The Benefits of a Project Management Office

A Project Management Office (PMO) is an organizational structure responsible for establishing and monitoring standards for projects. Members of a PMO are responsible for project sponsorship, governance and integration within an organization's policies and procedures.

A Project Management Office may be beneficial to you or your company if:

1.       You want consistent methodology on multiple initiatives. A PMO will establish a universal template that can be applied across the board to manage and control various projects and initiatives simultaneously. This will ensure each initiative is delivered on time and budget with expected outcomes as planned by the Project Management Team, including all stakeholders involved who have been assigned roles/responsibilities through defined processes documented in an approved Project Charter.

2.       You require measurable results for a successful project. There is a need to prove that projects are being delivered as planned and whether they are on track or require adjustments. If your company is audited, there may be an expectation of proof that the initiatives you manage within your department/division were completed successfully and within expected costs, as well as with outcomes achieved. A Project Management Office can gather data from various sources such as:

• Projects managed by PMO members

• Projects not managed by PMO members (to see how they compare)

• Benchmark studies against organizational peers and best practices in industry to determine what could be improved upon (and should be considered an internal benchmark). Benchmarking will provide proof of success and allow for future comparison. 

3.       You require your Project Management professionals to be aligned with organizational goals and objectives. A Project Management Office will provide a universal language among all aspects of an organization (i.e., IT, Sales, Marketing, etc.) which will ensure the same vision is coming from all angles and business units are not working at cross purposes. Everyone in the organization should be working to achieve the same outcomes as well as contributing to initiatives that add value within their respective departments/functions and support companywide strategic initiatives set by senior management. 

4.       You wish to attract Project Managers who possess strong leadership skills and can work collaboratively with other stakeholders across various departments in your company or department/division you manage, such as:

•  Finance to determine cost implications of initiatives on the business and how they align with corporate objectives

•  Legal to ensure that information/data collected through projects will not be compromised or used in a manner that is contrary to company policy or illegal, for example by developing a project plan which places your organization at risk for legal issues such as data breaches, infringement of others' proprietary information etc.

5.       You need strong Project Management professionals who can work with minimal guidance from management and meet goals with fiscal responsibility and limited oversight. A Project Management Office will empower your staff by allowing them to make decisions based on expert knowledge within their discipline while gaining support from departments across the organization when needed, without requiring extensive oversight from senior management.

Looking to partner with the Visual Connections PMO on an initiative requiring an experienced team of project management professionals? Contact us to see how we can help!