Project Management Offices have become an accepted part of many organisational change functions and programme structures. When designed and implemented correctly, PMOs provide an invaluable asset to both the programme team, key stakeholders and sponsors.

All too often we see PMOs solely focused on administrative tasks; collating reports, tracking financials and managing schedules. Worse still, PMO functions can be duplicated across the organisation, each operating to different standards, with different controls and templates. Often reinventing the wheel each time. While these administrative tasks are important the benefits of a PMO are not being fully realised or exploited.  

We have tapped into our extensive partner experience, gained through leading many ‘big brand’ critical and complex change programmes, to bring together a diagnostic that helps you understand how your PMO stacks up against what we would describe as best practice.

We would suggest that how a PMO works is just as important as what the PMO does. We’d recommend you:

• Always use experienced delivery professionals
• Use that experience to constructively challenge
• Listen carefully to the needs of key stake-holders
• Assume responsibility where you can to increase bandwidth of others
• Build trust through consistent processes and a single version of the truth
• Keep calm under pressure
• Drive learning and continuous improvement