Author : Glenn Ryan
Does any of this sound familiar to you and your organization?
- Projects are not aligned to your organization’s strategy
- Stakeholder expectations are not understood or well managed
- Skilled resources are not available when needed
- Projects are often completed late
- Projects often run over budget
For decades, companies all over the world have faced challenges in project management. In order to emphasize the significance, critically acclaimed case studies have shown that companies ended up bankrupt simply due to serious project failures. In line with the gravity of the matter, management has studied ways to manage their projects in a much more controlled manner. Among the range of available options, the Project Management Office (PMO) approach has globally gained a lot of support and momentum. Research on the value of Project Management in 2000 found that only 47% of companies had a PMO organization in place. In 2012, that percentage had nearly doubled, to 87%.
So what exactly is a Project Management Office?
According to the PMBOK, a PMO is ‘a management structure that standardizes the project related governance processes and facilitates the sharing of resources, methodologies, tools, and techniques’. A primary function of a PMO is to support project managers in a variety of ways to improve project delivery, which includes:
- Identifying and developing project management delivery methodology, best practices, and standards
- Developing and managing project policies, procedures, templates, and other shared documentation
- Governance process implementation/management
- Project performance monitoring/controlling
- Project Manager training, coaching and mentoring
- Managing shared resources across all projects administered by the PMO
In summary, a PMO sees to it that not every project reinvents the wheel, yet complies with the organized wide best practice standards that it constantly keeps updated, also including lessons learned. Furthermore, it facilitates critical coordination and communication among the projects, including coordination with the company’s senior management. The latter includes any organized-wide critical decision making. As a natural result all projects are controlled in a much more profound manner, and any possible deviations are observed early in the process and managed accordingly.
Results from a worldwide survey conducted by PM Solutions1 in 2012, clearly demonstrates that the PMO is increasingly becoming an organizational fixture that provides significant value to the business, including 30% decrease in failed projects, 31% increase in customer satisfaction and 25% of projects delivered under budget. Furthermore, the greater the PMO capability or maturity in terms of control and influence on project delivery, the greater its value contribution to the organisation.
Although the potential value is substantial, implementing a PMO requires a significant change initiative within an organization, which needs careful management. Ultimately it severely impacts the way all people work on project delivery. Major challenges include defining the role and function of the PMO and securing strong Executive Sponsorship for establishment of the PMO. Other key areas include the definition, selection and standardization of PMO tools and processes, staffing the PMO, engaging Stakeholders and focusing on demonstrating early value of the PMO to the organization. With the increased adoption of PMO’s in many companies there are many lessons learned available. It is wise to make use of this.
Reference: 1The State of the PMO 2012, PM Solutions.
Glenn Ryan M.Sc., PMP
About the Author
Glenn has worked extensively in program/project management, organizational change management and business consulting in a range of industry sectors including healthcare, resources and Government.
From 2006 to 2012 he worked in Program Manager / Project Director roles with 3 international healthcare software Vendors in the SE Asia region, leading major healthcare solution delivery engagements in Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Manila.
Glenn achieved his PMP certification in 2004 and since then has been actively supporting Project Management skills development in the SE Asia region.
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