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The project management office (PMO) is the organizational response for managing the business process of project management.  PMO's are normally responsible for project governance.

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Quick reference

Project Management Office and Project Governance

The Project Management Office (PMO) is the organizational response to project management.  The PMO manages the process of project management and conducts governance activities for the organization.

When to use

Organizations with multiple projects at multiple locations will often create a PMO to provide common practices and standards for the management discipline of project management.  The PMO is also able to accumulate project metrics to enable the measurement of the effectiveness of the project management methodology by senior management.  Most PMOs conduct governance activities to reduce project risk by ensuring best practices are being used.

Instructions

Project Management Office (PMO): “A management structure that standardizes the project-related governance processes and facilitates the sharing of resources, methodologies, tools and techniques.”

Every PMO is different.  It must react to the business environment, project management methodology and the stakeholders.  However, virtually all PMOs are responsible to create and maintain one or more methodologies and virtually all PMOs are responsible for project governance.

Project Management Office Levels

The PMBOK® Guide has identified three types of PMOs.  These three types provide an increasing level of oversight and control of projects.

  • “Supportive. Supportive PMOs provide a consultative role to projects by supplying templates, best practices, training, access to lessons learned and information from other projects. This type of PMO serves as a project repository. The degree of control provided by the PMO is low.
  • Controlling. Controlling PMOs provide support and require compliance through various means. The degree of control provided by the PMO is moderate. Compliance may involve:
    • Adoption of project management framework or methodologies;
    • Use of specific templates, forms, and tools; and
    • Conformance to governance frameworks.
  • Directive. Directive PMOs take control of the projects by directly managing the projects. Project managers are assigned by and report to the PMO. The degree of control provided by the PMO is high.”

Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK® Guide) – Sixth Edition, Project Management Institute, Inc., 2017, Page 48, and Glossary definition, Page 716.

Project Manager versus PMO Responsibilities

Project managers often question the need for a PMO.  They are responsible for their project and they don’t need help from others who are not regular team members.  In fact, sometimes the PMO acts as a disrupting influence within a project.  This is due to the different responsibilities of each.  The project manager is focused on meeting the unique project objectives.  The PMO is often focused on broader program or business goals and on making the most efficient use of the project resources within the business.   Both are focused on risk mitigation, but sometimes from different perspectives.  Focusing on risk will normally help to ease the tension.

Project Governance

The PMBOK® Guide defines project governance as, "The frameworks, functions, and processes that guide project management activities in order to create a unique product, service, or result to meet organizational, strategic and operational goals." 

The focus of governance should be risk mitigation.  While governance will often include audits or checks on project practices, it works best when those conducting the governance provide both positive and negative feedback to the project manager and project team. Specific governance activities and reviews will be tailored to the organization’s project management methodology and practices.

Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK® Guide) – Sixth Edition, Project Management Institute, Inc., 2017, Glossary definition Page 715.  PMBOK is a registered mark of the Project Management Institute, Inc.

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  • 00:04 Hi, this is Ray Sheen, let's talk about the project management office, and
  • 00:08 project governance.
  • 00:12 The Project Management Body of Knowledge, the PMBOK guide,
  • 00:15 defines a project management office as a management structure that standardizes
  • 00:19 the project-related governance processes.
  • 00:21 And facilitates the sharing of resources, methodologies, tools, and techniques.
  • 00:26 PMOs come in many shapes and sizes, there are a variety of responsibilities and
  • 00:31 structures assigned to PMOs.
  • 00:34 One typical responsibility is to collect metrics from many projects and integrate
  • 00:38 those project matrix into reports for senior management and stakeholders.
  • 00:42 They present the health of all the projects across the entire portfolio.
  • 00:46 And normally they're also responsible for
  • 00:48 developing and maintaining the project management methodology.
  • 00:52 Including the reviews, and gates, along with the tools, templates, forms,
  • 00:55 and software applications that are used in projects.
  • 00:59 Also, most organizations will have the PMO do the project governance activities.
  • 01:04 Ensuring the projects are following the methodology and using the tools correctly.
  • 01:10 As I mentioned, PMOs come in all shapes and sizes.
  • 01:13 However, they generally fall into one of these three types.
  • 01:16 Obviously, there can be some variation in the way any specific organization
  • 01:20 implements their PMO.
  • 01:22 The first type is a supportive PMO, this PMO does not direct or control projects.
  • 01:28 Rather, it is a subject matter expert in the organization that supports
  • 01:31 the project managers and project teams on project management topics.
  • 01:36 The PMO consults with the project teams about best practices and
  • 01:40 the proper use of tools and templates.
  • 01:42 They provide training of project manager procedures and practices.
  • 01:45 And they collect lessons learned in one project, and
  • 01:48 share those with other projects, becoming a repository for project information.
  • 01:53 This type of PMO has little direct control over what the project team actually does.
  • 01:58 The next type of PMO I wanna discuss is the controlling PMO.
  • 02:03 This type performs all the same duties and functions of the supportive PMO.
  • 02:07 But in addition,
  • 02:08 it takes control of the project management methodology used by the project.
  • 02:12 The PMO does not just consult with project managers and teams.
  • 02:16 It requires compliance with the project management methodology, or
  • 02:20 approves any deviations.
  • 02:22 The PMO will direct the use of frameworks or methodologies.
  • 02:25 It requires the project work be completed with specific tools, templates, and forms.
  • 02:30 While the project teams can still do the work in the manner that they think best,
  • 02:34 they have to document it on the right forms.
  • 02:36 And complete everything in the methodology before they're allowed to
  • 02:39 go forward on the project.
  • 02:41 The PMO control, in this case, is moderate.
  • 02:45 The third type of PMO is the directive PMO.
  • 02:48 This type of PMO does everything that supportive and controlling PMOs do.
  • 02:51 And in addition, this PMO is responsible for managing the project.
  • 02:56 In this case, the project managers and
  • 02:58 often the core team members are in the PMO.
  • 03:01 The PMO is not just encouraging good practice
  • 03:04 or checking on whether the team is using good practice.
  • 03:07 The PMO actually plans and implements the good practices on every project task.
  • 03:12 The PMO directly manages the project resources and
  • 03:15 therefore is responsible for project results.
  • 03:18 In addition to being responsible for the methodology.
  • 03:21 The PMO control in this case is high.
  • 03:24 Let's take a look at project governance and compliance.
  • 03:27 The PMBOK guide defines project governance as the frameworks, functions, and
  • 03:31 processes that guide project management activities.
  • 03:34 In order to create a unique product, service,
  • 03:37 or result to meet organizational strategies and organizational goals.
  • 03:41 Governance is the application of a framework
  • 03:43 that's focused on reducing the risk of project failure.
  • 03:47 The oversight and governance function is to make sure that the project team
  • 03:50 has not made some bone headed mistake along the way.
  • 03:54 It's not about punishment, it's about continuous improvement.
  • 03:58 Project governance is often implemented in several layers or dimensions.
  • 04:02 One aspect is to audit the project to be certain that the methodology and
  • 04:05 frameworks are being used, and used correctly.
  • 04:08 This may be formal audits or informal checks of the project plans, documents and
  • 04:13 deliverables.
  • 04:14 Another aspect of the governance is providing feedback on project performance.
  • 04:18 I don't just mean cost and schedule performance.
  • 04:21 It also includes how well the project is addressing risk,
  • 04:24 handling team member conflict, or dealing with stakeholders.
  • 04:28 A good governance interaction will include commendation for
  • 04:31 what the team is doing well, and not just a critique of what is going wrong.
  • 04:36 And of course, the governance function needs to be tailored for
  • 04:38 your organizational culture and maturity.
  • 04:41 When introducing a new methodology or techniques, there should be
  • 04:44 a lot more of the friendly coaching persona rather than the formal auditor.
  • 04:50 Not all companies have a PMO, but many do, and
  • 04:53 you can expect some questions on the PMP exam will include the context of a PMO.
  • 04:59 Understanding what they do and what they're normally responsible for
  • 05:04 will make it easier to understand and correctly answer those questions.

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PMI, PMP, CAPM and PMBOK are registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.

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