The assessment stage is essential to understanding the current portfolio and designing a project management office (PMO). Here are some considerations that should be discussed:
1-Business Case:
In the initial stage of a PMO opportunity assessment, you must ask: What are the problem and symptoms we are trying to eradicate? How are projects currently being managed? Can a PMO help improve the current scenario? What type of PMO structure works best for our culture and needs?
2. Future State Vision:
At this stage, you define a high level vision of the PMO. What results do you expect from the implementation? What will be the reporting level of the PMO? The functions to be executed by the PMO are also defined at this stage.
3. Gap Analysis:
This phase requires field work, interview campaigns, and data collection to understand and quantify the current projects universe and their status. What are the existing project governance forums, methodologies, infrastructure, human resources, and software?. Your culture: how do your teams feel about the current scenario and the initiative being pursued?
4. Implementation Strategy:
At this stage, you have to decide what will be the implementation scope. Do you need support from a consulting entity or do you have the resources and skill sets to do it yourself?
An effective PMO involves collaboration between the project managers, the operational and support teams, and the executive staff of the organization. You should know how are you going to handle change management, stakeholder expectations, and cultural aspects.
You must also recognize what are the barriers, enablers, and risks of this implementation, and how are you going to deal with them prior to defining the implementation plan.
5. Implementation Plan:
This last stage is about the roadmap for the implementation to achieve the future state. It’s the project of the PMO. What are the implementation’s phases and key milestones? How many resources do you need and what will be the implementation cost? How are you going to guarantee the PMO’s sustainability? How will you measure the benefits of the PMO and make it a continuous improvement bank?.
Do you need help with this? ECONS can help you create or strengthen your project operation. Contact us and make an appointment today.
