Programme management is the process of managing multiple, ongoing, interdependent projects. The Programme Management Office (PMO) provides a layer above the project management process, focusing on selecting the best group of programmes, defining them in terms of their constituent
projects and providing an infrastructure whereby projects can be run successfully while leaving the job of delivery to the project management community.The focus of the PMO is to coordinate and communicate on all programmes and projects in the enterprise, as well as to be the knowledge centre with regard to training, leadership, mentoring, best practice, project governance standards, and so on that supports managers in the implementation of the tasks and work packages required to achieve
successful project completion.
The PMO’s role within the business is not only to act as a knowledge centre, but also to help marry project management process with the executive streams by working closely with the PPMT. This relationship is designed to help the business to identify the precise measures that need to be taken in order to turn strategic goals into reality, as well as to determine the key performance indicators that show whether goals are being met.
The PMO provides the necessary overview and coordination to deliver projects on time and on budget by managing and reporting on schedules, risks, costs, quality, scope and resources across all projects. At the heart of a PMO is its relationship with the PPMT, the aim being to enable the business to coordinate and integrate complex multi-project initiatives across an entire enterprise. This partnership between the PMO and the PPMT is there to empower the executive decision making stream with the necessary information to help prioritise and balance project initiatives, justify decisions, measure risk vs return and allocate resources in a way that maximises their impact on the business.
One of the main issues when implementing a PPM process is that different layers of management within the business have their own territorial issues and oversights. As stated earlier, the PPMT consists of executives and senior postholders who are charged with responsibility for making all key decisions that affect the project portfolio.
The PMO provides the bridge that joins the operational stream with the strategic stream. The PMO is a body of senior project stakeholders and managers that has responsibility for managing all the business’s projects from an operational perspective as well reporting back to the PPMT on their outcome.
By centralising overall operational responsibility for all the organisation’s projects in the PMO, a complete picture of project activity can be painted. The PPMT is able to utilise the tactical structure of the PMO to collect all the necessary ‘coal face information’ to manage and evaluate the health of the business’s projects.
The formation of a PMO is not only designed drive top-down accountability; it also supports the complete operational framework for managing a multi-project environment. In effect a PMO is an information repository that provides the visibility needed to understand the health of ongoing projects and the potential impact of planned projects – and ensures that all projects are evaluated in the same manner. Without a PMO ‘knowledge centre’, executives and the PPMT are hindered in their ability to make the necessary collective decisions based on the right information.
