The
Project Management Office
By Thomas
B. Clark
Most companies today face the necessity of executing a continuing stream
of strategic and highly complex projects. Examples of such projects
include the development and introduction or implementation of new
products, processes, and systems; design, construction, maintenance,
or relocation of major facilities; marketing campaigns; mergers and
acquisitions; and special events. Any given company may have dozens
of such projects underway at all times, and success on each project
is essential to achieving and maintaining competitiveness.
Each project team is typically quite diverse – consisting of people who
represent different functional areas of the company, have different
educational backgrounds, live and work in different nations and
cultures, and may even speak different languages. The individuals
who are selected to manage these projects face major challenges,
especially since their primary job (such as engineering, marketing,
etc.) may not involve project management as a primary requirement or
skill.
To support their project managers and to increase their probability of
success, many companies have begun to create and staff a “project
management office” (or “PMO”). The purpose of this paper is to
explain the general concept, purposes, specific responsibilities,
and requirements associated with an effective project management
office.
Concept:
A project management office is a staff function that:
-
Builds, maintains, and improves the project management
system (project management policies and procedures, planning
templates, project management software tools, standard codes for
identifying resources and costs, standard report formats, etc.)
in the organization, and
-
Supports project managers and their teams in the
effective application of sound project management principles and
techniques to achieve project success.
-
Specifically excluded from this definition (although they
may be included in other versions of the project management
office concept) are the following responsibilities:
-
To conduct financial or cost/benefit analyses to
determine what projects will be undertaken.
-
To actually manage projects, including the unilateral
development of project plans and the direct control of
performance. This is the responsibility of the individual
appointed to manage each project working collaboratively with
their team.
-
To perform tasks in projects that are normally the
responsibility of other functional groups, such as procurement,
quality assurance, legal, or human resources departments.
Purposes:
While recognizing that projects are managed by project managers and
their teams, the over-riding purpose of the project management
office is help ensure the success of every project with respect to
the quality, time, and cost dimensions of performance. More
specifically, the purposes of the project management office are:
-
To provide for ongoing ownership and responsibility for
the application of project management in the organization.
-
To provide a permanent home for project management
expertise/knowledge, as individuals enter and leave the
organization over time.
-
To acquire the tools required to manage projects
effectively and efficiently.
-
To ensure the consistent application of project planning
and control processes on all projects.
-
To promote concise communication regarding projects
within the organization.
-
To provide computer support for the project management
process, freeing project managers to focus on building the team
and managing the work.
-
To organize and maintain an organizational repository of
project information that has value in planning future projects.
-
To conduct portfolio-level analyses (such as workload
projections for specific resources) across multiple projects.
-
To continuously improve the project management system and
the practice of project management within the organization.
Responsibilities:
The
responsibilities of the project management office can be divided
into two groups: (a) those related to building and maintaining the
project management system, and (b) those related to supporting the
effective application of sound project management principles and
techniques on specific projects:
Responsibilities in building, maintaining, and improving
the project management system
-
Determine training needs for project managers/teams and
acquire the appropriate training at the appropriate time.
-
Establish and document project management policies and
procedures.
-
Create an approach to establish priorities across
multiple projects and a methodology to apply those priorities to
the project planning and control processes.
-
Analyze the requirements for project management and
related software tools; and acquire, implement, integrate, and
maintain those tools. Evaluate new tools as they become
available.
-
Develop and disseminate standard coding structures and
report formats.
-
Create project planning templates (charters, work
breakdown structures, precedence networks, schedules, budgets,
etc.)
-
Collect and organize databases of actual project
performance data (durations, resource usage, costs, quality
measures, etc.)
-
Perform project management process audits and take action
to correct process deficiencies.
Responsibilities in supporting the effective application of sound
project management principles and techniques on specific projects
-
Facilitate (and ensure proper methodology of) the project
chartering/planning process as performed by the project team.
-
Facilitate (and ensure proper methodology of) the project
control/updating process as performed by the project team.
-
Perform data entry of project plan and actual performance
information.
-
Utilize the project management software tool(s) to
perform analyses and generate reports as required.
-
Analyze technical, policy, and resource relationships
across multiple projects.
-
Perform workload, cost, and cash flow roll-ups across
multiple projects.
Requirements:
For the project management office concept to work effectively, the
following conditions must exist:
-
Senior management must be committed to the disciplined
and consistent application of formal project management to all
projects.
-
The project management office should report directly to
an executive or an executive group at the level of project
sponsorship; that is, the same level to which project managers
report.
-
The project management office must be staffed with
individuals who collectively possess the following types of
knowledge, skills, and personal traits:
▪ Expertise in project planning and control methodologies
▪ Expertise in using project management software tools
▪ Expertise in implementing and integrating software tools
▪ Familiarity with the business, technical, and political
aspects of the projects performed in the organization.
○
Interpersonal skills
○
Group facilitation skills
○
Analytical skills
○
Communication skills
○
Process discipline
○
Attention to detail
Thomas B.
(Tom) Clark, Ph.D. is heavily involved in the development and
delivery of Project Success, Inc courses.
For more information contact
walter.urban@projectsuccess.com,
519-766-9295, or visit
www.projectsuccess.com.
[Contact the author for permission to republish or reuse this article.]
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