Tamara PigeonSenior Project Manager| UK HealthCareGeorgetown, Ky, United States
I am in a "PMO" but essentially it's 5 project managers that get assigned out to enterprise level projects. I don't really think that's a PMO, but trying to confirm if my logic is correct. Saving Changes...
I would generally say you are correct. A PMO is responsible for defining the PM processes and best practices. Groups of PMs may exist in different parts of an organization for specific areas of focus, while a PMO would be an overarching group that defines the standards and practices for all of those PM groups.
On the other hand, as a lead PM responsible for process oversight for all the other PMs on my team, that would essentially be a mini-PMO. Saving Changes...
Thomas WalentaGlobal Project Economy ExpertHackenheim, Germany
Some 30 years ago, I was member of such a PMO. It is a start. PMOs come in many flavors. What can be the benefits (for which stakeholders) of such an approach that at least recognizes that PMs are a special breed?
As a PM, I can ask others for help, even get a mentor. I am not alone. For the projects, PMs could do peer reviews. We as team/department can meet regularly and exchange information about our learning and issues. Our manager certainly builds his reputation, as he knows about the most important projects and can help escalate. The organization starts small with PM maturity; ROI should be great, and the investment is just the manager. Bureaucracy is zero.
This is effectively a PM resource pool which can be a starting point for developing PM competency organizationally. There would be opportunities to share learnings with peers within the team, and hopefully the manager comes from a strong delivery background to provide support and political clout.
Ideally yes because a PMO is established to implement certain standards and adopt best practices in project management. So, having a bunch of experienced project managers makes more sense in the case of a PMO. Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
Trying to add something to the valuable comments above (free consulting, take advantage of it...hehe) let me say that you can call a business unit (an office) as you want. The important thing is what you will locate inside it which is something you will do in the moment of define it. To put this in terms of the PMI you will find it inside the business analysis literature. Organizations are open and adaptive systems that responds to and create events in the environment. They do that thanks to defined functions and process which are inside the organizational strategy. Then, those functions and process must be located in a place. When you do that creating a bussines unit and related to portfolio/program/project management then you can call it PMO. Usually you will concentrate process, tools and people. So, to call or not to call it a PMO it will depends on your organization and all the things I wrote here. If you ask me, you can call it PMO. You have process, people and I think tools defined inside it today. In fact, just with the information you give, my recommendation is not to change the name because the name could cause some type of impact inside your organization that could help to make an evolution from the state where is today to a future state. And it will depends about the defined strategy what, between other things, will help to position the PMO to enhace the impact inside the organization. Saving Changes...
Tamara PigeonSenior Project Manager| UK HealthCareGeorgetown, Ky, United States
This has been helpful. I’m taking the PMI PMO-CP prep online course and it’s been very helpful in stressing that PMOs should be what the organization needs at that time and the maturity of the organization with project management. So I don’t think we are wrong just lots of opportunity to be and do more.
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1 reply by Sergio Luis Conte
Feb 10, 2025 11:24 AM
Sergio Luis Conte
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Always remember: one thing is to be certified and other totally different thing is doing something in the practice.
Saving Changes...
Eric SimmsSenior Program ManagerBaltimore, Maryland, United States
I agree with you. A PMO has a measure of organization and purpose. It sounds like you just happen to be a group of five PMs working in the same company. Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
Feb 08, 2025 1:33 PM
Replying to Tamara Pigeon
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This has been helpful. I’m taking the PMI PMO-CP prep online course and it’s been very helpful in stressing that PMOs should be what the organization needs at that time and the maturity of the organization with project management. So I don’t think we are wrong just lots of opportunity to be and do more.
Always remember: one thing is to be certified and other totally different thing is doing something in the practice. Saving Changes...
It depends on your definition. In my view, it's probably not, though under certain interpretations, you might be able to call it PMO. Saving Changes...
This doesn't really answer your question, but one thing to consider is that if you call a thing something that it is not, and it fails, people will remember that the thing failed. Using agile as an example, I know people who had a bad experience with Scrum who will gladly list the reasons they think agile is horrible. Very few people outside of project management care about the distinction between the different types of PMOs. Some will tell you they had one before and it didn't work, so they don't see a point in trying it again. Trying to explain the differences might work, and might not.
Here are some definitions from PMI - https://www.pmi.org/learning/thought-leade...r-organization. Your organization may fit nicely into one of the several types, or something in between. If your organization is already called a PMO, and is recognized as such by other departments in your company, don't try to change the name, now. Just make sure it's clear what you do and focus on adding value. Being seen as delivering value to the business is more important than meeting a textbook definition. Saving Changes...
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