Project Management Office (PMO)

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Project Management Office (PMO)



The Project Management Office (PMO) is the department or group that defines and
maintains the standards and processes related to project management within an
organisation.

Management Consultants and PMO Failures



Having worked in the (Middle East-North Africa) MENA region for a number of
years, it is quite disheartening to encounter PMOs that suffer from acute
identity crisis and are locked in endless battles with other departments to
prove their worth. What is interesting to discover however, is the usual culprit
behind PMO failures, the lack of executive support, is not the primary cause.

Key Performance Indicators for the PMO: Metrics for Success



The Project Management Office (PMO) is an office with the capacity to institute
a wide variety of positive changes within a company. Indeed, many organisations
understand the co-dependence between the executive and PMO, and act to establish
PMOs for just this reason. Unfortunately, it is often one of the most
incorrectly managed and underutilised portions of an organisation. Findings
presented at the 2010 Gartner ITxpo indicate that nearly half of all PMOs result
in failure. The question, then, is why do such a drastic number of businesses
feel that their PMOs do not deliver value?

Tangoing Your Way Through the Executive/PMO Relationship



"It takes two to tango." This idiomatic expression, which originated in a 1952
song by Pearl Bailey and was later popularised in 1982 when President Ronald
Reagan quipped about Russian-American relations, is an accurate description of
the relationship between a project management office (PMO) and an executive. At
the end of the day, success for either of them is dependent on the other.
Executives depend on the work accomplished by project management offices for
their own success, just as project management offices depend on executives for
their success.

Unlocking PMO Profitability



The potential benefits of a project management office (PMO) are numerous and
well-documented. However, many of the benefits never materialise. Take a look at
PMOs over the years and you will see that many have restructured, dissolved, or
constantly had to justify their existence during both economic downturns as well
as high-growth periods. This is evidence enough that PMOs are not yielding
demonstrable positive financial results.

Cheetah Your PMO!



It takes more than ingredients to create a meal, and it takes more than
resources to manage a project. You need to have standards (cooking temperature),
documentation (recipes), guidance (cooking shows), economies of repetition
(making meals every day), and metrics (your taste testers). Your kitchen is the
Project Management Office (PMO) of your meals, ensuring that ingredients are put
together in a way that consistently and efficiently produces edible (if not
delicious) results.

Can You Describe the Perfect PMO Meeting?



I think I can. First, let me give you the context of the company in which this
particular Project Management Office was operating. It was a mid-sized software
development company that was broken down into four separate channels of
business. All projects were run through the PMO. Resources from each department
reported to the Functional Managers directly and the PMO worked closely with the
Functional Managers.

Is an Agile PMO Possible?



It often seems that a lean, agile development environment will always be at odds
with the structure and constraints of the PMO. However, the agile PMO can bridge
the gap between PMBOK process flows and CMM best practices and help
organisations to carry out projects more successfully. While it does require a
bit of change management, it is not as impossible as it seems and the benefits
far outweigh the effort.

There's a Reason IT PMOs Fail



Only a third of IT PMOs will ever work, and the rest of 'em won't. For the
mathematically challenged, such as myself, that means that two-thirds of all the
IT project management offices (or programme management offices, or whatever you
want to call them) will fail. Nothing scientific in these numbers, mind you, and
I didn't do an extensive survey, this is just what I've seen myself, and you're
going to have to take it (or not) on faith.

Building a Project Management Office



In today's complex business environment new projects are constantly being
developed as organisations seek new ways to reduce costs, improve processes,
increase productivity, and build their bottom line. Managing these diverse
projects along with their people, resources, technology, and communication is a
difficult endeavour for which the risk of failure is often far too high. An
effective solution, created to establish a more centralised management structure
for large groups of projects, is the Project Management Office (PMO).

How to Avoid Being Seen as 'Project Management Overhead'



We are currently facing a challenging economic climate which is forcing many
companies to cut costs in order to survive. There are different ways of doing
this, and unfortunately, a popular one is slashing employees, projects and even
entire departments. Consequently, almost everyone in the business world is now
looking for a way to justify their work to upper management and other
stakeholders in order to be spared.

Key Steps to Implement a Project Management Office



Launching a Project Management Office (PMO) is just like any other
organisational change project and should be approached as such using the key
steps outlined in this article. According to Gartner (2008), investments in a
PMO as a work management discipline can provide common planning and reporting
processes and bring structure and support to evaluating, justifying, defining,
planning, tracking and executing projects. It also encourages the resolution of
conflicts caused by limited resources and other constraints.

The Successful Project Management Office



The varieties of Project Management Office (PMO) models seem nearly endless.
I've joined companies that already had them, helped organise one for a company I
was already at, and consulted with smaller organisations who were just trying to
get their PM processes off the ground. I believe there is no guarantee for
success with any model. It's how the organisation values the PMO and the role of
the PM, in general, and how the supporting organisations interact with the PM
that plays a significant role in the PMO organisation's success.

The Phased Approach to Project Management Implementation



If you are thinking about using a project management consulting company to
assist your organisation with implementing a Project Management Office (PMO),
there are a couple of important factors that you should consider when choosing
the right firm.

The 3 Different Types of Project Management Offices



There are 3 basic types of Project Management Office (PMO) organisations,
varying in the degree of control and influence they have on projects within the
organisation. You will need to determine which type you need to establish in
order to have an effective project office.

Using a PMO to Achieve Results in Your Agency



Government agencies continually strive to produce better results. Distressingly,
recent surveys have found that half of all projects exceed budget, are completed
past scheduled deadlines and do not meet original business objectives. One
solution to this problem that has been slow to gain popularity in the public
sector is the implementation of a Project Management Office (PMO).

Why PMO's Fail?



There is a way of doing things and a way of getting things done and they're not
always the same. Most organisations of size have a Project Management Office
(PMO) charged with defining processes and best practices (the way of doing
things). These organisations typically sell the processes to a CIO to get
executive-level support and then use that support as their stick to make sure
the processes are followed. These people are often referred to as the PMO Cops
by project managers.

PDF Icon Avoiding the Project Management Obstacle Course



Let's get straight to the point, project management by form filling is not an
effective way of managing projects. These days many organisations and
individual's whole project management strategy revolves around becoming slaves
to a methodology. Don't get me wrong, there are many very good methodologies out
there and they all have their part to play but it's not the be-all and end-all
of project management.