PMO Management Strategy

For decades Project Management Offices (PMOs) have had difficulties in getting started and staying on the right track. Some critics place the blame with the executive team for not taking on the right projects, taking on too many projects, allowing business areas to continue with their pet projects, and abdicating to the PMO the management and coordination of the resulting mess. As a firm that has set up PMOs in over one hundred organizations around the world, we would have to agree that there is some merit to this premise.

Other critics blame the PMO and project managers for having an overly inward mindset on theoretical PMO models, rigid and too detailed project management methodologies, and a focus on project documentation as the primary measure of progress as opposed to more contemporary agile views. In our humble opinion, blindly pursuing and adopting academic and theoretical approaches and models as opposed to practical business strategies tempered with good business, technology, and financial judgment is perhaps the greatest single reason for the poor track record of PMOs.

Time and time again, too often overlooked is the simple fact that when PMOs are driven by the needs of the business for which they exist to serve, they succeed. And when PMOs are driven by any other motivations or rationale, they fail. While the concept of being business-driven might seem easy and intuitive to grasp and execute, regrettably for many PMOs it is not. This is where we can help.

Engagement & Process

This short engagement is designed to help assess options and to determine the optimal and most effective PMO Business Plan for your organization. This will involve working with your leadership team to determine a unanimously agreed to Vision and Mission for the PMO. Based upon this Vision and Mission, an actionable set of Goals will also be consensually agreed to. Each Goal will be further defined and agreed to in terms of measurable Objectives. Based upon these measurable Objectives which represent the leadership team’s consensual position, we will help you in developing and drafting a PMO Strategy. This PMO Strategy will serve as the document of record which will identify your specific PMO Needs and Critical Success Factors. These PMO Needs and Critical Success Factors will be assessed in terms of your Current State, Improvement Desired, and Benefit of achieving the Improvement Desired and will serve as input into the Implementation Plan for your PMO.

Value Proposition - PMO Management Strategy

"Our initial efforts to set up our PMO failed, not because of people, process, or tools but because of our PMO strategy. Though well intended, our PMO was too focused on theoretical models and approaches. BOT's team and approach to PMO strategy development helped us to develop a business-driven strategy for our PMO that is derived from and aligned to the business reasons for which the PMO exists to serve."

- CIO, Software and Technology Provider