Distributed Ledger Company Program Management Office

Overview

Hedera is the leading next generation enterprise-grade public distributed ledger technology (DLT). Critically important to running the Hedera network is the Hedera Governing Council, comprised of dozens of globally diversified and industry leading companies. The Hedera Governing Council is designed so decision-making authority and network operations are distributed, rather than concentrated in the hands of any single actor. 

In early 2022, following a concerted decentralization effort, Hedera staff and resources were intentionally outsourced and distributed, resulting in a small team of executive leaders responsible for sustaining network operations and supporting the Governing Council’s decisions. To assist with the program management and operations required to run the Governing Council and the network, Hedera engaged Simatree to institutionalize program and project management in support of organizational and governance goals. 

The Solution & Benefits

To solve for the challenges Hedera experienced, Simatree was brought on to stand up a dedicated and integrated PMO and introduce program management structure to the organization. The Simatree team provided Hedera with recommendations on how to redesign the organization to create more effective information flows. 

The Simatree team also introduced several project management best practices to help Hedera mature the PMO and their day-to-day operations. This included institutionalizing a process to better delineate authority and responsibility for key organizational activities, establishing charters and wikis for integrated project teams to organize and capture critical information from different systems, and incorporating agile project management principles throughout project teams and departments.

During Simatree’s time supporting Hedera, Hedera grew from a handful of executive officers to a full set of operational and administrative staff. The Simatree team played a critical role in onboarding new staff to Hedera and ensuring they were comfortable with Hedera’s project management approach, toolset, and how information was organized and stored. These changes enabled Hedera staff to better collaborate across departments, report more accurate and timely information to key stakeholders, and more effectively manage projects with a standardized toolset and vocabulary across the organization.