Just as we all have personal projects, companies constantly have projects to
complete too in order to achieve their business objectives, whether they call
them that way or not. Generally, large companies have specialized offices
and managements to handle their projects, but small and medium-sized
companies sometimes simply set a goal and take actions to achieve it based
on their own experience and intuition, without knowing that there is a
discipline dedicated to the systematic and continuous study of how to
manage projects and guarantee a greater probability of success.
Projects start with an objective to be achieved, a result to be obtained; It
could be from opening a virtual business, launching a new product to the
market, opening a new branch, to making a total transformation of your
business, or building a bridge or a road; in short, projects can be of any
nature, size, cost, and implications. To achieve them, we must direct our
efforts in that direction, for which a plan is drawn up consisting of specific
interrelated and coordinated activities. This plan must specify how the
activities will be carried out, with what resources, in how long, with what
scope, and all the other factors involved.
Depending on the size of the project, different number of resources may be
required, and carrying it out may be simpler or more complex. To help
specialists in this discipline, the Project Management Institute (PMI) was
founded in 1969, and it has become the world's leading organization
dedicated to Project Management. This organization is aimed at the
comprehensive training of the Project Management professional. There is
also PRINCE2, which is a Project Management methodology - initially
developed by the UK Office Government of Commerce - that seeks success in
the execution of projects.
Whether guided by the PMI guidelines or by the
PRINCE2 method, it is a fact that organizations need professionals qualified in
Project Management to guarantee their success, since the results of the
project are oriented to add value to the organization and should not be left
to intuition or chance. Hence the importance of a specific area in companies
dedicated to this function.
What is a PMO?
PMO stands for Project Management Office, which is the area in the
organization in charge of managing projects in a centralized and coordinated
manner, to ensure the correct and successful fulfillment of the same,
generating added value for the business.
PMOs can be very varied. It can be a management in charge of the direct
execution of the various projects of a company, or it can just provide
guidelines, standards, tools and methodologies to other managers who are
directly in charge of the different projects. It can be made up of a team, a
single person, or external consultants. It all depends on the type of
organization in which it works, especially on the number and type of projects
that it handles, and of course, the importance that the company gives to the
Project Management. But be that as it may, each project needs someone to
assist or take control of the activities, the methodology and the tools, so that
other managers can occupy their time in making appropriate decisions
without having to worry about the execution of operational tasks.
The PMO will then be responsible for establishing and ensuring compliance
with the best practices in the projects of a company or organization, for this,
it is in charge of giving the methodological guidelines to manage the project,
of providing the tools and formats to be used for adequate documentation as
well as the directions for its correct use, and verifying it, promoting effective
communication, monitoring the different project indicators, ensuring that
processes and operations are completed on time and within budget,
documenting the lessons learned to capitalize on previous experiences, and
avoid recurring errors as well as identifying potential risks to be able to take
corrective actions on time, additionally to potential opportunities, among
other functions.
The PMO allows an integrated and unified view of the status of projects, of
the value generated by the company's portfolio of projects, as well as
creating a common language among all interested parties, a key factor for
the success of projects. And if several projects are carried out, ensure that
they all follow the same methodological guidelines. On the other hand, a
PMO must also be agile enough to adapt to possible changes in strategy,
while facilitating organizational agility so that transformations are sustainable
over time. An agile, flexible PMO that allows to deliver results quickly,
adaptable to the needs of the uncertain and changing environment of our
times. The same implementation of the PMO should also be approached as a
project; when there is no Project Management culture, it is common to reject
the use of its methodology due to the false feeling that it is an increase in
work without adding value; the PMO makes it easier to assimilate this
culture.
In this way, implementing a PMO managed by experienced professionals in
this discipline results in significant benefits for the business, tangible,
repeatable, and long-term benefits, since it allows optimizing the resources
of your company, contributing to profitability and the scope of its objectives.
A good PMO aligns your strategy with the corporate culture. For this reason,
the creation of PMOs, whether with internal or external resources, is an
increasingly strong trend in the current business context.
