Kathleen BrosnanIT Project Manager| Certified LabratoriesAmity Harbor, Ny, United States
Good day PMI team.
I have a question I hope someone could help me answer. I am working on setting up a PMO at my company and really have no idea where to start.
I do know that processes need to be identified and published and documentation templates (Project plan, Business Requirements, Functional requirements,Technical requirements, Design, Test, Traceability matrix) are necessary. Can anyone please point me in the right direction to get this off the ground?
Thanks so much in advance!!
Best regards,
Kathleen Saving Changes...
Jennifer GrosschadlTechnology Project Manager II| Direct SupplyMilwaukee, Wi, United States
I would start by looking at your organization's existing assets. Even if they haven't had a PMO in the past, they may have some of the documentation, templates, processes, etc. outlined just segregated. When I worked at a nonprofit, that was their situation. They had some of the tools in place but didn't understand how to make everything fit together. I would also take analyze where the current projects within the company are at to give yourself a baseline of how many are in various stages. If there are other project managers at your company as well, ask them if they've used anything that could become a company wide asset or where they feel they need the most help from a PMO. Best of luck and hope this was helpful! Saving Changes...
The best initiation step is to establish the Project Management Maturity of your organization, using an assessment like Kerner's scale or Berkeley Maturity model. Once known the level of Maturity, you can start to determine the best type of PMO, between supportive, controlling, or directive. After defining the best type of PMO, you can start to establish processes, methodologies, and templates, according to the type selected.
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1 reply by Manuel Perez
Sep 07, 2022 4:47 PM
Manuel Perez
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Agree with Veronica. In our organization we don't call it PMO and instead we are the Project Controls Division. We provide all three types of services including controlling and supporting. But the starting point is current controls, guidance, and processes and identifying what improvements are needed to support the organization. Never start a project unless you know it is needed.
As setting up a PMO is a project (and a strategic one at that), is there a formal charter in place which spells out a vision which all key stakeholders have bought into? If not, getting that would be my first milestone...
Kiron Saving Changes...
Peter RapinSubject Matter Expect; Project Delivery| Independent ConsultantOntario, Canada
Start by defining the problem. What is not working? Set your objectives. Do the business case. Write the Charter - Get key player buy-in and sign-off. Now you have a project. Develop the Plan based on all the project management elements. Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
Setting up a PMO is the same than setting up other business unit inside the organization. You have to understand the organizational strategy (strategy is the way the organization answer to environmental stimuli) then define the functions/process that will help to put the strategy in action (answers are performed through the functions/process) then decide if they deserve to be located inside a new business unit (call it PMO in this case) or it deserves to be splitted across actual existing business unit. To do all this stuff it could be better to define value streams. Saving Changes...
You could spend a lot of time planning out the perfect PMO and still fail. Realize that the PMO you start with may look different a year later, so build the PMO with that in mind. A PDCA approach will most likely be better than a big bang. Normally, I would say to begin with the end in mind, and I think that still applies, but not in the sense of the perfect PMO. Rather, I think it applies in the sense of systems thinking - as you're building out the individual pieces of PMO, do it in the context of the overall vision and how/if they interrelate.
If there isn't a specific problem that needs to be solved immediately, that doesn't require a major overhaul and the resolution can be implemented quickly, consider the following:
- Identify the functions the PMO can deliver
- Determine the functions that will deliver the highest value to the company and how quickly they can be delivered
- Pick a high value function that can be delivered quickly and make it happen
- Verify that it's adding value
- Adjust, if needed, then pick another and repeat
This is, of course, assuming you don't have external pressures that prevent this approach. If someone is expecting a major overhaul, still try to break it into chunks and deliver the highest value items, first.
Keep in mind that you're not just starting up a PMO, you are potentially making a significant organizational change, and some people will feel that the PMO is being imposed upon them. Some things to keep in mind are:
- Who are your supporters and what problem do they want the PMO to solve?
- Do they have a vision for how to accomplish it? Who can tell you what success looks like?
- Who are detractors of the PMO and what are their objections? What negative impacts are they concerned about? Who can do what to alleviate their concerns?
- Don't try to resolve all of the concerns before you start executing, or you'll never start.
I worked at a company where we started up a PMO and there was a lot of resistance to our taking on departmental projects. There was, however, a lack of ownership over cross-departmental projects, so those became our mandate. Over time, we built trust with the departments, started taking on some of their projects, and some of their people joined our team.
At a high level, I like the approach used with the PMO Value Ring (summarized) - identify what your stakeholders value, determine the activities the PMO can pursue to deliver that value and KPIs to track, measure and report on value delivered, then do it again next year because company priorities shift and there may be other areas where PMO efforts are needed.
Mark Price Perry has a book - Business Driven PMO Setup - that I've found helpful. If you search for Business Driven PMO, you'll get a few results worth reviewing - https://www.projectmanagement.com/searchRe...%20driven%20pmo Saving Changes...
Alisha BrattDirector, Project Management Office| WeStreet CUOk, United States
I started by interviewing the executives and directors (the people running most projects at my organization)... asking what their pain points and successes on projects generally were. From there, I created a charter / outline a strategic plan to meet those needs (basically, I treated the creation of a PMO like an agile project). Then I created a handbook for the PMO which became the compass for the PMO. It included The mission/vision statement, four key objectives, services, escalation paths, etc. I plan to update this handbook year after year as the PMO expands. Good Luck! Saving Changes...
Manuel PerezProject Management Coordinator| Las Vegas Valley Water DistrictNorth Las Vegas, Nv, United States
Sep 01, 2022 1:33 PM
Replying to Verónica Elizabeth Pozo Ruiz
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The best initiation step is to establish the Project Management Maturity of your organization, using an assessment like Kerner's scale or Berkeley Maturity model. Once known the level of Maturity, you can start to determine the best type of PMO, between supportive, controlling, or directive. After defining the best type of PMO, you can start to establish processes, methodologies, and templates, according to the type selected.
Agree with Veronica. In our organization we don't call it PMO and instead we are the Project Controls Division. We provide all three types of services including controlling and supporting. But the starting point is current controls, guidance, and processes and identifying what improvements are needed to support the organization. Never start a project unless you know it is needed. Saving Changes...
Khai Ng.IT PMO | IT Project Manager| TTGROUPHanoi, Viet Nam
2 replies by Latha Thamma reddi and Mishirika Scott
Sep 14, 2022 4:57 PM
Mishirika Scott
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Hi Kathleen - thanks for reaching out to the community with this important topic. Admittedly, setting up a PMO will look very different across industries (and organizations). Here are my top 3 tips based on what I think my business unit did well in establishing our PMO:
- Create a PMO Governance Board, preferably consisting of supervisors from each business unit at the org (e.g., service desk, security, BRM, etc). This helps with keeping momentum strong and with allocation of shared resources for high impact projects when the time comes. Shared ownership is key!
- Set up recurring weekly meetings for the PMO Gov. board to meet to discuss progress, remove roadblocks, and identify what’s next in setting up the PMO (and later which projects to bring in)
- With the Gov Board, agree on tracking and performance tools for the PMO (e.g., PowerBi and Meisterplan).
It goes without saying that the CIO, CEO, Dean, or whoever will “own” the PMO needs to be the Champion Sponsor for the PMO (as a whole). This person may not be in all the meetings, but should be able to remove roadblocks, negotiation matrixes resource needs, and approve budget spend, for example.
Stay encouraged on this journey, knowing the benefits of establishing a PMO far outweigh the lift of the work effort.
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