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The PMO: Harm or Harmony?
Dr. Andrew Makar is an IT program manager and is the author of the Microsoft Project Made Easy series. For more project management advice, visit the website TacticalProjectManagement.com.
In theory, project management offices and project managers work together to deliver value to the organization in a consistent manner. In practice, PMOs and project managers often step on each other’s toes in a clash between results and processes. Here are five best practices for how the PMO can improve harmony, from the project manager perspective.
This is the third article in an ongoing series about PMO best practices.
Do project management offices help or hinder the project managers in your organization? In theory, PMOs and project managers interact in a two-step tango that rivals the latest “Dancing with the Stars” reality show. In practice, PMOs and project managers can often step on each other’s toes and stumble all in the name of following project management process.
From the project manager viewpoint, the project manager’s role is to deliver results. The project management processes are tools for project managers to deliver work consistently. If a process is too overwhelming, the project manager will short cut the process to deliver the project. Does it really matter if the third approved at the tollgate didn’t sign off at the gate review but the project was delivered on time?
From a PMO perspective, all the projects should be delivering according to a common project management process. …
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