Success Factors in Organizing a Project Management Office (PMO)

Management Processes Technology Applications Education, Training, and Team Building

Budgeting, Cost & Reporting

Supplemental Remarks

Insure there is executive ownership and accountability for the PMO.

For a PMO at the enterprise level, develop a server environment for project plans that supports a portfolio approach to plan and status all work packages.

Training includes technical updates for PMO staff and “town hall” type briefings for product managers who use the PMO.

Insure that cost models and scheduled tasks are tied together to produce a portfolio of projects with tailored schedules and cost estimates at the enterprise level.

To build commitment to use of PMO products and services, senior managers should include “plan of the month” reviews with product managers using status information from their project plans.

Establish clear management commitments via policies & procedures

Develop easy to use “at a glance” dashboards that provide access to project status information. This approach is both an action forcing mechanism and an incentive for program / project managers to keep their project plans current.

Insure that PMO staff understand the company’s products and services, its markets, and have a general understanding of competitive conditions in the firm’s industry.

Develop and use an earned value management system that tracks cost & schedule variances and corrective actions when needed.

Develop a knowledge base of lessons learned derived from correction actions implemented to address cost and schedule variances.

Define the relationship between the PMO and product managers.

Develop project plan templates for frequently used elements of schedules, e.g., long-lead time procurements.

Insure PMO staff have good communications skills and frequent face time with product managers.

Engage the CFO office in continuous dialog about cost estimating methods and financial reporting issues.

PMO Director needs to frequently assess how well the organization is serving its internal customers. Is it perceived as a benefit?

Continuously work to resolve role ambiguity among PMO methods, e.g., supportive & consultative role, compliance role, and hands-on role.

Develop an enterprise level WBS dictionary to define common tasks across product lines. Develop a WBS template which is a has standard elements, but is also flexible to address unique work processes.

Include briefing on PMO roles, responsibilities, as part of “onboarding” of new product managers and senior managers.

Develop auditable methods for matching incurred costs to schedule progress in support of EVM variance measurements. Apply same across the portfolio on a tailored basis.

Criteria for tailoring project management rigor should include funding level, duration, and risk (H, M L).

Control access to sensitive product, project data on need to know basis.

Use networked collaboration tools such as Sharepoint.

Train product managers to use web enabled access to project information.

Provide automated tools for importing labor rates into schedules.

Use Sharepoint to enhance PMO team productivity with office applications.

Title Page

“Success Factors in Organizing a Project Management Office (PMO”

Author

Dan Yurman djysrv@gmail.com Cell 216-218-3823

Date: April 7, 2014

Distribution: This document is drawn from industry best practices available through open sources. There is no proprietary information in it.