Defining a PMO

Kenneth has 14 years of healthcare experience in government and private industry. Over eight years of experience managing healthcare IT projects, operations, contracts, and personnel. His work experience includes project management, contracts and procurements, data analysis, claims adjudication, business writing, and business process modeling. Kenneth was certified in 2006 as a Project Management Professional.

  PMO  

The project management office can be an incredible force for good in the office…if it is used responsibly. But in order to use it responsibly, one must first have a good definition of what the project management office is, how it will be put together and what it will do for the organization it serves.

Before even beginning to contemplate a project management office, the organization must ask who the customer of the PMO will be. Often, the project management office serves internal customers by providing oversight and processes for projects that are being executed. On the other hand, the project management office can serve the external customer by ensuring that projects being executed for a client are completed on time, on budget and on scope. It is important to make note of which customer the PMO is going to serve--or if it is going to serve both internal and external customers at the same time.

Purpose of Charter
Once it has been determined what customer the project management office is working for, then the purpose or charter of the office can be created. This might be a formal document or it may be something that is only for internal use by the organization.

The PMO charter should describe the primary responsibility of the project management office as well as any secondary responsibilities that the office will be responsible for. It should also …

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