Where Should the PMO Focus?

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 advocated for PMOs to be treated just like any other business function. That is, they are set goals and objectives for the next period—and are then accountable for developing and executing on a business plan to achieve those objectives.

The logic behind this approach is sound—a PMO is just like every other department, and it should be treated that way. The problem has always been that a lot of PMOs report to leadership functions that simply don’t have the skills or experience to set realistic goals and objectives for the PMO.

As a result, PMO leaders are left to fend for themselves when it comes to determining where to focus, and when to determine that appropriate improvements have been made. I have had many PMO leaders tell me that they prefer having to do that than having unrealistic goals set by leaders who don’t know what’s reasonable or achievable, and there’s some logic to that.

But it’s still an uncomfortable position for PMO leaders to be put in. If project performance doesn’t improve—or more accurately, if the areas that leadership decides after the fact are important don’t improve—then it’s the PMO leader’s fault.

Ideally, I want PMO leaders to push back on their leaders, but I’m pragmatic enough to know that it isn’t always possible. So, how should PMO …

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