The AtekPC PMO Case

The AtekPC PMO Case

1. What is the purpose and mission of a PMO? Mission: Deliver successful IT projects Build Project Management maturity at the organizational level Keep Management and Project Community informed erve as the organization!s authority on IT Project Management practices Purpose: The purpose "as to have consistent consistent project practices practices as formal formal documentat documentation ion and plans for PM# did not e$ist %esponsi&ilities:  't present the responsi&ilities limited to IT projects( Te duties of PM# "ere divided into ) categories: *+ Project ,-ocused .consulting/ mentoring/ and training+ 00 Primary means used to prove PM# merit1 )+ 2nterprise ,#riented .portfolio management/ PM standards/ methods/ and tools+ 2. What are the main challenges and obstacles in implementing a PMO? I see a lot of headaches for the CI# "hen implementation a PM# in the enterprise( %egardless of the technical challenges during the implementation/ the core of the pro&lems seems to &e that the PM# is lac3ing organization support/ from the top to the &ottom( There is not enough e$ecutive sta3eholder support1 there is no visi&ility of the program1 there is a conflict of interests  "ithin departments1 people are reluctant to change the "ays they have &een doing things( The PMO vision and role is not clearly defined. There is no complete agreement regarding its purpose/ its responsi&ilities/ and its authority( It has slo"ly evolved( Not Not enou enough gh eec eecut utiv ive e sta! sta!eh ehol olde der r supp suppor ort. t. 4ot all of the sen senior e$ecut e$ecutive ivess "ere "ere e5uall e5ually y enthus enthused ed a&out a&out the PM# concept concept(( 'uthor 'uthority ity "as primarily &eing developed &ottom6up through the value of the PM# services( 2ven this "as limited to those functional areas and IT areas actively engaging the PM#( There "as no current plan to enforce usage at the enterprise level( "orporate culture limitation. Corporate cultural change had &een informal( They never treated PM/ PM#/ formal processes seriously( 4ormal #peration Processes and function units have to change their culture/ &ehaviour/ and even ha&its if they "or3 "ith a PM#( No support from department management. Department managers may  see no value in introducing a PM# in their projects( 'lso there are political confli conflicts cts as "ell/ "ell/ "ith "ith manage managers rs "orryi "orrying ng a&out a&out the PM# PM# gettin getting g to much much authority(

#. What structural and governance mechanisms are critical to effective PMO implementation?  ' successful structure can range from simple project data reporting to a centralized structure that ta3es the lead on every aspect of project management(  ' PM# that is organizationally &ased versus departmentally &ased is more li3ely  to get e$ecutive support( ' de6centralized PM# structure could have difficulty  performing a strong role "hen using matri$6managed resources( ' centralized structure that does nothing more than report status "ill add too much overhead to the institution( The more responsi&ility assigned to project office/ the higher it should report in the institution( The most ro&ust structure usually re5uires reporting directly to the President or C2# of the institution for ma$imum effectiveness( -or staff allocation/ a com&ination of the t"o approaches "ill re5uire the company to hire an individual for PM# implementation( 'long "ith that the current managers can &e trained for the PM# implementation to ma3e it effective "ithout hiring ne" staff as the company has limited resources availa&le( $. %o& much PM is enough PM? %o& much PMO support is enough PMO support?  'pte3PC seems to have an informal pattern of communication/ "hich can!t &e radically changed "ithin a short time( 7o"ever a gradual shift can &e &rought through the use of PM# light &y focusing on the strengths of the process and allo"ing the employees to understand/ accept and adapt to the changed procedures( Culture plays perhaps the &iggest role in "hether the organization is successful in e$ecuting projects( Managers/ including the head of the organization/ need to step up and evaluate the project culture( 8ntil the culture changes/ project managers "ill consistently struggle to &e successful(