The most valuable approach includes various types of admin in the list of services of a PMO. However, the reason why certain 'admin' services are included and not others needs to be very clear. It needs to be evident that the services chosen add value by being within the PMO, whereas others should be left in the general organisational environment where these services can be used by projects and operational teams alike.
Read MoreThe PMO is an attribute of the business in the sense that the PMO mission is a permanent and organisation-wide objective. The PMO can only be understood, managed and improved in the context of the whole organisation in which it operates.
Read MoreA lot of PMO talent and organisational investment is wasted in this way. The actual disciplines being deployed are the right ones, and they may be done to a high level of skill in some cases, but the overall effect is a sub-optimal PMO because the focus is not on governance.
Read MoreWhen I suggest that the focus of PMO should be Governance, meaning that governance competency should be the lens through which to assess the list of services that a PMO should provide, I sense the panic in client's eyes. This is interpreted as a focus on methods, a standards police, a textbook-driven exercise lacking any pragmatism. I need to explain myself, because a focus on governance is the key to success for PMO.
Read MoreThere are two broad areas where PMOs can provide value in terms of corporate governance. One is working out and implementing the detailed cascade of delegation & decision-making (downward), and delivery & issue escalation (upward) that is necessary to maintain the whole project environment aligned. The other is in devising the least intrusive methods to detect and correct mis-alignment, while still ensuring that obstacles to delivery are removed from the way of project teams.
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