Our research shows that projects are more successful when the project controls functions are embedded into a Project Management Office (PMO), LogiKal Survey Report. A PMO will standardise and enhance processes and systems for key project management areas such as risk, time, cost or quality. It is the source of project metrics that improve management during the project lifecycle. This article will explore how to set up an effective PMO in 6 steps.
PMO Set-up in 6 Steps
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Establish Objectives and Outcomes:
Senior management and project teams use a series of workshops to achieve this. It aims to develop a work plan that will include the PMO’s objectives, stakeholders, beliefs, and acceptance criteria.
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Design an Integrated Solution:
Based on the agreed organisation objectives, this phase will determine the set of systems and processes that will support your team to perform their daily task efficiently. This phase is crucial to ensure an integrated approach in terms of data management across the entire organisation. Once the set of systems and processes have been determined, a significant effort needs to be provided by the organisation to support a smooth rollout. This includes extensive training for the members of the PMO as well as the project team. It is crucial that everyone understands the processes and their purpose. The system should be tailored according to the business needs as well as the team’s capabilities.
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Define Roles and Responsibilities:
Having a clear list of who does what, when and why will help the project team to embrace the change. The project team’s objective is to increase its discipline towards new processes and make sure that everyone is applying project control best practices. As it can be a long process for organisations to commit to a controls culture, defined roles and responsibilities are crucial.
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Implement a Governance Framework:
During the implementation phase, it is essential to ensure that the designed processes are correctly followed by project teams. When trying to implement such a significant change in an organisation, it is only natural resistance to change. It is, therefore, crucial to have full support from senior management.
The team in charge of setting up the PMO must have a clear mandate to implement relevant systems and enforce new organisation processes.
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Implement Appropriate Financial Controls:
Adopting a collaborative approach is the only way to enhance control of your projects. The PMO is the entity that will link together all strategic areas of your project: Time, cost, risk, and quality. Therefore, the adoption of project control best practices will prevent “silo working” in your organisation. The PMO personnel must be part of the project team as they will be the central point of communication for all project information.
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Set up Appropriate Progress Reporting and Value Management:
A PMO must establish the different mechanisms to assess and report progress on the various part of the project scope. This will provide intelligence on project delivery, clearer communication, address issues early, and manages client expectations.
Conclusion
Setting up a PMO can bring considerable benefit to your organisation and therefore it is a worthwhile investment. Benefits include: increasing control across your project portfolio, increasing project efficiency and increasing project performance visibility for senior management.
If you want to find out more about PMO set up, or improve your capability, get in touch!
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