Could anyone give me a five or ten issues to consider when contemplating setting up a PMO? Or could someone point me in the right direction to find this information? Saving Changes...
Thank you for starting an excellent discussion. I agree with your proposition that a PMO must have a charter, in other words it must be functionally specified.
The Australian experience is that a PMO is an essential component of organisational project management maturity, and is a key enabler of sustainable corporate project governance and, for that matter, program management.
I do think establishing the high level flow chart for a project lifecyle is an important underpinning for defining a project office, so we know where the project office fits into that crazy world. For example what is the path through project concept development, concept approval, project selection and prioritisation, allocation to portfolio/program, business case approval, Project planning, project implementation control, and finalisation. Looking at generic management levels of portfolio; business and proejct management, at what level does the approval/clearance of each of those steps occur, and how does the PMO facilitate the vertical management relationships.
It is somewhat chicken and egg, therefore easy enough to see how in some organisations the establishment of at least a skeleton PMO will facilitate the definition of this high level process path.
In essence it is about linking the PMO into the corporate governance as you suggest, and integrating the PMO into Benefits Realisation Management.
I mentioned this over on another thread, and thought it worth repeating the general thought here...
I've recently read a great book on the subject of PMOs -- Advanced Project Portfolio Management and the Project Office, by Kendall and Rollins. There's a chapter in the book -- What is a PMO and What Should a High Value PMO do? -- that contains excellent descriptions of two "themes" for PMOs (cost containment or throughput improvement) and four basic PMO Models listed here...
1. Project Respository Model (a low or no value model)
2. Coach Model (a tactical model that can provide some value for a short time)
3. Enterprise Model (a strategic model oriented to central control of all major projects)
4. "Deliver NOW" Model (a high-value strategic model focused on throughput, delivery acceleration and choosing the right projects)
These descriptions of what a PMO might want to be when it grows up are worthy input for consideration. Obviously the book focuses on putting a "Deliver NOW" model, but it does do a good job of describing what can/should be expected (and not) from the other models as well.
Mark Price PerryBusiness Driven PMO Evangelist| BOT InternationalOrlando, Fl, United States
Dear Richard, all of the replies to your post are quite nice. The book mentioned by Frank Patrick is a very good read and discusses at a high level four basic PMO models. I would only add that there is no right or wrong approach and that it is often helpful to align the PMO style to the organizational readiness of the company. Being too aggressive might frustrate the organization. Being not aggressive enough may result in a lack of appreciation for the value that the PMO can and should provide. Many PMOs seek to have a PMO maturity strategy or roadmap to achieve organizational buy-in, deliver immediate successes, and to ensure continued improvement and maturity of the PMO processes, best practices, and capabilities. A number of organizations like OPM Experts, headed by John Schlichter, provide excellent advice and strategy in this area. John headed the PMI development of OPM3 and can be reached at http://www.opmexperts.com. Good luck! -- Mark Perry, VP of Customer Care, BOT International Saving Changes...
There are actually some helpful articles on this website but I do particularly like the one on TechRepublic that Peter mentioned.
At the end of the day, all the various books and theories are good but this isn't rocket science, break down your PMO the same way you would a project - You first start with the scope - what are the requirements, who are the stakeholders, what problems are you trying to solve, create all the various parts of the plan; issue management, risk management, resource management, communication manangement, change management; what is the work breakdown and schedule?, etc. My personal philisophy is that most everything can be figured out and solved by answering the basic questions - Who, What, When, Where, Why and How. Lastly, while the phrasing of Stuart's response initially set me off, he has a valid point - if you have never done this before, your money is well spent in bringing someone in who has. You will help your company avoid numerous pit falls and in the long run, save money. Take this from someone who has witnessed some great implementations as well as some really disasterous ones.
You will have to keep us posted on how your implementation goes! Saving Changes...
Although this conversation looks to have not been posted to in a while, I thought I would throw in my two cents worth on key considerations when setting up a PMO. Two words: Business Value. Start here before you do anything else. Consider the business value that the PMO will provide and DOCUMENT IT. Then SOCIALIZE IT. Then REVISE it. Then PRESENT IT TO MANAGEMENT and GET AGREEMENT as to what business value the PMO should provide to the organization. If you start anywhere else, you risk defining a PMO structure and set of objectives that are not well aligned with organizational expectations... a sure path to trouble.
As far as resources, you might also take a look at "The Program Management Office: Establishing, Managing, and Growing the Value of a PMO" by Letavec. It steps through a lot of good stuff on setting up a PMO and also has several good chapters on operating and growing a PMO. I picked it up for under $50 off of the author's website (thepmobook.com) but it's also on Amazon.
Good luck... I've spent the last nearly ten years in the PMO arena... sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, and sometime's it's downright ugly! Saving Changes...
Jack BlackChief Project Officer| PMConnectionJackson, Oh, United States
