Chapter News

The first "PMO Monitor" meeting of the IPMA & PMI PMO Community was an extremely informative session! We were invited to join this session at our Partner the PMO Company on June 3th.

Our challenge was to research the impact of a well-designed PMO on project execution success.

The attending group attracted by this challenging question consisted of a small team of senior PMO managers and consultants. Indeed, some of the "top PMO consultants in the Netherlands" were present! This naturally resulted in qualitatively rich discussions about the usefulness and necessity of the PMO and whether the vision of the value of the PMO is also shared by line managers and CxO.

A first conclusion quickly emerged: an important, if not the most critical, success factor of the PMO (read also 'right to exist') is to execute Project Portfolio Management properly. This was seen as very important because this is the key to focus and sufficient staffing by not executing all (too many) projects at once as a company, but only those projects for which with certainty there is adequate capacity.

The biggest challenge regarding the impact and, therefore also, the value of the PMO is to prove that an organization delivers projects according to budget, time, and quality agreements (because the PMO processes ensure more consistency, effectiveness, and efficiency) and that these results are better than projects executed without the influence of a PMO!

The PMO should also support and monitor the process of creating value from the project output by properly monitoring that the intended benefits are realized after completion of these projects. However, we also agreed that although this (Benefits Management) needs to be monitored and facilitated, it should be considered outside the PMO's sphere of influence because it is often the line organization (the business) that needs to realize the benefits. The PMO does not direct and influence the business.

Another challenge to establishing a good "PMO Monitor" comes from the versatility of the functions that different PMOs provide. There are many flavors of PMO! How can you compare these? And, in turn, how can you compare that to the impact on project success?

What was suggested is to focus the query of PMOs on those questions related to the elimination of key project failure factors:

• User/customer engagement
• Leadership and mandate
• Clear scope/mission
• Project Management expertise

We also checked all PMO methodologies and agencies to determine if we could extract valuable tools or information from these knowledge centers. Consider IPMA PMO theory, PMO Global Alliance's Value Ring, PMO Global Institute, House of PMO, IPMA, PM Solutions, etc.

After a lengthy discussion, it was decided that the PMO Monitor is an important endeavor to give PMOs in the Netherlands more footing, deliver value, and provide direction regarding functions of the PMO that deliver significant value. Further elaboration requires commitment, but those present are enthusiastic and motivated to support the next steps.

The next step is to collect and share the information from the other knowledge centers. Then, another session will follow to draw conclusions about available options and materials and determine the final approach.

In short... To be continued!