What does a PMO do for a business?
A PMO is a Project Management Office. It’s a function within an organisation that defines the standards for project management. And it can do a whole lot more than that too. The main purpose of a Project Management Office (PMO) is to make sure that projects and programs are run in a repeatable, standardised way. A PMO maintains an overview of projects, knows the company strategy, and ensures that both go hand in hand. However, the specific application areas of a PMO vary greatly from company to company. There are no “classic” PMO task fields, but only many possibilities:
- Compiling the project portfolio by classifying, selecting and prioritizing projects based on the company strategy and available resources, preparing decision-making and facilitating decision-making for the portfolio board
- Planning resources at the portfolio-level, optimizing the use of resources and solving resource conflicts
- Maintaining current employee data, especially in terms of capacity, project allocations and skills
- Standardising methods and processes in project management
- Selecting, implementing and training employees on applicable tools and software
- Increasing transparency of current and planned projects through up-to-date, reliable project data
- Promoting information flow and communication
- Creating a knowledge base with Lessons Learned and Best Practices from past projects to avoid repeat errors
- Monitoring project progress and control the dependencies that affect resources, budgets, and schedules (project portfolio tracking)
- Training and coaching project leaders and stakeholders
- Providing administrative and operational support for project managers and project teams (e.g., conflict management, workshop moderation, etc.)
source – pmi.org