How to run a Successful Project Management Office

Despite what you would possibly study withinside the news, or listen on the water cooler, there’s a developing call for facts on constructing a Project Management Office.  Over the past few months, I’ve had the possibility to proportion my views on this topic” primarily based totally on my book “The PMO Lifecycle: Building, Running, and Shutting Down”. 

It has been a first-rate possibility, humans have honestly loved the presentation and feature, and instructed me they now have a few “excellent takeaways” that they could put in force after they cross returned to work.  

Giving back to the PM Community is a brilliant feeling.  I love the moments of feedback, while they return to me and say that they carried out this or that, I recognise they’re putting themselves up for strolling a brilliant PMO.  And honestly, putting them up for a brilliant career.

How to Run a Successful Project Management Office (PMO)

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However, Setting up a mission control office (PMO) is honestly simply the beginning. Running the PMO is genuinely the tough part.When you’re constructing your PMO, you’re withinside the “honeymoon phase” of the PMO lifecycle.You have the entirety going for you. 

You have the entirety going for you. Management is exciting; you've got a budget; you could rent as many humans as you need; you could purchase portfolio and mission control tools; and essentially everybody is rooting so that it will be a hit.

Trust me. That fanfare dies quickly, leaving you withinside the function of strolling one of the maximum tough agencies withinside the company. Let’s examine what it takes to run a PMO.

Steps for Building a Project Management Office

Before we do that, we want a quick reminder of the Inputs to strolling a PMO, blanketed in my in advance article “The PMO Lifecycle: Building, Running, and Shutting Down – How to Build a PMO”, I cowl those twelve important steps.

1. Start with a Plan

2. Obtain Executive Support

3. Create PMO Staples

4. Select four P’s of PMO (along with Methodologies)

5. Select PMO Model

6. Create PMO Maturity Model (Categories and Measurement)

7. Obtain PMO Resources

8. Select PMO Training

9. Implement PMO Methodologies

10. Select PMO Reporting

11. Select PMO Tools and Processes

12. PMO Complete

If you need to look at that article, take a look at this link “The PMO Lifecycle: Building, Running and Shutting Down – How to Build a PMO”.

You returned and carried out those, right? If now no longer, then spend the time and cross returned now due to the fact the twelve steps are the center to constructing a stable and durable PMO.

Steps for Running a Project Management Office

Running a PMO is ready management and tactical control.  Today we’ll cowl reporting, troubleshooting, every day running and staffing issues. Here are the 4  primary tactical regions that you may be worried about while strolling your everyday PMO.

• Develop Executive Reports

• Develop PMO Reports

• PMO Day to Day Operations

• PMO Resources (Mentor & Buddy System)

Don’t allow the small listing idiot you, there may be a ton of labor right here and now no longer the simplest is it a whole lot of work, it's far going to be your complete time job. Most PMO Managers ought to allocate 100% of their time to those 4 regions.

I am seeing a few groups that need PMO Managers to be Portfolio Managers, Program Managers, Project Managers and run the PMO. That’s loopy and something that isn't sustainable in the end for everyone so in case you are on this function, communicate together with your supervisor and set a few sensible expectations. Take it from me, I actually have controlled numerous PMO’s and it isn't sustainable.

Anyway, allow soar in and offer greater information on every of those four steps.

Develop Executive Reports –Those identical executives that authorized your PMO and gave you the arena while constructing the PMO are going to need reviews. Lots of stories and could need them to be up to date and accurate  all of the time. Some of the reviews you'll run may be PMO Dashboards, Milestone reviews, PMO Resource reviews…etc. This listing is going on and on. Working together with your government to decide the reviews they want may be important.

Develop PMO Reports – Some of the identical reviews that the executives need to look at, you the PMO Manager will need to look at as well. An brilliant instance of that could be monitoring development in your efforts. There may be a few precise Portfolio, Program and Project reviews that you'll be wanting to create relying on the methodologies you operate to your agency. Embrace reporting to your PMO it will likely be the simplest manner to preserve on pinnacle of your agency and the fee it’s been created to deliver

PMO Day-to-Day Operations – The everyday operations of your PMO will include PMO Cadence calendars, PMO Vacation calendars, PMO OF calendars and typically the principle additives of strolling a PMO. These additives include:

• Define Color Definitions

• Setup CR Process

• Develop Program/Project Playbooks

• Define PMO Priority List

• Define PMO Weekly Checklist

• Setup Project Transition Plans

• Develop PMO Templates

• Execute PMO Reports

• Review and Select PMO Tools

• Continue to assist Management and Value Discussions

PMO Resources (Mentor & Buddy System) –One of the important additives of strolling a PMO that I usually communicate approximately is the humans. If you don’t deal with your humans you're going to have large issues with your PMO. 

One of the very best approaches of looking after your humans is putting in place PMO Mentoring or greater casual PMO Buddy structures. Each of those structures deliver your PMO body of workers contributors a possibility to show to every different for help, proportion excellent practices and examine from every different. I actually have set up numerous of those packages withinside the beyond and that they were very a hit.

As we summarize, strolling a PMO is a large challenge and maximum PMO managers conflict in being a hit for some reasons. I inspire you to step back, examine a number of those excellent practices and make the effort to put them in force to your agency.