Introduction

The Complete PMO: Concept Overview

During the past decade, modern project management precepts have emerged to instill a vitalized, professional approach to project management across countless industries. Individual capabilities in project management have been strengthened and enlarged through a combination of developments in project management processes and techniques, implementation of training programs, and automated tools that use advanced design concepts and technology. As a result, today's project managers who practice these principles find themselves in the dual roles of a technical expert in a particular specialty or discipline as well as the business leader for the project.

The Complete Project Management Office Handbook extends these modern project management concepts and considerations into the scope of project management oversight, control, and support. It recognizes the need for an organizational entity — the project management office (PMO) — to perform in a capacity that achieves one or more of these three operational objectives. It positions the PMO as a business integrator — whether in a role that is limited to managing multiple projects as a program or expanded to serve as a business unit representing the organization's project management environment — to encompass all the people (project stakeholders), processes (methodologies and practices), and tools (automated systems and work aids) that manage or influence project performance. In either case, the PMO helps both the project manager and the relevant organization to understand and apply professional practices of project management and to adapt and integrate business interests into the project management efforts with which it is associated.

The relevant organization is the business unit or department that is influenced by PMO functions and that receives direct business benefits from PMO operations. As such, it is both the primary "customer" and the governing body of the PMO. In contrast, the sponsoring organization is that business unit or department that designs and implements the PMO capability, provides PMO resources, and holds responsibility for PMO functional and operational capability. Ideally, these two organizations are the same entity; this is normally the case when the PMO is first established. However, it is not uncommon for a sponsoring organization to establish a PMO for its own purpose and then emerge over time to serve the broader interests of a larger relevant organization or enterprise. Hence, the alignment of the PMO within the relevant organizational structure can be an indicator of its authority and responsibility and presents a major point of deliberation for PMO designers. Nevertheless, the depth and extent of PMO functional responsibility will usually guide its placement, which can be adjusted as organizational needs warrant.

The Complete Project Management Office Handbook focuses on what can be done to establish the depth and extent of PMO functional responsibility that the relevant organization requires. This is effected through two primary perspectives. First, The Complete Project Management Office Handbook considers five stages of PMO capability along a competency continuum. These represent progressive stages of PMO development and capability categorized specifically as a frame of reference. Each PMO stage suggests a particular level of functional capability that the PMO will have achieved if functions are fully implemented. The five PMO stages are also indicative of organizational maturity in project management, with the PMO's role and responsibilities advancing from project management oversight and control at the lower end of the competency continuum to strategic business alignment at the higher competency stages.

The second focus of The Complete Project Management Office Handbook is in the presentation of 20 function models that can be used to guide deliberation and development of PMO operational capability. These models suggest what capability can be realized through comprehensive implementation of each PMO function. Note that the actual implementation of PMO functions in an organization will undoubtedly be refashioned as adaptations of the function models presented in this book, depending on the appropriate use and fit within the relevant organization.

The following sections describe the PMO competency continuum, the PMO functions, and the underlying concepts regarding the context and considerations for PMO implementation.