The PMO as PPM Enabler

Tom Mochal, PgMP, PMP, TSPM is the president of TenStep, Inc., a methodology development, consulting and training company. Tom won the Distinguished Contribution Award from the Project Management Institute for his work spreading knowledge of project management around the world. He is a speaker, lecturer, instructor and consultant to companies and organizations around the world.

  Governance   PMO   Portfolio Management   ProjectsAtWork  

Most PMOs are established to develop and implement common processes. Many oversee project management training as well. And lately, more PMOs are being called on to help implement formal portfolio management concepts. It makes sense.

Any organization serious about establishing a project management culture needs to allocate some level of resources that focus on implementing project management and supporting project managers. The resources are typically organized into a project management office (PMO), which can address project management methodology, training, coaching and assessments, among other things.

At some point, most organizations expand their focus, which is why you’re reading PPM Executive. You’ve realized that the successful implementation of a bad project is still a bad project. You know that you need better processes for making sure that only the most valuable projects are authorized. This is when you start to move upstream from project management into portfolio management. To compare the two processes, it has often been said that project management is about “doing projects right” and portfolio management is about “doing the right projects.”

All that being said — if your organization is going to implement portfolio management (and already has a PMO), then the PMO is the logical place to own …

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