The importance of PMO is increasingly recognized now more than ever. Companies had PMOs set up only for compliance purposes without them being utilized to their optimum level. There is misconception pervading across organizations about PMOs – their purpose, structure, benefits, roles involved, etc. Hence let me first outline why do PMOs exist & how can be made effective for organizations. In the abbreviation PMO, “P” might take different forms like Project, Program, and Portfolio depending on the level a PMO operates. PMO can operate at a department level to manage all projects within it or at an enterprise level to oversee functions at all business areas. PMOs are primarily defined as a business function that ensures effective delivery of the project. The major functions of PMO include coordinating and managing shared resources, developing the project methodology & processes along with the best practices & standards, Training & Development of PMs, coordinating communication across projects, management of project investments, and compliance & governance. So depending upon the maturity of an organization & the level at which PMOs are set up and empowered, their functions vary. PMOs are seen as an epicenter of all the stakeholder teams like PMs, Sponsors, Customers, Resource providers & Business leaders.

It’s imperative for organizations to realize the need for PMO in their organization setup. The functions that PMO should handle & the number of PMOs that should be set up are highly dependent on the project & program complexity and the anticipated needs by the highly volatile market conditions. The role of PMO should neither be redundant nor be over-loaded as it may prove to be ineffective in both cases. In the case of large complex programs, organizations might want to set up a PMO for each program to ensure greater accountability & effective execution of strategy. While it might appear inconsistent at an organization level with each PMO having their own standards & best practices tailored for their respective programs, a well-defined PMO at a strategic level or the Portfolio Management Office can help iron out these inconsistencies by having standards defined at an organization level.

One of the major reasons PMOs fail is they are not empowered sufficiently. PMOs are responsible to ensure that the project output should be in complete accordance with the business goals. Projects are mere vehicles to achieve business objectives & realize business goals. Business objectives could be a system upgrade to improve employee’s effectiveness in work, reducing operational costs to increase the bottom line, or increasing revenue. Many organizations set up consultative, supportive, or controlling PMOs who are primarily responsible for efficient project deliveries. However, they struggle to integrate the project output with realizing business goals, in turn, underachieves strategic intent. It is a myth that PMOs are formed only by Project Managers. The team structure of PMO can include business consultants, process experts, Technical experts, administrative support & Project/Program Manager. Having the right PMO composition is vital for utilizing the PMO team effectively. The functions that the PMO is meant to perform can only be effective for an organization only if there is a right mix of talent & experts in the team.

With the kind of ever-changing business landscape we live in, where business goals are never static, the alignment of project execution with business strategy plays a crucial role for organizations to stay competitive. This is where PMOs can be pivotal for larger organizations where coordination across varied departments & their projects are required to ensure identified benefits are realized with the right project execution. Statistics suggest that with this benefits realization role of PMO, there is a 38% rise in projects meeting their intended business goals. To stay upbeat with the business trend & volatile market conditions, organizations take a leap towards digital transformation to digitize the way they operate & the systems they use, which calls for digital innovation to be done by them. Such constant changes are a part of their modus operandi & organizations need to formulate change management strategy as a part of their overall strategy. PMOs can be at the forefront in providing the much-needed inputs when formulating this strategy as they serve as a guiding star for the change management framework to the project teams. To slash costs and to be more efficient in delivering their products, organizations look to bring automation wherever possible & PMOs can help by having standard management tools & processes, bringing cross-learning among various projects, and project closure.

With ever-increasing globalization, businesses must communicate with various entities internationally. This brings an overhaul in organizational structure and assigning the right people to the right role is important to make communication as effective as possible and PMO can act as a focal point in achieving the same. With this new remote way of working, collaboration across teams remains a challenge and PMO comes in handy here as well. Collaborating with organizations from various countries brings diversity management into play & PMO can also guide PMs in this crucial aspect. With enterprises growing manifold these days, with the proportionate increase in their portfolios and programs, there could be no one other than PMOs who could be entrusted with coordinating among the massive amount of resources and tasks across projects.

Creating more value by doing less is the order of the day. Organizations are moving towards being agile, nimble & faster towards responding to their client's needs by delivering their products & services efficiently. Contemporary DevOps tools, agile methodologies & modern cloud infrastructure could be a few ways to bring digital disruption in the current IT business landscape. And effective PMOs facilitate a standard framework & guide delivery teams & PMs on the processes, tools & methodologies to be adopted depending on the project environment they’re in. Without utilizing PMOs effectively, they can only be seen as additional overheads. Effective PMOs can be the difference in achieving the business objectives & missing one. Successful businesses need effective PMOs and enterprises should set up PMOs that are true to their value & spirit.

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