Project Management Office (PMO): Who Are We?
By: Yara Elwazir – Electrical Engineer and Stakeholders & Communications Manager at Be Mega for Project Management
Some stakeholders worry that having a PMO that oversees projects will unnecessarily slow down the execution process. However it is much more likely that the benefits of the PMO have gone unrecognized. Project management offices have exploded in popularity over the last decade. According to PM Solution’s research, the percentage of companies with a PMO has nearly doubled since 2000, with 85 percent of companies adopting a PMO in 2016. They also found that 30 percent of companies without a PMO plan to implement one within the year.
But what exactly is a PMO, and what purpose does it serve in project management and business?
Definition of a PMO
A project management office (PMO) is a group — internal or external to a company — that sets, maintains and ensures standards for managing projects across that organization. Basically, it is responsible for the centralized and coordinated management of all projects. Some of the tasks a PMO undertakes include the planning of the project portfolio, the development of project standards and PM strategies, the training of the project staff, as well as the monitoring and direct support of individual projects.
PMOs create and maintain project documentation and best practices, track metrics, and offer training. They may also report project progress to executives and stakeholders, help prioritize projects, and ensure all projects support the overall business objectives of the enterprise.
Roles and Responsibilities of a PMO
The PMO is the department that improves project management by standardizing processes and improving efficiency. A good PMO achieves the following for its clients:
- Provides tangible, repeatable, long-term benefits to the business
- Integrates data and information from corporate strategic projects
- Enables sharing of resources, methodologies, tools and techniques for project success across the enterprise
- Identifies and develops project management methodology, best practices and standards
- Coaches, mentors, trains and provides administrative and operational support for project managers and project teams
- Optimize the use of resources and solve resource conflicts
- Maintain current employee data, especially in terms of capacity, project allocations and skills
- Standardize methods and processes in project management
- Increase transparency of current and planned projects through up-to-date, reliable project data
- Promote information flow and communication
- Create a knowledge base with Lessons Learned and Best Practices from past projects to avoid repeat errors
- Monitor project progress and control the dependencies that affect resources, budgets, and schedules (project portfolio tracking)
Different types of PMO
In order of least support to most support, the three general types of PMOs are:
- A Supportive PMO:
A PMO that provides help only if it’s needed. Generally provides support in the form of on-demand expertise, templates, best practices, access to information and expertise on other projects, and the like.
2. A Controlling PMO:
Not only does the PMO provide support, but it also requires that the support be used. Requirements might include adoption of specific methodologies, templates, forms, conformance to governance, and application of other PMO controlled sets of rules. It enforces standards but is not in charge of everything. This is the most common type of PMO.
3. A Directive PMO:
The PMO directs project management of the work, support and controls the world, and leaves no space for wiggle room about following the templates, procedures and reporting requirements outlined by the PMO. These are most common in highly regulated, high risk environments. Each of the project managers originates and reports back to the directive PMO, which guarantees a high level of consistency of practice across all projects. This is effective in larger organizations that often matrix out support in various areas.
Do you need a PMO?
The larger the projects, and the bigger the budget, the more you can benefit from a PMO. If you’re about to implement any significant projects or strategy changes — or the business goals you already have aren’t being met, a PMO might be right for your organization.
You may need a PMO if:
- Projects repeatedly finish later than planned or over budget
- Projects are not properly aligned with business goals
- Your stakeholders do not have visibility into project progress
- You do not have a standardized process for initiating and executing projects
- You are not able to track project success accurately
PMO’s are often perceived as an unnecessary cost, but they provide a lot of value when performing properly. Just some of the benefits you can gain from a PMO are:
- Delivering projects under budget
- Increasing customer satisfaction
- Improving productivity
- Improving alignment of projects with the company’s objective
- Decreasing the number of failed projects
- Improving communication across projects and across the entire organization
- Applying best practices and minimizing errors for effective transfer of knowledge
- Optimizing project efficiency, increasing project quality and reducing project risk
Be Mega as a PMO
The PMO remains an increasingly essential part of a successful organization. As new technology emerges, project management is quickly adapting to make room for new methodologies and to take advantage of available tools. We’ve collected resources to help every project manager and project management professional pick the best approach and methodology for their team.
At Be Mega, our staff are highly experienced professional, expert engineers from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds. We offer our clients a multitude of services that ensure the fulfillment of all their project needs with maximum efficiency and cost-effectiveness. We also work closely with our clients to gain a detailed understanding of their vision and goals in order to provide our management services in a way that is uniquely tailored to their needs.
Here at Be Mega for Project Management, our engineering design team focuses on working proactively to deliver works of the highest caliber, and ensure our clients the best quality while maximizing cost returns per their budget.
We work efficiently to identify project challenges and milestones and develop comprehensive and uniquely tailored solution strategies that meet strict schedule requirements and cost objectives, and control expenditure. Our team is specifically hand-picked to skillfully provide detailed and accurate documentation, reviews, and cost estimates while maintaining a smooth line of communication between the different factions for the project’s execution. The collaborative approach applied at all the project implementation stages ensures that deliverables are handed over expeditiously and efficiently, therefore completing the project with minimal cost and time consumption.
From initial planning to building and implementation processes, we manage subcontractors and integrators to ensure maximum quality and efficiency for our clients. At Be Mega some of our services include:
Conclusion
PMO’s are incredibly useful resources for companies to use regardless of the industry. Unfortunately, we have found that the concept of hiring a PMO is still not very widely acknowledged in Egypt on a national scale. However, our goal at Be Mega is to establish rapport and make companies more comfortable with interacting with PMO’s. Overtime, people are becoming more familiar with the services that we provide, and how we can help their businesses profit.
Be Mega’s goal is to provide a global one-stop center of excellence, leveraging regional contacts and expertise when necessary. In the end, the key to a project’s success lies in its proper management, and with a PMO like Be Mega, where we have certified professionals highly specialized in project management, your business could not be in more capable hands.
References
- Lowe, Michael. “What Is a PMO? (Infographic).” Wrike, 22 Aug. 2018, wrike.com/blog/what-is-a-pmo-infographic/
- Miller, Jen A. “What Is a Project Management Office (PMO) and Do You Need One?” CIO, CIO, 19 Oct. 2017, cio.com/article/2441862/project-management/what-is-a-project-management-office-pmo-and-do-you-need-one.html
- Reiling, John. “The Three Different Types of Project Management Offices (PMO).” Project Smart, projectsmart.co.uk/3-different-types-of-project-management-offices.php
- Widmer , Annegret. “What Is a Project Management Office and Why Do We Need It?” Meisterplan, 22 June 2017, meisterplan.com/blog/what-is-a-project-management-office/
