Should You Establish a Project Management Office (PMO)?

What is a PMO?

Deploys a consistent methodology Provides common management structure Promotes best practices Training/Mentoring/Coaching Gathers/Tracks metrics from all projects Promotes PM throughout the organization

The PMO Value Proposition

A successful PMO enhances an organization’s ability to execute projects and make deliverables on time and under budget while improving the overall level of quality.

The PMO Value Proposition

A successful PMO could improve performance

in all three areas of the QSP triangle

Quality

Service Price

The PMO Value Proposition

Quality

Service Price

(More Valuable Deliverables)

(More Efficient Performance) (Reduce Waste)

The cost of the PMO must be

exceeded by the benefits

Styles of PMOs - Centralized

One PMO office with a group of managers and services

Every project includes a PM from the PMO

Easier to manage and consolidate metrics

Expertise may not be portable among projects

Styles of PMOs - Distributed

Central PMO organization not including PMs

Might have multiple document repositories (for different disciplines)

Supports PMs on projects Consistency is harder Coordination might be harder

Styles of PMOs - Assistive

No, or very small, central organization Offers guidance to other departments

on project management issues Training/coaching Good way to do a little that could pay

off a lot

PMO’s in IT

PMOs have been around for years IT “discovered” PMOs during Y2K Consulting firms used PMOs

Building a PMO

No two PMOs are alike PMOs are customized to the organization

Define the PMO’s function Full/limited

Formalize the PMO organizationally Decision making/expectations

Components of a PMO

Mission Strategy Sponsor Stakeholders Clients Objectives Products/Services Transitional Activities

• What the PMO does

• How it is done and for whom

• Alignment with business value

• Vision statement

• Principles/Goals

"The Acme Project Management Office (PMO) implements and supports project management methodology to enable our organization to deliver projects faster, cheaper, with higher quality, and within estimates and expectations."

"The Acme Project Management Office (PMO) implements and supports project management methodology to enable our organization to deliver projects faster, cheaper, with higher quality, and within estimates and expectations."

Components of a PMO

Mission Strategy Sponsor Stakeholders Clients Objectives Products/Services Transitional Activities

• High-level set of directions

• Align PMO strategically

• Long-term goals (years)

• Tactical decisions (day-to-day)

Components of a PMO

Mission Strategy Sponsor Stakeholders Clients Objectives Products/Services Transitional Activities

• Responsible for PMO funding• Manager PMO reports to• Critical for culture change• Political support• Policy enforcement

Components of a PMO

Mission Strategy Sponsor Stakeholders Clients Objectives Products/Services Transitional Activities

• Person/group staked in PMO• Internal/External • Collaborative organizations • Suppliers• Investors

Components of a PMO

Mission Strategy Sponsor Stakeholders Clients Objectives Products/Services Transitional Activities

• Requestors of PMO service• Others the PMO helps achieve their project and business goals

Components of a PMO

Mission Strategy Sponsor Stakeholders Clients Objectives Products/Services Transitional Activities

• Concrete statements• Lower-level milestones• Achievable• Measurable• Timed• Evaluated at end of project and/or end of time period

Components of a PMO

Mission Strategy Sponsor Stakeholders Clients Objectives Products/Services Transitional Activities

• Tangible deliverables• Services• Fulfilling others’ needs• Achievement of objectives

Components of a PMO

Mission Strategy Sponsor Stakeholders Clients Objectives Products/Services Transitional Activities

• Building the PMO• Staffing• Procedures

Deploying a PMO

Create (or buy) a project methodology Provide training and coaching Conduct project audits/assessments Provide consolidated metrics Consulting firms can fill gaps Culture change Deploy in waves

Deploying a PMO

Culture change People will have to do things differently Requires different behaviors More than teaching new skills Evaluate aspects driving behavior

Reinforce positives Eliminate/change negatives Consultants can drive change sometimes

Deploying a PMO

Culture change First do a gap analysis to show need

Culture Enablers/Barriers/Attitudes Success rates Roles Skills Standards Work environment

Deploying a PMO

Culture change First do a gap analysis to show need

Use a cross section of staff Interviews Surveys Focus groups

Use the gap analysis to define the future look of the PMO

Deploying a PMO

Deploy in waves Don’t change things all at once General awareness sessions Project management training Standards/Templates Reward/Recognition system Get management buy-in Audits and evaluations PMO support organization

The Methodology

Processes Procedures Templates Best Practices Standards/Guidelines/Policies Must be adaptable “Methodology management”

Methodology Management

Development Build/Buy/Buy and Customize

Support Questions/Repository/Training

Enhancements Expanding/Training/Enhancing

Don’t over-engineer it.Don’t let methodology get in the way.

PMO Training

Scope of training Teach all stakeholders Decide which skills you will teach

Determine needs Respond to feedback

Create training strategy Delivery, audience, timing, in/outside

Develop/buy curriculum

PMO Coaching

More informal than training More one-on-one Talking through situations Align coaching services with

deployment

Audits

In order for new processes to be adopted successfully, they must be used properly

Project-level audits Don’t audit every projects Identifies failures to use methodology

Organizational audits

Audits

Project-level audits Did stakeholders participate? Stakeholders approve project definition? Work plan being used? Is it accurate? All deliverables completed? On track: cost, duration, quality? Are risks being managed? Are issues being managed?

Consider outsourcing this effort.

Audits

Organizational-level audits Show how the “gap” is closing Keep you stakeholders informed Identifies compliance (or not) Identifies whether or not the PMO is a

good idea for the organization Identifies if PMO is being delivered in the

best way for the organization

Consider outsourcing this effort.

Audits

Trend successive audits Identify changes that need to be made Identify training needs Stress progress along lines of

business alignment Don’t be afraid to say things are wrong It’s probably not going to be totally

successful

Metrics

Consolidate metrics and reporting Organization-wide portfolio

This is a great way to be visible and useful to upper management

This can also be time consuming Very hard to measure the value of the

PMO precisely (like holding a cloud)

Metrics

Problems gathering project metrics Timeliness –response is low priority Accuracy – reported status is not correct Completeness – too brief

Be clear and concise Use standards and automation

Metrics

Savings with scope change mgmt. Savings with risk management Savings by proactive action Savings by way of re-use Assess the value of increased quality The PMO is likely to increase everyone’s

workload and responsibility… so probably won’t be liked by everyone

Other PMO Services

Document Repository Re-use of templates, schedules, project

documents, etc. Use technology Historical archive

Other PMO Services

Best Practices Post-mortem analysis on projects Lessons learned Improve methods, procedures

Other PMO Services

Common Resource Pool Shared staff Re-used documents/forms Software, code library FAQs Document review services Document preparation