Blueprint Overview: Prepare an Actionable Roadmap for Your PMO

PMOs can’t do everything and be all things to all people. Define limits with a strong mandate and effective staffing. Make sure you have the skills and capacity to support required PMO functions.

• Problems with project management offices (PMOs) often start with a lack of a clear definition of what the PMO is actually about and what the organization does.
• Few organizations provide the minimum required services, and many are not using their PMOs effectively. Many people see the PMO as nothing more than the “project document police,” i.e. a source of red tape rather than a helpful support system. This impacts staffing and hiring.
• The PMO is often misunderstood as a center for project management governance when it also needs to facilitate the communication of project data from project teams to decision makers to ensure that appropriate decisions get made around resourcing, approval of new projects, etc.
• Accountability is something that is not clearly defined for many activities that flow through the PMO. Business leaders, project workers, and project managers are rarely as aligned as they need to be.