According to Gartner, investments in a PMO as a work management discipline can provide common planning and reporting processes and bring structure and support to evaluating, justifying, defining, planning, tracking and executing projects. It also encourages the resolution of conflicts caused by limited resources and other constraints.
For over a decade now, the notion of Project Management Office (PMO) has been a newly adopted culture by most organizations involved in project management. According to the State of the PMO 2012 Survey, about 87 percent-of organizations rely vividly on the PMO and that is a 39 percent jump since 2000.
Another survey conducted by the Project Management Institute (P.M.I.)-Pulse of the Profession Survey– in 2011 showed that companies that have a PMO closed many more projects on time, within or under budget and ultimately met their strategic goals compared to their counterparts without a PMO.
A well-designed, well-structured and competently represented PMO within an organization is essential to its success. This said, it is nevertheless important that each organization fashions its PMO in consideration of its needs, objectives, strategies and above all its goals.
No matter what the reasons or motives behind the creation of a PMO could be, every PMO has a sole role: provide centralized and coordinated management and support for all the projects executed within the organization. In other words, a PMO manages all the projects managers of an organization by constantly supporting the business objectives of the organization.
BostonSolux PMO helps many organizations complete their projects on time and under budget.
- By setting standards of best project management practices, Bostonsolux PMO not only provides practitioners (project management) with necessary tools and techniques to conduct their tasks more efficiently but also gives additional resources such as principles, templates and a myriad of knowledge for a successful project management experience.
- BostonSolux PMO does not just set standards; it is also its duty to make sure the standards are being implemented properly. This is done through quality assurance or the performance of routine assessments to make sure agreed upon procedures are followed.
- BostonSolux PMO Serves as the “eyes” of upper management on the various projects of the organization. This role is as essential as the previous. The PMO provides management with updates and reports project status of all projects within the organization. For this role, PMO relies on project managers’ periodic reports. This role is crucial within projectized organizations with hundreds of dissimilar projects being executed concurrently.
- Any novice project manager who started a career in an organization with a PMO could testify on how helpful and beneficial the structure has been to his professional ascension. How exciting would it be for a project manager to know that there are readily available solutions to most of the constraints, issues or problems he might come across during his project life cycle? That would give a sense of peace and tranquility, wouldn’t it? This is where a PMO becomes a center for excellence: A source for guidance, advice, support and coaching not only for non-seasoned project managers but even for experienced ones moving from one industry to the other.
Justin K. Kolani, PMP
Project Management Office, BostonSolux