Last week StrategicFront partnered with Sciforma and delivered a presentation at the “Breakfast & Learn” event in Toronto. In this presentation SF team talked about a proven approach for assessing PMO Maturity in your organization.
Enjoy the highlights of the presentation, the slides and the full recording.
What is a PMO?
A Project Management Office (PMO) is a group or department within a business, government agency, or enterprise that defines and maintains standards for project management within the organization. The PMO strives to standardize and introduce economies of repetition in the execution of projects. The PMO is the source of documentation, guidance and metrics on the practice of project management and execution.
A PMO maintains an overview of projects, knows the company strategy, and ensures that both go hand in hand. However, the specific application areas of a PMO vary greatly from company to company.
A PMO is…
- a centralized structure that eases and expedites the delivery of projects through good project management discipline and the application of appropriate governance
- an entity that holds a holistic view of all projects and understands the business imperatives behind each initiative
- an information channel to make key functional units, and all stakeholders aware of their roles and responsibilities
- responsible for creating and communicating the overall project dashboard
A PMO is NOT…
- intended to be an added level of unnecessary bureaucracy or overhead
- doing the work but rather facilitating the execution in an integrated and consistent fashion
- a roadblock to business growth
- a manager of day-to-day business activities
A Viable PMO Should Provide Value
- Contribute to business growth – inject project management discipline from strategy formulation through benefits realization
- Reduce business risk – flexible, end-to-end project management process that balances rigor with overhead, with simple-to-use tools to plan, manage, track and report all project activities
- Keep management informed – provide regular updates to the leadership / executive team and contribute to ongoing executive reporting as it pertains to the status of execution
- Deliver successful projects – provide project management best practice discipline to guide and drive project delivery and realise desired benefits
- Serve as PM expert – set the standard, provide the tools / templates, be the resident advocate and model for good Project Management practice while mentoring, guiding and training
5 Steps to Improve PMO Maturity
- Know the PMO functions/departments being assessed and plan the assessment project
- Get the people aligned and conduct a Kickoff to get everyone on the same page
- Conduct the assessment and know where your PMO Maturity Level is today
- Determine the desired level of PMO maturity based on organizational strategic goals
- Develop a Roadmap to achieve the desired PMO maturity level
To reach your desired level of PMO maturity that will provide the most value, given your operating environment and level of investment available, consider strong partnerships with external parties that are solely focused on your success.
