Podcast episode 054: the complete pmo (part 1 of 2)

Because the Project Management Office is such an important topic, today we are digging deeper into what a PMO is with one of the world’s leading experts in PMOs, Mr. Gerard Hill, PMP. 

Gerard “Jerry” Hill is an internationally-recognized consultant, author and speaker with professional expertise in the discipline of project management.  He brings emerging project management concepts and practices to bear for consideration by individuals and organizations; and he applies a practical approach to implementing business solutions in the project management environment.  Mr. Hill has conceived and constructed several project management methodologies and PMO solutions that have been deployed in organizations around the globe. His recent publications include: The Complete Project Management Office Handbook (Auerbach Publications, 2007, 752pp), and The Complete Project Management Methodology and Toolkit (CRC Press/Auerbach Publications, 2009, 520pp). 

Today, in the first of two parts, Gerard and I discuss some of the areas covered in The Complete Project Management Office Handbook.  

The PMO Exists at the Intersection of Business and Project Management

PMOs were originally created to help support the technical function within an organization.  However since that time, the function of a PMO has grown to include more business management.  Ideally, a PMO within an organization is situated to deal with both the project management environment as well as the business environment.  On the project management side, there are the project executives, the project managers, the technical members on the team, and the PMO itself.  On the business side, you have the business units and clients or customers that the PMO helps to represent.

Five Progressive Stages of the PMO Competency Continuum

The Complete Project Management Office Handbook, Second Edition By Gerard M. Hill, Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLC © 2008, Publisher: CRC Press

 There are five progressive and advancing stages of maturity for a PMO’s capability and responsibility.  

Stage 1 of PMO maturity is The Project Office.  This is a essentially the project manager and project team working as a project office.  The project team typically provides its own oversight at this stage. 

The Stage 2 PMO, called The Basic PMO, contains process control in addition to project oversight.  The Basic PMO provides a full-cycle and repeatable process that can be used across all projects in an organization.  The Basic PMO would most likely be led by a program manager and might have several project managers and projects involved. 

The Stage 3 PMO, called The Standard PMO, is the level that most organizations need and want to have.  This level includes project control, oversight, as well as support.  The Standard PMO creates the infrastructure and capabilities to support a cohesive project management environment.  The Standard PMO has multiple projects, project managers, and perhaps even program managers under its control.  The head of the Standard PMO is usually a program director or senior program manager. 

Stage 4 is The Advanced PMO where business processes are truly integrated with project management processes.  This stage includes dedicated staff, including a PMO director that oversees the technical and business aspects of the project management environment. 

The final stage, Stage 5, is The Center of Excellence.  Here is where you manage continuous improvement and project management process implementation across the organization for the purpose of achieving strategic organizational goals. 

PMO Functions

 There are 5 functional areas and 20 functions as listed below. 

1. The Practice management functional group includes the functions of Project Management Methodology, Project Tools, Standards and Metrics, and Project Knowledge Management.
2. The Infrastructure management group includes the functions Project Governance, Assessment, Organization and Structure, and Facilities and Equipment Support.
3. Resource integration includes Resource Management, Training and Education, Career Development.  Team Development.
4. The Technical support group includes Mentoring, Project Planning, Project Auditing, and Project Recovery.
5. Business alignment includes Project Portfolio Management, Customer Relationship Management, Vendor/Contractor Relationship Management, and Business Performance Management.

PMOs are fundamentally created to achieve the same basic goals across all industries, with any differences tending to be more on the technical side of project management rather than the business side of the environment.

Each of the functions are further described further in the accompanying podcast. 

Staffing the PMO

Staffing a PMO varies according to need.  The PMO staff really provide three main functions:  technical support, business support, and project oversight support. 

For the business function, the following positions may exist within a PMO:  The PMO manager/director, program manager, project manager, project administrator, project scheduler, contract administrator, proposal manager, business analyst, project estimator, resource manager, and legal advisor.  Not every PMO needs each of these functions, and frequently dedicated staff are filling 2 or 3 of these roles.

The technical function is typically staffed by engineers, scientists, technicians, laborers, administrative staff, and even contractors and vendors.

The oversight function is typically staffed by project executives, project control boards, project mentors and project auditors.

According to Gerard, the average PMO has about 2.5 full time staff assigned.  Major corporations may have 15-20 people assigned to a PMO to manage a global project and business environment within a PMO Center of Excellence.

Book Giveaways

In the Next episode we will cover part 2 of the interview on The Complete PMO with Gerard Hill.  Gerard has generously offered to give away a copy of both his books, The Complete PMO as well as The Complete Project Management Methodology and Toolkit.  We will draw a winner for each of the books on March 15th, 2010. 

To enter, simply send an email to show@pm411.org with “PMO” in the subject line and your name, address and email address in the body.

And since I am interested in knowing what your thoughts are on PMOs, as a bonus, for those of you that send an email, you will be entered multiple times in the contest for each comment you leave on the pm411.org website between now and March 15, 2010. 

You can also sign up for bi-weekly book giveaways at Hillconsultinggroup.com.

Finally, Gerard has a Podcast Package to give away to anyone that emails Gerard and requests it.

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Tags: gerard hill, pmo, project management office, the complete pmo, the complete project management office handbook