PMO Role 5: The critical success factor for PMOs
- 18 February, 2009 11:45
- Comments 3
More PMOs fail on this one factor than any other. This is largely because the PMO is so often positioned incorrectly.
PMOs are often seen to be derived from projects — i.e. they’re seen as a superset of project management. So they are positioned with some cross-project accountabilities but are missing the critical factor for their success — authority.
To be effective PMOs need to have authority. The authority to confront Sponsors, challenge project managers, reject poor business cases. This authority comes from the Project Investment Committee (PIC).
To be effective the PMO needs be set up and seen as, in effect, a (permanent) sub-committee of the PIC. All business cases/proposals go through them before submission to the PIC. They pick up and address problem projects before they’re reported to the PIC. They track and measure project changes and challenge if the project has become unviable or irrelevant. They commission health checks where necessary or step to recover in a crisis.
This can only be done if they have the requisite authority delegated by the PIC. No authority, no effectiveness. Simple.
With no authority the PMO will mainly be administrative, reorganising the deck-chairs into a portfolio view. Accepting and processing information inputs regardless of their value or significance. If they take on a project or governance team, they’ll lose. They have no standing.
Ideally the PMO should report to the chairman of the PIC, or one of their immediate subordinates. The head of the PMO needs to have access to this manager to escalate issues and problems to be addressed and to protect themselves politically.
Or they can just push paper. The value of your PMO is determined by where it is positioned in the organisation and what authority it therefore has.
Where is your PMO positioned?
Further support and useful tools to help you manage your investments, projects and portfolio are available from valuedeliverymanagement.com.
For the previous article in this the series visit "PMO Role 4: Cross-project synchronisation".
For the first article in this the series visit "PMO: What’s in a name?".
Jed Simms is CIO magazine's weekly project management columnist. Simms, founder of projects and benefits delivery research firm Capability Management, is also the developer of specialised project management and project governance Web site valuedeliverymanagement.com
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Comments
Todd
PMO Announcement Problem
I couldn't agree with you more. If you have a group of project managers who want to do things their way, it helps to have management behind you saying that you have the authority to make the decisions.
Right now, I am consulting for a company where the CFO is completely behind the PMO. He wants it in place to get the ERP going.
I asked him for an announcement of the PMO so that people would know it is coming and that it has authority. The PMO group got together to wordsmith the announcement and sent it to the CFO.
He said a) it was too long; and b)the keys to the business were not going to be handed over to the PMO.
Arrgggg. How do you deal with management that feel like they are losing power by setting up a PMO?
TBoehm30@BellSouth.Net
PMO Announcement Problem
How do you deal with management that feel like they are losing power by setting up a PMO?
They don't have the time to deal with the large projects managed by the group of people in a PMO. They wouldn't want to even if they had the time. They just won't admit it from the start.
hussey.mike0@gmail.com
The key role of a PMO is to make available constant services to make sure that troubles and <a href="http://www.iseeq.com/c/cell-phones.htm">cell phone deals</a> stay resolved and do not happen again for the reason that latest projects are always opening; it is not sufficient to merely resolve troubles with existing up to date projects. The PMO must proactively present a set of services that will meet up the recent <a href="http://www.iseeq.com/c/seo.htm">search engine submission</a>, as well as upcoming projects. These services fall into four different classes.
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