Project Environment Interface Concepts

The PMO should be the centrally recognized authority for project management within the relevant organization. This centralization provides for consistent leadership and management across all projects, in contrast to each project being an independent work effort accomplished as dictated by individual or departmental interests and priorities. The PMO provides the common level of project management oversight and control that spans all projects. Recognition of the PMO as a central authority facilitates: a consistent and repeatable approach to project management based on preferred standards and practices; translation and integration of business interests from a single and reliable source; technical guidance for achieving accuracy in project planning, tracking, and forecasting; and aggregation of project performance results for timely management review.

The PMO presents project management and project manager interests to senior management. It has a primary role to interface with executive and senior managers to convey not only project performance results, but also to identify the needs of the project environment that will make it more technically viable, more professionally competitive, and more aligned with advancements in the project management discipline. The PMO's authority coincides with its responsibility to keep senior management informed about the state of capability within the project environment.

The PMO's "project governance" function prominently includes efforts to work with executives and senior managers to solicit and implement their guidance regarding oversight and control of project performance and project management activities. This is generally accomplished through mutual participation on advisory boards and in decision-making forums. This is the PMO's direct interface with business managers at all levels in the relevant organization. It is the primary means to identify, consolidate, and translate organizational business decisions into actions or directives requiring implementation in the project management environment.

The PMO also is ideally situated to develop, guide, and possibly manage the distribution of authority given to project managers. More specifically, the PMO can pursue expansion of project manager authority levels promoted by concepts of modern project management. It can assist in defining the qualifications associated with increasing levels of authority, and then collaborate with functional managers to identify individuals demonstrating skill, knowledge, and experience aligned with those qualifications. The PMO also can coordinate with project sponsors to assist them in developing project charters that specify authority for each project undertaken. Some PMOs may take on the responsibility for issuing project charters.

Of course, the PMO also needs a charter to conduct its business. This PMO function facilitates the creation of a PMO charter along with its coordination and approval at the executive level.