How a top PMO performance can power business change
The pace of modern life is frenetic. Instant news, notifications, updates, trends mean businesses can struggle to keep up. According to Ed Davies of Project One, having top Programme Management Office capabilities can be the difference for firms looking to stay ahead of the curve.
Programme Management Office (PMO) encompasses a range of key responsibilities in a business. These include project governance, defining and implementing project management standards, policies and procedures; stakeholder management, ensuring that there is excellent communication and collaboration across the project, stakeholders and wider impacted community; and risk and issue management, helping to identify, analyse and mitigate risks associated with the project, and to devise risk management strategies and plans.
“Now more than ever your change portfolio is critical for your business’ success,” explain Project One’s Ed Davies, in a blog post on the firm’s website. “Being left standing at the side of the road with old, outdated practices, tools or products isn’t an option.”
To give a new change programme best chance of success, a top PMO can make all the difference, according to Project One. But what sets the best kind of PMO apart from the rest?
The expert explains, “The badge of PMO is applied to a huge range of functions at different levels and with very different scopes. We know that PMOs are often perceived as an overhead, administrative or even a cottage industry. Addressing this objection can be a challenge for any change leader – because for many organisations it’s true. While one PMO may just book the meetings for a project and nothing more, others may focus on status reporting and bring little value to the delivery organisation beyond collating information. While keeping on top of the admin for a delivery, booking meetings, filing paperwork and, organising the go-live party are all important, they aren’t what makes a PMO. A great PMO, delivered by real specialists with real-world experience powering controlled, predictable change. We’ll share through this series of articles how great PMO can practically take steps to maximise the chances of successful delivery. With a great PMO in place you’ll see the value which any significant investment in change demands.”
The use of PMO is already widespread, 85% of firms have at least one PMO function, this number rises to over 95% in companies with revenues over a billion dollars. The use of PMO also looks set to grow, as nearly a third of companies without a PMO plan to establish one in the coming year. But illustrating the concept’s importance further, without a strong and efficient PMO “your changes are more likely to go off track, stakeholders to be unclear on the progress and decisions and will lose faith in your delivery team”.
To ensure a top PMO, it is “important to understand the strengths, weaknesses and maturity of your PMOs to make sure the maximum possible value is delivered. There is no ‘one size fits all’ PMO”. This means firms need to take stock of the type of PMO, its size, its maturity and how it underpins a company strategy: all of which needs to be agreed, implemented and nurtured.
Different Levels of PMO
PMOs commonly exist at different levels of the change organisation, each with its own unique functions. Understanding the right PMO for each level of the change organisation will help create the PMO function to drive change forwards.
At Project or Programme level
This PMO usually offers tactical services to support delivery and execution. This should be delivered in a consistent way across the change portfolio so Projects and Programmes can; be mobilised quickly with known controls, resources can easily move between deliveries without learning new approaches, and key messages aggregated without being re-written. Often this isn’t the case with Projects and Programmes developing their own governance and control silos, limiting the effectiveness of the delivery organisation as a whole.
At the portfolio level
Looking across the entire Portfolio of change for a particular area of the business or department the Portfolio PMO deliver a centralised service focusing on strategic goals and benefits for the department. The Portfolio PMO collects, consolidates, and summarises information from the different Projects and Programmes within the Portfolio.
Building a Portfolio level PMO which serves both the Projects and Programmes within it, and the leadership team, will result in a function which gives real insight and Portfolio wide control to change.
At the organisational level
A PMO which covers the entire enterprise allows for flexible and scalable capability across the whole organisation. The Enterprise PMO enables change demands to be balanced and the change needs of the organisation to be co-ordinated. By identifying and pursuing the best, most valuable change, optimal delivery portfolios can be executed. With standard, enterprise-wide tools, processes and techniques the Enterprise PMO can foster cross-departmental collaboration helping the organisation reach its strategic goals.
Davies concludes, “Having the different levels of PMO working hand-in-hand to power delivery of optimised portfolios of change with clear information, efficient processes and, predictable outcomes helps the change teams deliver the maximum value possible to an organisation. Remember ‘there is nothing permanent except change’ so it’s wise to make sure you’re getting the most value, and moving at pace in your delivery of change.”
