These range from the simple PMO that focuses on organization-level consolidated reporting, up to

the PMO Resource Center, where the project managers and teams report into the PMO.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT TRAINING

Project Management Basics
Project Management Software Tool Training
Leadership Training
Advanced PM Skills Development
PMP Preparation
Business Alignment Training

PMO STAFFING AND DEVELOPMENT

PMO staffs have considerable experience10 years on average; and almost half (45%)
have PMPs

implementing PM standards and policies, monitoring performance, and coaching and

mentoring are the top functions performed by the PMO.

TOP 10 PMO FUNCTIONS

Project/program monitoring and controlling

PM methodology, standards implementation/ management

Project policies, procedures, templates implementation/ management

PM coaching and mentoring

Project/program initiation

Project/program planning

Project/program closing

Multi-project coordination

Portfolio tracking (performance monitoring)

Alignment of projects with strategic objectives

TOP 5 PMO CHALLENGES/CONSTRAINTS

Organizational resistance to change 51%
PMO processes seen as overhead 47%
Having enough time/resources to devote to strategic activities 45%

Demonstrating the added value of the PMO 43%

Inadequate resource management capability 43%

TOP 5 PMO PRIORITIES OVER THE NEXT 12 MONTHS

Implement
Implement
Implement
Implement
Implement

resource planning and forecasting process 58%

/ enhance reporting, analytics, dashboard tools 57%
/ enhance core PM processes 57%
/ enhance portfolio management process 55%
/ enhance governance process 54%

In general, the value of a common project management process includes:

Reduced cycle time

Reduced delivery costs

Improved quality of project deliverables

Early identification and proactive management of project issues and risks

Better containment and management of project scope

More opportunities to leverage and reuse knowledge

Improved accuracy of estimates

Better communication with clients and stakeholders

Improved perceptions of your organization by your clients

Improved people and resource management

Reduced time to get up to speed on new projects

The PMO builds or licenses a common set of project management processes and templates,
which saves each project manager or organization from having to create these on their
own. These reusable project management components help projects start-up more quickly
and with much less effort.

After the project management processes are deployed the PMO enhances and supports
them over time. As new or revised processes and templates are made available, the PMO
deploys them consistently to the organization.

The PMO facilitates project communication by defining a common terminology. There is less
misunderstanding and confusion within the organization if everyone uses the same
language and terminology for project related work.

The PMO sets up and supports a common repository so that prior project management
deliverables can be candidates for reuse by similar projects, further reducing project startup time.

The PMO provides training (internal or through vendors) to build core project management
competencies and a common set of experiences. If the training is delivered by the PMO,
there is a further reduction in overall training costs paid to outside vendors.

The PMO delivers project management coaching services to help apply good practices on
specific projects. Coaching services can help project managers understand and apply the
practices more quickly. Projects at risk can also be coached to help them complete
successfully or at least ensure that they do not get any worse.

The PMO tracks basic information on the current status of all projects in the organization
and provides project visibility to management in a common and consistent manner.

The PMO tracks organization-wide metrics on the state of project management, project
delivery and the value being provided to the business by project management in general,
and the PMO specifically.

The PMO acts as the overall advocate for project management to the organization. This
includes educating and selling management and team members on the value gained
through the use of consistent project management processes.

Low-Tech Templates
Most of the templates in PMOStep are simple MS Excel and Word documents. The templates are in
this format so that you can easily see what information is on them and what the value of the
information is. The templates do not have to be implemented in this format in your organization.
First, if you use Excel, you will likely want to combine a number of related templates into multiple
tabs in one spreadsheet. Second, if your organization has access to more sophisticated tools, you
can implement the templates in that technology instead. For instance, many of the templates
would be good candidates to place in MS ACCESS, Lotus Notes, HTML/web, etc.

1.

PMOStep sees the deployment and support of project management processes and discipline
within an organization as a culture change initiative. That is, you are asking people to
change how they do their jobs. The PMO will help people in the organization be more
productive and help project managers complete projects within expectations. The overall
success of the PMO will hinge on how well the use of the consistent project management
methodology is integrated into the culture. In other words, if the PMO rolls out a project
management initiative, but the staff members do not internalize project management into
their normal routine, the PMO will not be successful. Likewise, if the central PMO is
disbanded (for whatever reasons) without the project management processes being
integrated into part of the culture, the PMO will not be successful.

2.

Because implementing project management is a process and not an event, the PMO should
be established with a long-term horizon in mind. Of course, business conditions change,
and PMOs are not immune to cutbacks. However, if the PMO is established with a shortterm deployment mindset, and not a long-term culture change mindset, it will ultimately be
unsuccessful.