The International Community for Project Managers (ICPM)

Project Management Offices (PMO's) are great organizations, and many companies are looking to implement them to help deliver projects more successfully. However, there are almost as many models for a PMO as there are companies implementing them. The first thing to recognize is that there is no right or wrong way to implement a PMO. The bigger question to ask first is what value does your company intend to receive from the PMO? What is the mission and vision, and what are the goals and objectives of the PMO? Some PMO’s are a center of excellence where all the project managers are assigned. In other companies, the PMO is responsible for setting project management standards, processes, and a consistent set of templates and tools. In other organizations, they maintain overall status on all active projects. There are other models as well. In general, PMO’s are most common in large companies, but there are some enlightened smaller companies that also use them.

First Define Your Mission and Goals
As you start-up your PMO, you have an opportunity to define your mission. Talk to as many company stakeholders as possible. They should be able to tell you what the needs of the company are, and what areas need improvement. If every project were implemented successfully, there might not be a need for a PMO. They usually come into existence to help ensure a higher level of overall project success, and the overall mission of the PMO is usually established to deal with the pain the organization feels today. As you talk to project managers and other stakeholders, you will probably find that many people will see your role as a bottleneck. The key is for you and your sponsor to talk about the PMO in terms of the value it provides. Then make sure that all of your actions try to bring value. For instance, is your role one where you must approve project management deliverables? If so, you may be perceived as a bottleneck. Are you helping build project management skills and capabilities? This does provide value. Does your management team want a consistent set of reports on how projects are going? If so, then you can provide value by creating common status reporting mechanisms.

Determine the Organizational Focus
You may be wondering whether your PMO should be involved in a project when it becomes part of the IT organization, or whether you should extend your influence into business processes as well. The answer to this depends on what makes sense for your particular organization. The sales cycle is generally a part of the ongoing operations of the business, and a PMO is usually active in company projects and not the continuing operations. So, on the surface, it is not an area that your PMO would be involved in. On the other hand, the Sales organization performs projects, just as every other part of the
business does. It might make sense for a company to have the PMO involved in projects from all over the business – not just IT projects. But again, that is something your organization needs to think through.


Transition your Organization into Place
A transition approach is the best way to introduce a PMO. Get people used to your role, and show them the value you can provide. Don't be threatening, and don't even be controlling, unless that is specifically part of your mission. For a small company, this goslow approach does not mean you must take five years to implement your vision. Perhaps it is just over a six - month timeline. Always start small, with early successes that you can build upon. As people see the value your organization provides, they will be more comfortable helping you implement your full mission and vision.