PMO: Collaborate or Perish

When the dust settles on the question of how to make PMOs deliver successful projects, only one question remains: How effective was the level of collaboration between a project manager, other shared groups and the PMO?

Have We Reached Peak PMO?

The average lifespan of a PMO from inception to demise is approximately two years. That raises numerous questions regarding the purpose and relevance of PMOs. Those questions, however, can probably summed up with one general one: Have we reached peak PMO?

What Do Your PMs Think of Your PMO?

What is your PMO’s reputation among the PMs it serves? There could be a lot of distrust. Through experience, one manager discovered some potential problem areas that you may want to look at in your own organization.

Ensuring PMO Success

Despite their high failure rate, PMOs have the potential to deliver numerous benefits to the enterprise. Unfortunately, many PMOs fail. So what can executive leadership do to ensure success?

Demonstrating Value and Measuring Success through Planned Management

PMOs will have different contributions to the business based upon their unique mandate, goals and objectives. It is important to remember that PMO contribution is a matter of planned management execution, not an automatic or guaranteed success.

The Litmus Test for PMO Success

Although some feel that the labels PPM, PgMO and PMO should be used to distinguish management offices, their sharing of very similar governing processes and common characteristics have caused many to continue to use the term “PMO” to apply to all of them. Here, we identify six key virtues that make or break any one of the aforementioned acronyms.

Is Your PMO Set Up for Success?

The tasks the project management office are faced with can be daunting, so it may be helpful to keep a few basic tenets in mind. To set up your PMO for success, your best bet is to play it S.A.F.E., and play to win.

Annual Planning in the PMO

The PMO must have an easy time of annual planning, right? It's a service function that provides resources based on the overall project portfolio, and the organization determines which projects to approve. Based on those decisions, the PMO knows how it needs to adjust its resource model. But life’s not quite that simple...

The PMO Health Check

A program management office’s “health” may be similar to our own in that with a few measurements, we can get a sense of the state of the PMO. In this article, we look at a PMO’s health in relation to time reporting, budgeting and project reporting. By periodically measuring the relative efficacy of these three areas, we might begin to get a sense of a PMO’s overall health.

5 Steps Toward PMO Success

Ideally, it’s a centralized hub for organizing processes, managing special projects and facilitating the free flow of information across your enterprise. The ultimate Project Management Office is a model of defined and aligned processes, with results tracking and transparency to match. Try these tips for project management success.

What is the role of the PMO?

How is a PMO established?

How is a PMO effectively managed?