Is There Still a Role for an Enterprise PMO?

Andy Jordan is President of Roffensian Consulting S.A., a Roatan, Honduras-based management consulting firm with a comprehensive project management practice. Andy always appreciates feedback and discussion on the issues raised in his articles and can be reached at [email protected]. Andy's new book Risk Management for Project Driven Organizations is now available.

  PMO  

I have long been a fan of enterprise PMOs (or EPMOs), at least when they’re done well. The idea of a strategic PMO function—which is designed to ensure project delivery is consistent across all business areas, aligned with strategic priorities, and focused on macro-level project challenges—appeals to me because it’s exactly what PMOs should be looking to deliver: value for the business.

I don’t see EPMOs as replacements for the departmental PMO model; those functions are still essential because they have relationships with delivery teams, and the functional context for the work being delivered. When those departmental PMOs align with an EPMO to help facilitate communication around portfolio delivery, escalate issues with the right context, and so on, then PMOs can truly live up to the potential of what they can be.

In the last few years, I have seen a number of organizations implement this EPMO and departmental PMO model exceptionally well, with the EPMO taking accountability for portfolio management—and departmental functions acting as the enabler of delivery of the initiatives that combine to form the contents of the portfolio. Of course, I have also seen scenarios where EPMOs have been far less successful.

Those are what I would refer to as economies-of-scale EPMOs. Situations where, instead of adding a more strategic focus &ldquo…

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