Are there any industry standards for sizing a PMO within an organization? For example, should a PMO comprise 4% of the organization as a whole? What is a typical staff size of a PMO as compared to the size of the organization? Saving Changes...
Sort By:
Haris NeophytouFounder, CEO & Research Director| InterFusion Services LtdLimassol, Cyprus
I tend to believe that there is no standard percentage in terms of staff allocation to the PMO, since PMO is unique for each different organization. Nevertheless it will be wise to assign a certain percentage of the organization's budget to the PMO, just like the case of R&D performing SMEs where at least 10% should be attributed for research activities. 10%-15% should do the job just right. Saving Changes...
Shawn BellingChief Technology Officer and Adjunct Faculty| Geno.Me/University of WisconsinFitchburg, Wi, United States
I don't believe there are industry standards for PMO size. Nor do I agree that a certain percentage of the firm's budget should be allocated to the PMO.
Like any other business initiative, the PMO's size and budget, as well as other aspects of the new PMO, should be directly tied to the goals and objectives of the PMO.
A new PMO may well start out with a single experienced proejct manager who focuses on developing the processes and ensuring that these processes support the original mission. Once this is established, the firm can add people and budget to the PMO to assure it accomplishes its stated mission. Saving Changes...
Thank you for your responses. I appreciate your time! You validated my assumptions. Saving Changes...
Shawn BellingChief Technology Officer and Adjunct Faculty| Geno.Me/University of WisconsinFitchburg, Wi, United States
Glad to help. I've started a couple of PMOs and taught some related classes, so please let me know if I can offer further assistance or unsolicited opinions :-) Saving Changes...
Andrew MakarProgram Manager| AMAKAR LLCOakland Township, Mi, United States
Hi Janet -
In addition to the content to the posts below, you'll want to consider the functions the PMO will provide. I recommend drafting a project schedule specific to the PMO Start Up tasks. The type of your PMO (program, organization, or enterprise) will determine the number of resources required.
I'm managing one program that has 12 different projects in it and we only have 3 dedicated PMO resources. 1 resource runs the change control board, compiles program wide status reports, and administers our tollgates. The other resource coordinates schedule management activities and ensures standards are followed. The last resource is responsible for cross program communication and supports the administrative back off functions.
I've also seen models where the PMs directly report to the PMO and matrix to various department managers.
Amro Elakkad PMP M.Sc.Managing Director| Amro Solusi Manajemen (ASM)Nyc, Ny, United States
Hey Janet,
There are no standards published or known that say a PMO should be x% of the organization and there are also no such thing as y% of the company’s budget.
However, for a PMO to be successful, the PMO leader along with the PMO sponsor (preferably someone in the executive committee/board of the company) should map out the implementation of the PMO in a staged-out fashion.
Phase I could be starting with very few resources, establishing minimum standards, publicizing and selling project management, and carrying out one or two projects.
Phase II could be adding few more resources, adding more standards and processes, publishing success stories from phase I, adding few strong project managers and carrying out few more critical-mission projects.
Phase III would add more resources, publishing more success stories, defining roles and responsibilities of project managers, coordinators and admins, publishing a department or company-wide reports, and carrying more critical projects.
Phase IV would involve more education on project management, defining a career path towards being a project manager, defining more standards and processes, extending the reach of reporting to many areas in the organization, and carrying more projects.
Later phases would involve making decision as to keeping the project managers within the PMO or supervising them while deploying them to the different departments, publishing the standards/processes and making them a requirement for inclusion in project establishment, defining Governance and priority criteria, adding/documenting lessons learned, establishing mentoring/coaching, etc.
As you can see for each stage, there will be more (or less) needed resources and budget. But if you don’t plan it, you will run out of resources and budget.
