Existing change management functions of pmOs

As the additional step of the survey it has been decided to investigate whether the PMOs existing in the companies (if any) already participate in change management and which functions they perform.

Figure 15: Existance of pmOs in organizations

According to the chart provided above, PMOs exist in 25% of organizations analyzed however 18% of respondents are not sure about the issue. Further analysis demonstrates that according to the respondents’ opinion, only in 23% of cases the existing PMOs have participated in change management process.

Figure 16: Participation of pmOs in change management process

Among the functions performed by the PMO have been mentioned initiation, planning, resource allocation, reporting, administrative support, monitoring and control. In come cases PMO have been responsible for change implementation in general, while sometimes executed only some functions. Thus, it could be assumed that PMO already participate in change management process however due to the small size of the sample it is not reasonable to make a general conclusion on the issue but it provides an additional support to the conclusion made about PMO role in change management process.

To conclude it is necessary to say that in course of the analysis we have made an attempt to identify the relations between different change types and PMO functions, however the results received are not pretending to be verified, thus, to investigate more precisely on this issue further analysis should be provided. However, the general hypothesis about possible PMO contribution into the processes of managing different types of changes has received its verification.

Conclusion

In the study proposed the possible relations between project management and change management has been examined from the perspective of possible PMO roles and functions in the process of managing change.

In the first part a thorough analysis of the literature has been conducted that has allowed to shed light on the main theoretical issues of changes and change management. Various change typologies have been described and compared, as well as the main change management approaches have been identified and discussed. Moreover, the study has also touched the phenomenon of resistance to change and described several models proposed for managing resistance.

In the course of the second part the main theoretical issues about Project Management Offices have been discovered. On the basis of the literature review the existing types of PMOs have been described and compared. As well, the possible roles and functions have been determined and explained.

In the third part an integrative framework describing the possible interventions of PMO into change management processes have been proposed. As well, the survey aimed to verify or disprove the assumptions made has been described; the results received have been represented and analyzed.

Thus, the research has shown that the functions and tools related to Project management office could be used during the implementation process of different types of changes. Subsequently, if implemented in organization, PMO could become a useful tool in change management process executing various functions. However, to identify more precisely whether the functions should differ in different change types a more thorough analysis should be provided.

Talking about the possible implications of the study it is possible to mention that it may has both theoretical and practical implementation. From practical point of view it could provide useful information to practitioners working in organizations where PMO is already implemented or is planned to be implemented and, probably, improve change management processes.

From theoretical perspective the findings of the study could serve as a basis and trigger the further research on PMO roles in change management process and generally contribute into the area of relations between change and project management.