Blog 9 - How to Structure A PMO

A struggle many project managers have in designing a PMO is deciding how to structure the PMO to meet organizational requirements, yet not be too burdensome to the individual project managers. Three common structures that can be considered when designing a PMO include: Virtual or PMO Lite, Coach / Mentor and Active Manager. The concept of the Virtual model, or what many people refer to as a PMO lite, is a repository based approach focused on providing processes and templates via a collaboration site that enable a project manager to have ready access to tools that jump start a project. For a virtual model to provide executives with value it must also be equipped with a dashboard used to publish project status. Like most PMO dashboards it must provide visibility into project schedules, costs and risks while also providing a compilation of project portfolios.

The Coach / Mentor model goes one step further by staffing the PMO with individuals capable of providing project managers with educational support. By this I mean the individuals within the PMO must be experienced project managers who also know how to mentor other project managers. Being a qualified mentor is a skill unto itself and should not be taken lightly. Like a Virtual model, the Coach/Mentor PMO must also have a collaboration site housed with processes, templates and a project status dashboard.

The Active Manager PMO is staffed with analysts who are the project managers for the organization’s projects and who provide real time visibility into project schedules, costs and risks. The success factor for any one of the models is to focus efforts on right-sizing the PMO activities and structuring the project management practices and methodologies so that they provide true value to the organization while not bogging project managers down with time-intensive documentation. It is the role of every project manager to be mindful of continual process improvement by sharing what works and what doesn’t work, enabling everyone to benefit from each other’s experiences.




The views expressed on this blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer, Robbins-Gioia.