Making PMOs Profitable

Abid Mustafa is a seasoned professional with 18 years' experience in the IT and telecommunications industry, specializing in enhancing corporate performance through the establishment and operation of executive PMOs and delivering tangible benefits through the management of complex transformation programs and projects.

  PMO   ProjectsAtWork  

Many PMOs are struggling to survive the cost-cutting knife, facing staff reductions and increased workloads. It is during these periods of adversity that PMO leaders must take steps to discard the PMO’s image as a cost center and recast itself into a profit center.

During protracted periods of economic uncertainty, companies prioritize corporate initiatives and revenue generation gives way to improving operational efficiency as the main business driver for programs. These programs are continuously put under financial scrutiny to shed expensive resources such as contractors and consultants, and replace them with cheaper internal resources.

The PMO is an obvious candidate for business managers to raid and replenish lost resources. Selected staff are transferred to departments with budgets, while others are made redundant. Meanwhile, the PMO is expected to manage increased workload with a reduced head count. Many PMO directors accept this fate, and try to do their best to cope with the business demand, given the limited resources.

However, there are opportunities for PMO directors to turn the situation to their advantage. Rather than capitulate PMO resources for free, the PMO director should charge resources out to the program concerned. This can be done, for instance, on a cost-plus pricing model. No matter how bitterly business managers complain…

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