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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.