PMOs Under Pressure - Why So Many Fail

  PMO   Program Management   PM Network  

The average lifespan of a project management office is two years. Michael O’Brochta, PMP, and Calum Robertson, PMP, discuss why so many fail—and how to make them work.

Michael O’Brochta, PMP: Look at what’s happened in the past five years with overhead functions in general: They’ve come under increased scrutiny with budget reductions and recessionary trends. Project management offices (PMOs) are not immune. The PMO’s benefits have to outweigh the cost of running it.

The increased pressure is coming from business executives looking to lower costs by eliminating or reducing expenditures for areas that do not clearly contribute to the bottom line.

Calum Robertson, PMP: There’s also a huge pressure to “make the ship go faster”— let’s initiate more projects and complete them faster. But less attention is given to the rudder that steers the ship.

Mr. O’Brochta: We could call that “input-focused.” We should be worried about the output—where are those projects taking us.

If the PMO exists in an organization where value is measured in money, it needs to justify itself in that measure. But other measures of value could be in play in an organization. The 2010 research report The Project Management Office (PMO): A Quest for Understanding showed the average lifespan of a PMO is …

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