While formerly leading a CPM office and now assisting companies in establishing their CPM offices, the question of staffing is always front of mind. How many people? What are their skills? What are some examples? Let’s review two aspects of the CPO team, the size and their leadership skills. The good news is that CPM offices and their staffs are self-funding: They bring in multiples of their annual budget. (Otherwise, why establish one?) more

I am frequently asked, “Where should the CPO be positioned in the organization? Does it vary by commercial, nonprofit, or government agencies?”

The ideal positioning would be to report to the CEO or CEO equivalent in noncommercial enterprises. However, rarely if ever does the CPO start out at the top. more

In an article originally published in BPM Magazine, co-author Gary Cokins and I made the case for the Chief Performance Officer in “Why Corporate Performance Management Needs its Own Office.” In this article, we stated, “As uncertainty increases in the external environment, corporate managers are finding it more and more difficult to reach consensus on decisions. Performance information and performance management methodologies help enable decision-making processes, so some businesses are dedicating senior leaders to overseeing them.”

The only differences between writing then and now is that the market-driven and political pressures have increased and more organizations have adopted CPM offices. But what is the background for this office, and what are the characteristics of the CPM office? I was fortunate to function as the CPO while an SVP in the office of the CEO of Crown Castle International, and thereafter conducted research with leading companies on this topic that resulted in my book Five Key Principles of CPM (John Wiley & Sons). more