Is it me or does my company have their terminology a little mixed up? They have a bunch of what they call PMO's. These groups are responsible for approving projects, receiving updates on projects, and making high level decisions where high priority issues are involved. To me, that sounds like a Steering Committee or Oversight Committee, not a PMO. I thought a PMO was supposed to PRESENT project status, PRESENT or Recommend project prioritizations, but not have the final say, and control and manage the project process with utmost authority (in terms of standards adherence, etc.). Am I off base on this?
Here's how I view the Steering Committee versus PMO - The steering committee endorses business cases, provides direction, resolves issues and prioritzies work. The PMO provides central oversight for a number of projects and oversees them in terms of quality, issues, timeline, cost, scope, communication, stakeholder mgmt, resource allocation, etc. as they relate to the big picture. Saving Changes...
Anonymous
I think there are possibly a couple issues to resolve. The first is if PMO is Program or Project Management Office. This might affect the second issue of clearly define Roles & Responsibilities.
There are many ways to deploy a PMO and the level of authority and responsibility will vary. Ideally, I think, a PMO is responsible for the projects of the organization. The PMO provides the Project Management resources, controls the processes that will be followed, provides status reporting on the various projects, and is ultimately responsible for the success or failure of the project. If this is different then what you currently have, you might have an opportunity to suggest a better approach.
Leadership involvement and oversight is critical during a projects life cycle, but I wouldn't consider that oversight a "PMO". Instead, you might have what you suggested, a "Steering Committee" or "Advisory Board". Saving Changes...
Srikanth KrishManaging partner| GuruttamChennai, Tn, India
Steering committee provides Strategic directions while PMO provides Project directions.
Investment or disinvestment opportunities, Risk portfolios etc is owned by former.
Healthcare projects, Infrastructure projects, and others, its processes, health, status and alignment to business strategy etc is owned by later Saving Changes...
