Does the 'M' in PMO Include Marketing?

Peter Taylor is the author of best-selling books on Productive Laziness, The Lazy Winner and The Lazy Project Manager and is a professional speaker. He is also the head of a global PMO for a billion-dollar software business.

  PMO   ProjectsAtWork  

Whether the 'P' in your PMO stands for project, program or portfolio, the 'M' should cover management and marketing. Take every opportunity that you can to promote and sell the value of your PMO's efforts, from presentations and newsletters to awards and training for those outside the project community.

The abbreviation “PMO” refers to a Project Management Office. It also is used for Program Management Office or Portfolio Management Office. And If you have a sense of humor (and a struggling organization), PMO might even stand for ‘Projects Mostly Overbudget.”

There is also wide reference to a Project Office (PO), a Project Control Office (PCO), a Central Project Office (CPO), and a Project Support Office (PSO). Throw in a Project Management Centre of Excellence and you can have a field day combining initials.

I can’t solve the confusion over the “P” representing a project, program or portfolio. And the ‘O’ for office seems acceptable. But how about this for an idea? Consider making the ‘M’ stand for “marketing” and let the “management” speak for itself.

One of the key aspects I identified in my book Leading Successful PMOs (Gower) is that a good and balanced PMO will spend some of the time promoting, marketing and “selling” the value of its work — the …

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