Program Manager, PPM&PMO Specialist.| Coppel, Mexico.Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico
A colleague came to me the other day asking if being a PMO was a good move because her boss suggested it. When I asked her what she would do, she said 'manage projects.' I told her she should ask her boss to explain the specific activities, because the term PMO is used very generally. Have any of you experienced a similar situation where the term PMO is used in a very general way?" Saving Changes...
PMOs come in all sizes, flavors and purposes so there has been some semantic drift in the understanding of the term. Most references will be to an organizational entity, either staffed or virtual.
A lot depends on what the acronym stands for - for an individual, if the company has a Project Management Officer, then that would fit the acronym too...
Kiron
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1 reply by Francisco Herrera
May 05, 2025 12:37 PM
Francisco Herrera
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Hi Kiron, I agree with you. It really depends on the context what PMO means. It will be interesting to hear what the rest of the colleagues in the forum think about this.
Regards! Francisco.
Saving Changes...
Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Francisco Herrera The term PMO is frequently used in an overly generic manner, which can lead to misunderstandings about its actual purpose and scope.
Depending on the organization, a PMO can refer to a Project, Program, or Portfolio Management Office, and its functions can range from administrative support to strategic governance, capability building, benefits realization, or resource management.
Without a clear definition, assumptions easily arise—such as equating "being in the PMO" with "managing projects." In practice, many PMOs do not manage projects directly but provide frameworks, tools, oversight, and alignment with strategic goals.
Using the term PMO without specifying its purpose, services, and positioning within the organization creates ambiguity, dilutes its value, and can lead to mismatched expectations.
After all, would we accept the term Finance Department to mean anything from bookkeeping to strategic investment planning—without distinction?
For PMOs to truly deliver value, precision in language must reflect precision in purpose. Promoting clarity in terminology is not a matter of semantics—it is fundamental to enabling alignment, accountability, and value delivery.
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1 reply by Francisco Herrera
May 05, 2025 6:48 PM
Francisco Herrera
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Luis I agree completely that the term PMO can be too general. It's important to be clear about its purpose. Maybe that's how it started with Project Managers in our company, and now at least their role is clearer.
Product Operations Program ManagerBarcelona, Cataluña, Spain
A title hardly says what the role is about; even the extensively used term "project manager" is often poorly understood (seen as a glorified task manager rather than a business partner). Aligning expectations and clearly defining the responsibilities of the role is more important that the title itself.
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1 reply by Francisco Herrera
May 06, 2025 12:28 PM
Francisco Herrera
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Eduard I agree with your view of the Project Manager role completely. I think aligning expectations and clearly defining responsibilities should be a strong, built-in process for our PMBOK process resources, not just something assumed by the title.
Absolutely, Francisco. I’ve often seen “PMO” used as a catch-all term, which can create confusion. It’s crucial to clarify whether the role involves governance, support, delivery oversight, or strategic alignment. Asking about responsibilities, reporting lines, and expected outcomes helps define the scope and ensures the role fits the person’s career path.
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1 reply by Francisco Herrera
May 07, 2025 7:39 PM
Francisco Herrera
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Yes Pavan, those are very good points to start working on and applying. It's important to clarify those things about the PMO role.
Program Manager, PPM&PMO Specialist.| Coppel, Mexico.Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico
May 03, 2025 7:07 AM
Replying to Kiron Bondale
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Francisco -
PMOs come in all sizes, flavors and purposes so there has been some semantic drift in the understanding of the term. Most references will be to an organizational entity, either staffed or virtual.
A lot depends on what the acronym stands for - for an individual, if the company has a Project Management Officer, then that would fit the acronym too...
Kiron
Hi Kiron, I agree with you. It really depends on the context what PMO means. It will be interesting to hear what the rest of the colleagues in the forum think about this.
It is always important to define your terms. Even the P in PMO can mean project or program depending on the employer.
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1 reply by Francisco Herrera
May 11, 2025 3:37 PM
Francisco Herrera
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Thanks Keith Novak you're right, it's very important to define terms clearly. Could you share which terms you think are most important to define at the beginning of a project or when talking about PMOs?
Program Manager, PPM&PMO Specialist.| Coppel, Mexico.Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico
May 03, 2025 7:48 AM
Replying to Luis Branco
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Francisco Herrera The term PMO is frequently used in an overly generic manner, which can lead to misunderstandings about its actual purpose and scope.
Depending on the organization, a PMO can refer to a Project, Program, or Portfolio Management Office, and its functions can range from administrative support to strategic governance, capability building, benefits realization, or resource management.
Without a clear definition, assumptions easily arise—such as equating "being in the PMO" with "managing projects." In practice, many PMOs do not manage projects directly but provide frameworks, tools, oversight, and alignment with strategic goals.
Using the term PMO without specifying its purpose, services, and positioning within the organization creates ambiguity, dilutes its value, and can lead to mismatched expectations.
After all, would we accept the term Finance Department to mean anything from bookkeeping to strategic investment planning—without distinction?
For PMOs to truly deliver value, precision in language must reflect precision in purpose. Promoting clarity in terminology is not a matter of semantics—it is fundamental to enabling alignment, accountability, and value delivery.
Luis I agree completely that the term PMO can be too general. It's important to be clear about its purpose. Maybe that's how it started with Project Managers in our company, and now at least their role is clearer.
Program Manager, PPM&PMO Specialist.| Coppel, Mexico.Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico
May 05, 2025 5:31 AM
Replying to Eduard Hernandez
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A title hardly says what the role is about; even the extensively used term "project manager" is often poorly understood (seen as a glorified task manager rather than a business partner). Aligning expectations and clearly defining the responsibilities of the role is more important that the title itself.
Eduard I agree with your view of the Project Manager role completely. I think aligning expectations and clearly defining responsibilities should be a strong, built-in process for our PMBOK process resources, not just something assumed by the title.
Program Manager, PPM&PMO Specialist.| Coppel, Mexico.Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico
May 05, 2025 10:32 AM
Replying to Pavan Maddi
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Absolutely, Francisco. I’ve often seen “PMO” used as a catch-all term, which can create confusion. It’s crucial to clarify whether the role involves governance, support, delivery oversight, or strategic alignment. Asking about responsibilities, reporting lines, and expected outcomes helps define the scope and ensures the role fits the person’s career path.
Yes Pavan, those are very good points to start working on and applying. It's important to clarify those things about the PMO role.
Thanks a lot! Francisco. Saving Changes...
Reza MandaraPMO ManagerSouth Jakarta, Dki Jakarta, Indonesia
Many companies who establish a PMO but with little knowledge on the details of the role usually just use the team as a do-it-all for other divisions who have initiatives but have no resource to execute them. Hence, it becomes a pool of project managers which functional managers can "hire" internally to achieve their project goals. It's good when the functional manager and team has the adequate support and responsibility as they will be the end user. Unfortunately, more often than not the functional manager usually just says what outcome they want with little support and leaves it to the PMO to make it happen, and when something goes wrong it's on the PMO.
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2 replies by Francisco Herrera and Reza Mandara
May 12, 2025 1:34 PM
Francisco Herrera
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Yes Reza Mandara , I've seen cases like that. It's like others take credit if things go well, but the PMO becomes the scapegoat if things go wrong. From your experience, what could be done to avoid or at least mitigate that kind of situation?
Regards!
Francisco.
May 12, 2025 1:54 PM
Reza Mandara
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Hi Francisco Herrera , one option is the PMO should propose an enterprise project management policy. The policy would mention that functional teams must appoint a "business project manager" that would be their main PIC to ensure project ownership and decision making by the functional team. This business project manager would pair up with a PIC from the PMO, hence making the PMO like an internal project management consultant instead of THE project manager. The business project manager would not have to be fully knowledgeable in project management, but they are always there in project meetings and in decision-making processes to ensure that main accountability is theirs, not the PMO's.
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