How do you go about getting an effective PMO started?

We recently had the opportunity to meet in a work session format with several of our clients to discuss the question, “How do you go about getting an effective PMO started?”

Large organizations with many projects and programs have learned that having this type of function does bring value to an organization. These large organizations have been willing to stay the course and several have developed very effective PMO groups and organizationally accepted project processes.

We have found that for mid-sized and smaller organizations the value proposition becomes murkier and the willingness to stay the course in implementing project processes wavers with fluctuations in business conditions.

Our work session group included large and mid-sized organizations. The organizations ranged from ones that had established PMO’s and processes to ones that were just beginning to consider establishing a PMO and the associated processes.

We started our discussion with a review of the following PMO type concepts:

The groups that had established PMO’s agree with the functional description above for their PMO’s. The groups with no PMO’s were interested in how to get started and what pitfalls were encountered by those who had been through the implementation of a PMO and project management processes.

The group consensus as to what tasks to center around in starting a PMO function in a mid-sized or smaller organization revolved around:

Taking the time to the type of AS IS analysis outlined above will allow an organization to understand its needs and its capacity to implement and absorb a more formal PMO and project process approach.

From our experience in establishing and working with PMO’s we have identified the following characteristics that make sense during the implementation phase of PMO and project processes:

Clearpoint has the experience and resources to help your organization implement, fine tune or modify a PMO and its processes. For further information, please contact Doug Fortner at dfortner@clearpointco.com.

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