"The proper role of a PMO is to assist everyone to become a good project manager," according to many (Dean Meyer). PMO workers are typically disregarded and restricted to preparing reports and revising plans using non-standard tools and templates, despite the fact that they provide programme and project management support. As a result, project plans are disconnected and various reports are produced that do not give an organisation the "helicopter view" it requires to make sound decisions.
CIOs understand that in order to fulfil their mandate of improving the efficacy and efficiency of IT services while also leading business-driven, IT-enabled transformation, they must have the right people, processes and tools in place.
If your company is tiny, you might be able to get by without a Project Management Office (PMO). However, if your company is working on many cross-functional projects at the same time, you'll almost certainly need an Effective Program Management plan. A PMO serves a variety of functions within an organisation, although these duties vary widely depending on the size of the company and the complexity of the projects it manages. Good people, processes and tools combine to make a successful PMO.
What Is the Best Way to Start a Project Management Office? (PMO)
A Project Management Office (PMO) is an organisation that oversees project management from a central location. A PMO is frequently involved with or accountable for programme and portfolio management.
"An organisational structure that may be used to standardise portfolio, programme or project-related governance processes and promote the sharing of resources, methodologies, tools and techniques," according to the Project Management Institute.
What are the benefits of establishing a project management office?
Starting a project management office has numerous advantages, including:
- Creating standardised project management and delivery practises.
- Developing a consolidated knowledge database to record and share lessons learnt.
- With a single point of contact, you can improve transparency, communication and reporting.
- Project planning and execution must be in sync with corporate strategy.
- Putting in place standard operating procedures and practises.
- Management of shared resources in a cost-effective manner.
What is the best way to start a project management office?
Starting a project management office can be approached in the same way that any other project is approached.
1) Create a business case
To justify the deployment of a planned project management office, a business case should be created. Before moving forward, it's critical to gain corporate buy-in and prepare to ensure that the project is worthwhile.
The following will be outlined in the business case:
- The PMO's goals are as follows:
- The PMO's advantages and disadvantages
- Any hazards associated with establishing a PMO
- Estimated implementation costs
- An estimated estimate of the project's duration.
- The business's potential influence
- Any more pertinent information
The business case should include a decision on the PMO model to use. The following are the three most frequent types of PMOs:
- Supportive: A supportive PMO acts as a consultant or advisor to the organisation. In general, it serves as a knowledge hub and repository for best practises, training and lessons learned.
- Controlling: A Controlling PMO serves as both an auditor and a consultant. It takes it a step further by ensuring that best practises and standards are adhered to. Controls and governance norms are frequently established.
- PMO Directive: A PMO Directive is directly accountable for project execution. Rather than reporting to a separate function or organisational group, project managers report directly to the PMO.
2) Create a clear direction.
A clear directive will improve portfolio, programme and project governance and delivery across the organisation. The PMO may develop an effective delivery capability framework to oversee the realisation of objectives and benefits by giving it the power to advise the CIO on the optimal collection of initiatives, programmes and projects to optimise business value.
3) Make each service valuable.
The PMO must be visible to C-level executives, offering services to the CIO.
- Portfolio governance and programme and project delivery monitoring should be provided through the Delivery Management service.
- For IT investment decisions, the Portfolio Management Analysis service should provide analysis and decision support capabilities.
- Professional growth, skill upgrading and training should be provided by the Program and Project Management Skills & Capability Assurance service.
- To promote and measure delivery quality, the Practice Management service should design and maintain best practice techniques, tools, process and standards.
- Through communications, reporting and decision support tools, the CIO Administrative Support service should coordinate the efforts of the CIO, CFO and business partners.
4) Make a clear goal for yourself.
To maintain benefits and maximise return on investment, the PMO needs a comprehensive grasp of the organisation's business requirements as well as a benefits management strategy. The PMO should be knowledgeable on the organisation's strategic and business drivers so that it can align initiatives, programmes and projects with these drivers and operate with a defined, measurable purpose.
5) Make sure you have the correct people on the job.
Maintain a cooperative working connection throughout the lines of business of the corporation. For the duration of the programmes and projects, provide matrix resource management. Provide service heads with line managers to enable the continual improvement of best practises for new and improved services.
Implementation tips for a successful outcome
Consider the following suggestions to improve the odds of your new PMO's success:
- Obtain long-term buy-in: Creating a PMO will require a big, long-term transformation in the business. To guarantee that individuals are dedicated to the project's success, it's critical to focus on change management and stakeholder involvement.
- Prioritise early victories: It's important to recognise, achieve and enjoy some quick victories. While implementing these changes, this will help to create dedication and morale. When a milestone is reached, for example, it should be recognised and celebrated. When the PMO's standard operating policies are established, this could be as simple as sending out a newsletter.
- Maintaining motivation in the face of adversity: Any big change might be difficult to implement. There will very certainly be times when things appear to be moving slowly or not at all. Maintaining a good attitude and focusing on keeping stakeholders engaged and committed to the end goal are critical.
- Make sure you've defined your success criteria: As previously stated, the benefits of a PMO should be included in the business case. It's critical to have quantifiable outcomes that can be tracked and reported on. Will the PMO, for example, standardise project management reports? If that's the case, there should be a deadline and a mechanism to track whether or not it was accomplished.
- Allow for enough flexibility for the PMO to grow and adapt: The PMO must adapt as the company develops and changes. For example, a PMO may begin as a Supportive PMO but evolve into a Directive PMO over time.
Do you require a project management office (PMO)?
Take a good, hard look at how your organisation runs to determine if different portions of it are already working together across systems and groups in harmony, or if they operate in silos with different systems and don't often communicate with one another.
If your organisation falls into the latter category, a PMO can assist you. A PMO may also be appropriate for your organisation if you're preparing to launch any major projects or strategy changes, or if your current strategy isn't working.
However, what corporations consider PMOs today may not be what they see in the future. According to Gartner, as a result of the digital revolution, the number of IT PMOs will fall, albeit some may evolve into change management functions and become part of the C-level strategy function.
According to the paper, collaborations between humans, smart machines and AI are expected to eliminate "approximately 80% of the 'work' that forms the bulk of today's project management discipline, practises and activities" by 2030. Adapting behaviour and procedures is what this entails for PMO experts. For businesses, this means adapting to changes in the profession for the benefit of their businesses – and their bottom lines.
Conclusion
"At the end of the day, PMOs are in place to help organisations provide value to their stakeholders through Effective Program Management", says Brian Weiss, vice president of the Project Management Institute's practitioner career development.
According to PM Solutions data, 85 percent of businesses had a project management office in 2016, up 5% from 2014. They also discovered that 30% of businesses without a PMO intend to install one.
A PMO ensures that company procedures, practises and activities are carried out correctly – on schedule, on budget and in the same manner. "Project management offices exist to assure project and programme success, which is crucial since firms generate value through projects and programmes," Weiss explained. "How they do that is determined by their position inside the organisation."
According to PMI's 2017 Pulse of the Profession, firms that link their enterprise-wide PMO to strategy have 38 percent more projects that accomplish their initial goals and business intent than those that don't. They also had 33% fewer projects that were labelled failures.
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