SO, YOU WANT TO BUILD A PMO?
By Marc Hirshfield, MBA, PMP
One of the latest “buzz words” in many IT shops today is the introduction of a Project
Management Office (PMO). “Next year, we plan to build a PMO and this should resolve many of the
issues we have with our projects!” There are many hospitals who have successfully implemented
PMO’s, but the majority of hospitals (large and small) have either tried and failed, or are about to
embark on this initiative since executive leadership has decided it is time to invest. First and foremost,
the implementation of a PMO, especially for those of us that are PM’s, is a great thing. If your
organization has decided to start one, definitely embrace it and get involved. Building a PMO can be a
wonderful experience and if done right, can be a very effective and efficient way to build project
management maturity, competency and most importantly; empowerment of project managers.
Advantages of building a PMO:
- Central location for methodology, PM Resources, documentation control, policies and procedures,
career tracks and education for example.
- Central location for escalation and management of issues specific to the project manager.
- If set-up in a matrixed or projectized model, can become a very powerful model for issue resolution
and escalation. Strong PMO’s empower PM’s. A weak PMO is structured under a functional
model and will most likely not meet its fullest potential.
- Director of the PMO reports to a C-level. This is a common flaw of many PMO’s. If the manager
of the PM’s is not reporting to a C-level, then the PMO is truly not empowered and is just another
way to organize resources into a group.
- Sharing of experiences, lessons learned and historical information. Although this should be a
common theme within a project management group, introducing a PMO should help bridge communication among
PM’s since they are centrally located. A weekly conference meeting supports this example.
- Centralized budgeting and resource allocations.
- Centralized status to the C-level. Through the use of a dashboard approach (Red Yellow, and Green
status), the PMO should mature into an organization which provides status across projects, also
considering dependencies and potential conflicts through a structured change management process.
- Incorporation of a project review process.
- Supports the ability to provide return and value on investment (ROI & VOI).
Mistakes in creating a PMO:
- Having your PMO manager/director reporting to a functional manager and not a C-level.
- Not having consistent policies and procedures developed.
- Not having a methodology to follow and adhere to.
- No quality assurance process in place.
- Thinking you can just “start” a PMO across the entire IT department without embarking on
a group of diverse pilot projects with different project managers.
- Going after everything at once! Many organizations don’t need to “jump into” a
PMO. Since most organizations are in ad-hoc or firefighting mode, it may be easier to introduce a few
basic templates with a select group of PM’s. For example, introduction of a charter, risk
mitigation plan, issues logs, workplan, minutes and consistent status reports all located on a central
documentation repository. You may simply find the introduction of these basic tools will go a long way! Be willing to take small steps and small bites. You don’t need to swallow the entire elephant in one bite.
- If you are not sure what to do, get some third part help! Many times, PMO’s fail not because
of the people, but because of the politics. Many times having a third party involved helps cut through
this layer to support achievable results. If budgets are tight, touch base and network with a hospital
that has been successful. PMI® also has access to some great books in the market which will help
educate folks on what other industries have accomplished (the good, the bad and the ugly).
- Executive support is a must! Without executive sponsorship, frankly do not waste your time.
Building a PMO can be a daunting task. Treat building a PMO exactly like a real project. Start with a
SWOT analysis and Charter. I suggest you go through the same steps/process supported on any project
initiative and you should be in a much better position early on to determine if your organization is
positioned to be successful in implementing a PMO.
To learn more about VCS’s PMO JumpStart solution, please click on this link
www.getvitalized.com or e-mail me at
mhirshfield@getvitalized.com.