Community Tech Platform Owner| ProjectManagement.comUnited States
PMO's are the focus for the remainder of the month.
If your organization currently has a PMO, what purpose is it serving your organization? Does it support the execution of your organization's strategy? Saving Changes...
The last two organizations I worked for dropped their PMO's and my current one has never had one. I would tend to say that if an organizational utilizes waterfall in their projects, has executive support, and would benefit from standard systems and processes, then a PMO is the way to go. On the other hand, if they are an Agile shop, they would probably do better without a PMO.
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1 reply by Stéphane Parent
Jan 09, 2020 1:22 PM
Stéphane Parent
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I agree with Sante that PMOs don't fit very well in an Agile culture, unless their role is limited to supporting projects.
Saving Changes...
Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Hello Heather
Interesting this your hot topic
Thanks for sharing
Thinking of PMO in a functional organization with the characteristics of one more function seems to me a waste of time and money. Saving Changes...
Hi Heather, I have served in PMOs within the government sector, which coordinate and prioritise program development and delivery across agencies. In government, it is well worth doing. From strategic needs analysis to practical scheduling alignment at the project level, in my opinion a good PMO can:
1. save a lot of money,
2. reduce program and project risks, and also
3. develop more attractive package opportunities for public-private partnership models. Saving Changes...
Yuriy SimonoffSenior Project Manager| N/ABuffalo Grove, Il, United States
Benefits of the PMO group are arise from aligning organizational goals and cross-coordination of the various groups, including resources and priorities.
If PMO is governing body with the power to establish organizational projects roadmap and providing continuing support to the PM's and stakeholders, than it makes sense.
If it is simply a reporting function, than there is no benefit.
Also, I disagree that Agile shops do not benefit from PMO. Agile environment is not free-for-all. Products being developed need to be aligned to business priorities and objectives, otherwise they don't make business better, thus those would be waste of resources. Saving Changes...
Jen Jee ChanManaging Director| DotProjects Pte LtdSingapore, Singapore
Hi Heather,
My feel is that the PMO has to be driven top-down. It has to be aligned to the organisational strategy and that is the main challenge for many PMOs today. Getting senior management on board has always been a challenge because it has always been difficult to directly correlate the absence or presence of a PMO to organisation results.
I run a consulting firm providing such services at project, program, portfolio levels and have always found this initial barrier to be tough, once u get ownership from the organisation and there is a direct link and genuine urge to set-up a PMO that drives all projects/programs almost half the battle is won.
A PMO "might" be the answer to an organization's needs or not. Like any strategic project, if the leadership team feels it is the best way to solve some problems then it should be chartered and implemented in a disciplined manner. PMOs need to remain current or even slightly ahead of where the organization is - I've seen too many shut down because they became obsolete.
Kiron
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1 reply by Sante Delle-Vergini, PhD
Nov 24, 2019 12:56 PM
Sante Delle-Vergini, PhD
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Ditto Kiron. We have seen our fair share of PMO graveyards.
A PMO "might" be the answer to an organization's needs or not. Like any strategic project, if the leadership team feels it is the best way to solve some problems then it should be chartered and implemented in a disciplined manner. PMOs need to remain current or even slightly ahead of where the organization is - I've seen too many shut down because they became obsolete.
Kiron
Ditto Kiron. We have seen our fair share of PMO graveyards.
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1 reply by Kiron Bondale
Nov 25, 2019 6:55 PM
Kiron Bondale
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To quote Ian Fleming: "Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action."
I was at the helm of two doomed PMOs (in spite of my best efforts) - those scars have made me very cautious about them...
Ditto Kiron. We have seen our fair share of PMO graveyards.
To quote Ian Fleming: "Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action."
I was at the helm of two doomed PMOs (in spite of my best efforts) - those scars have made me very cautious about them... Saving Changes...
Chris St. JohnSenior Director| Southern New Hampshire UniversityHollis, Nh, United States
Hello, I will try to keep our PMO out of the graveyard, at least as a minimum requirement!
My question is around structure and PM reporting relationships, currently I have a team of 12-15 projects managers, a mix of internal experts and consultants. This becomes a real challenge to effectively provide the individuals with the support and coaching they deserve well still tending to other responsibilities such as portfolio and governance.
Interested in ideas on how to add a layer between the PMO Director and the Project Managers. IMO words matter and I like the concept of Project Management Coach better than "Manager", any advice or books\resources to compare models is appreciated.
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1 reply by Yuriy Simonoff
Dec 14, 2019 10:08 AM
Yuriy Simonoff
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Chris,
Have you thought of instituting regular 'round table' PM's discussion on different topics around current projects pain-points, best practices, etc?
Initially you can bring in topic of interest and facilitate knowledge sharing across the group. As sessions will get established and people gain comfort, they will start bringing topics they struggle with or want to 'brag' about.
This won't introduce another layer of reporting, but provide the forum for PM's to discuss what works or not, areas for improvement. Just make sure it isn't "project status" meetings. But an informal mentoring sessions.
Saving Changes...
Yuriy SimonoffSenior Project Manager| N/ABuffalo Grove, Il, United States
Dec 14, 2019 8:40 AM
Replying to Chris St. John
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Hello, I will try to keep our PMO out of the graveyard, at least as a minimum requirement!
My question is around structure and PM reporting relationships, currently I have a team of 12-15 projects managers, a mix of internal experts and consultants. This becomes a real challenge to effectively provide the individuals with the support and coaching they deserve well still tending to other responsibilities such as portfolio and governance.
Interested in ideas on how to add a layer between the PMO Director and the Project Managers. IMO words matter and I like the concept of Project Management Coach better than "Manager", any advice or books\resources to compare models is appreciated.
Chris,
Have you thought of instituting regular 'round table' PM's discussion on different topics around current projects pain-points, best practices, etc?
Initially you can bring in topic of interest and facilitate knowledge sharing across the group. As sessions will get established and people gain comfort, they will start bringing topics they struggle with or want to 'brag' about.
This won't introduce another layer of reporting, but provide the forum for PM's to discuss what works or not, areas for improvement. Just make sure it isn't "project status" meetings. But an informal mentoring sessions. Saving Changes...
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