supported” project, just start!
The First CoE Project
Start by defining and documenting a few “achievable” goals for the initial project sponsors.
Some of these might include:
- The CoE will identify and publish methodologies and best practices as we proceed through the project life cycle
- The CoE will identify candidates for reusable tools, templates and documents from within the project
- The CoE will compare all significant project efforts against other projects within the practice (past and current) to ensure consistency across all projects within the practice
- The CoE will provide subject matter experts in the use of any tools and technologies within in the project
- The CoE will provide guidance to the project team by performing periodic project reviews
Note to Project Managers
Project managers must understand that COE members will not actually perform any development activities. Even given the most aggressive deliverables, the COE cannot be considered for completing their project work. The benefits the COE provides should stay focused primarily in the areas of project acceleration and risk mitigation and in a broader sense, by providing proven approaches and (possibly) reusable components, the COE will accelerate the delivery schedule, reduce resource requirements and increase the margin of each project within the practice.
What really Matters
As a final recommendation, it should be made clear to everyone in the practice that although it is important to closely monitor the progress of the CoE – publishing successes and learning from mistakes, you should not let the struggles of establishing your COE get in the way of achieving the real goal: improving your organizations practice.
This way to the CoE!
