ABSTRACT
It was like my golden period; seeing the benefits come to life was a treat to me. The more I understood the business, the more I admired how well the field staff worked within our constraints and limitations of technology and process. It gave me a new admiration for what they did. Arthur was busy ramping up and selling his enterprise PMO (Project Management Office) idea to the company. He was very supportive of my involvement in the benefits phase, and, in fact, he let me get more and more close to the business side. He even handed me the responsibility of being the business and IT liaison for the National Delivery Team, Mary Beth’s team. Mary was delighted. A major part of what I was focused on was to bridge the gap between IT and the business: to understand and communicate priorities to both parties, take a broader view of the portfolio of projects, and understand issues on both sides. Many times, I had asked Arthur what was next for me. Was there another program on the horizon in the company? Arthur was trying to steer me more and more toward his enterprise project management office idea. He even made me the manager for Barbara and Murali. Owning and managing people, he said, was a skill that I needed to develop. This was his gift to me for the successful program. The transition to managing Murali and Barbara was a very smooth one. We had developed great respect for each other during the program and I understood their strengths and they, in turn, trusted me. The goodwill and relations that we gained through the program was a wonderful foundation.
