Project Management Office setup

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Project Management Office

(PMO)A Project Management Office (PMO) is a group or department

within a business, agency orenterprisethat defines and

maintains standards forproject managementwithin the

organization.

The primary goal of a PMO is to achieve benefits from

standardizing and following project management policies,processes and methods. Over time, a PMO generally will

become the source for guidance, documentation, and metrics

related to the practices involved in managing and

implementing projects within the organization. A PMO may

also get involved in project-related tasks and follow up on

project activities through completion. The office may report on

project activities, problems and requirements to executive

management as a strategic tool in keeping implementers and

decision makers moving toward consistent, business- or

mission-focused goals and objectives.

A PMO generally bases its project management principles,

practices and processes on some kind of industry standard

methodology such as PMBOK (Project Management Body of

Knowledge) orPRINCE2(Project in Controlled Environments).Such approaches are consistent with the requirements related

to ISO9000 and to government regulatory requirements such as

the US Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) program.

How a project management office (PMO) is designed and

staffed for maximum effectiveness depends on a variety of

organizational factors, including targeted goals, traditional

strengths and cultural imperatives. There are three basic
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organizational styles for a project management office.

1. The project repository: This model occurs most often in

organizations that empower distributed, business-centricproject ownership, or enterprises with weak central

governance. The project office simply serves as a source

of information on project methodology and standards.

Project managers continue to report to, and are funded

by, their respective business areas.

2. The project coach model: This model assumes a

willingness to share some project management practices

across business functions and uses the project office tocoordinate the communication. Best practices are

documented and shared and project performance is

monitored actively. The PMO in this model is a

permanent structure with staff and has some supervisory

responsibility for all projects.

The enterprise project management office: This model also

assumes a governance process that involves the project office

in all projects, regardless of size, allowing it to assess scope,

allocate resources and verify time, budget, risk and impact

assumptions before the project is undertaken. Funding is

generally a combination of direct, budgeted allocation for

baseline services and a fee-for-service charge for others.

Responsibilities of a project managementoffice (PMO)byadmin on January 9, 2011

In most organisations the PMO has five main responsibilities:

Set standards for how projects are run

The PMO builds up a common set of practices, principles and

templates for managing projects. Standardisation means projectmanagers can move more easily between different projects and
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new project managers get up to speed faster. Creating projectmanagement templates means standard components can bereused which saves time and money as they are not created foreach project fresh.

Ensure project management standards are followed

While the PMO sets project management standards, it also mustensure they are followed by performing regular assessments ofprojects. This process can feedback into the standards definition.

Gathering of project data and production of information formanagement review

The PMO will track the status of all projects in the organisationbased on updates from the project managers. They willstandardise the way this information is compiled and reported tomanagement. The normal way to present the information is using

project dashboardswhich provide a clear way to keep track of thestatus of projects.

Source of guidance and advice for project managers

Most PMOs develop into a centre of excellence for projectmanagement and can provide guidance and coaching to noviceproject managers or new project managers who need tounderstand how the organisation runs projects. In many

organisations we work with, the people running projects are not
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always formally trained project managers and the PMO plays a keyrole in assisting this group.

Managing and facilitating the portfolio management process

For organisations that have implemented a project portfoliomanagement approach (PPM), the PMO manages and facilitatesthis process. This can include:

Capturingproject requestsand ensuring each request hassufficient information to assess the project.

Keeping an up-to-date repository of projects underway andrequests pending review.

Implementing scoring and prioritisation models to help assesswhich requests should be approved.

Managing aresource capacity planor resource forecast to helpunderstand resource availability for projects.

The 3 Different Types of

Project Management OfficesBy John Reiling

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.

The 3 types of PMOs include:
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1. Supportive PMO

The Supportive PMO generally provides support in the form ofon-demand expertise, templates, best practices, access to

information and expertise on other projects, and the like. This

can work in an organisation where projects are donesuccessfully in a loosely controlled manner and where

additional control is deemed unnecessary. Also, if the objective

is to have a sort of "clearing-house" of project managementinformation across the enterprise to be used freely by project

managers, then the Supportive PMO is the right type.

2. Controlling PMO

In organisations where there is a desire to "rein in" the

activities, processes, procedures, documentation, and more - acontrolling PMO can accomplish that. Not only does the

organisation provide support, but it also requires that the

support be used. Requirements might include adoption of

specific methodologies, templates, forms, conformance to

governance, and application of other PMO controlled sets ofrules. In addition, project offices might need to pass regular

reviews by the controlling PMO, and this may represent a risk

factor on the project. This works if a) there is a clear case thatcompliance with project management organisation offerings

will bring improvements in the organisation and how it

executes on projects, and b) the PMO has sufficient executivesupport to stand behind the controls the PMO puts in place.

3. Directive PMO

This type goes beyond control and actually "takes over" theprojects by providing the project management experience and

resources to manage the project. As organisations undertake

projects, professional project managers from the PMO are

assigned to the projects. This injects a great deal ofprofessionalism into the projects, and, since each of the

project managers originates and reports back to the directivePMO, it guarantees a high level of consistency of practice

across all projects. This is effective in larger organisations that

often matrix out support in various areas, and where thissetup would fit the culture.

The best type is very specific to the organisation, culture, and

history of what works and what does not. But the objectives

are - more or less - to:


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Implement a common methodology

Standardise terminology

Introduce effective repeatable project management

processes

Provide common supporting tools

Ultimately, the objective is to improve levels of projectsuccess within the organisation

Being aware of these types can help you and your organisation

more easily accomplish this.

Documents

Project Management Office setup