Introduction

There are 4 levels at which a PMO can operate:

• Enterprise level – EPMO ( portfolio management );
• Division level (portfolio management and programme management);
• Business unit level ( programme management and project management );
• Project level (project management).

Within each of these levels, the PMO structure which is set up maybe permanent, temporary, or a combination of the two.

A key point about PMOs is that there is no one-size-fits-all approach which works for all organisations. Every organisation has its own structure, culture, business goals, resources, policies and unique circumstances. When designing a suitable PMO structure, it is important to consider all these factors.

P3O model example

The P3O (Portfolio, Programme and Project Offices) ^[1] framework suggests an example PMO model shown on the diagram below.

London Olympics 2012 Programme Office example

The 2012 Olympics programme office was an example ^[2] of a successful PMO implementation. This PMO provided assurance to high-level government bodies. It also provided oversight role for the 4 main programme objectives.

Its key role was to act as a ‘critical eye’ by providing scrutiny, reviewing and reporting of performance, monitoring and measuring progress against programme delivery plans, and proactively challenging risks, issues and changes across the programme.

It used common standards for reporting performance to government and management dashboards for the governance bodies. The PMO reported to the Programme’s Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) and was empowered to challenge at the highest levels. It was mainly concerned with putting in the right framework, rather than imposing rigid standards.

The secretariat and office administration, finance and strategic communications functions were provided through separate but linked teams. This allowed the PMO to provide the ‘critical eye’ without having to worry about day-to-day operational functions.

Responsibilities

• Implement guidelines, procedures and templates to collect and maintain consistent data;
• Facilitate the creation and update of project plans ;
• Implement regular progress reporting and monitor project progress;
• Assist the project manager in the collation of highlight reports;
• Establish and maintain an information management system;
• Establish risk, issue and change control processes and templates, and assist project staff in their delivery;
• Manage or facilitate the quality review process; Request a quote
• Provide a coordination service for the project.

Functional roles

In addition to the role above, there are several functional roles which may be performed by either the project specialist or project officer roles. These are:[email protected]

• Benefits and value – to ensure there is a consistent approach to benefits and value management on projects;
• Commercial – to ensure the organisation acts as an ‘informed customer’ when it comes to procurement and commercial contracts; +44 (0)207 148 5985
• Communications and stakeholder engagement – to ensure effective management of stakeholders;Courses
• Information management – be the custodian of all master copies of project information;PROJECT MANAGEMENT
• Consultancy and performance management – provide internal consultancy and expertise in PRINCE2project management processes®;Foundation
• Finance – establish professional financial control within projects;Learn the fundamentals of the PRINCE2 method.
• Issue – ensure effective issue control processes are in place on projects;Practitioner
• Change control – ensure effective change control processes are in place on projects;Includes Foundation & Practitioner combined option.
• Planning and estimating – facilitate the development and maintenance of Association for Project Management (APM)project plansProject Fundamentals Qualification (PFQ) and dependencies;Start your APM project management career.
• Quality assurance – ensure the projects’ products are capable of realizing the benefits expected;Project Management Qualification (PMQ)
• Resource management – ensure that current and future projects have the right human resources with the right skills at the right time and ensure those resources are used efficiently;Advance your APM project management expertise.
• Risk – ensure that projects have effective Project Risk Single Certificate Level 1 risk managementEnhance your project risk management skills. processes in place;AgilePM
• Reporting – collect data and generate reports to different stakeholders;®
• Secretariat/administrator – provide project administrative support; – Agile Project Management
• Tools expert – provide expertise in software tools which can support the change environment.Foundation

ReferencesPractitioner