Chapter 2: pmo, roles and functions
2.1. Terminology and typology
Although the concept of PMO “has a long history dating back to the 1930s” (Singh et al., 2009, p, 411) it has become really widespread only since the mid 1990s that is mainly associated with the increasing number and complexity of the projects held by organizations (Marsh, 2000). Anyway, although the PMO phenomenon is considered as a relatively recent phenomenon it’s importance is widely recognized in the project management society. During the last ten years a lot of organizations have implemented one or more PMOs as the part of project management concept. (Dai and Wells, 2004). However, according to Aubry et al., (2010) the notion of PMO has been addressed mainly in the professional literature (Benko and McFarlan, 2003; Crawford, 2002; Dinsmore, 1999; Kendall and Rollins, 2003), while its treatment in scientific literature is still quite limited.
Talking about the terminology it’s necessary to highlight that in English-speaking environment it’s possible to meet different terms related to the idea of PMO that sometimes could be misleading. In the fundamental work of Kendall and Rollins (2003) authors mention three of them: project office, project management office and program management office.
Originally the term “project office” has been used to describe an organizational department that monitor project performance and report on it. Such type of PMO does not provide any support to project managers and is usually seen just as the source of threat. However, it’s necessary to keep in mind that the term “project office” and “Project management office” sometimes could be used as synonymous while they have important differences.
To describe the body that not only control the project performance but also establish project management standards, coordinate projects and resources and provide real support to managers it is better to use the term “project management office”. As well, to highlight its scale of importance and responsibility the term “enterprise project management (office)” could be also applied.
And finally, in case if the organization uses not only projects but also programs, which are the set of projects linked by the common purpose, program management office could be adopted. Subsequently, it is supposed that such offices usually deal with bigger budgets and provide maximum support to the managers.
As well in other sources the term Center of Excellence could be used (OGC, 2008).
To cover all the realities found empirically, while talking about PMO in the following work we would like to adopt a broader definition provided by Project Management Institution. According to A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge a PMO is “An organizational body or entity assigned various responsibilities related to the centralized and coordinated management of those projects under its domain. The responsibilities of the PMO can range from providing project management support functions to actually being responsible for the direct management of a project” (Project Management Institute, 2008, p. 369).
As it follows from the definition it’s necessary to understand that there is no unique “recipe” of PMO. Depending on the organizational needs and environments a PMO could be established to support a single project or a range of related or independent projects (Ward, Daniel, 2013). As well the roles, forms and functions of PMO could significantly differ from one company to another regarding their peculiarities and needs. However, as Unger et al. argue this definition also reflects “the lack of knowledge about the impact of PMOs and the lack of consensus on how to construct them” (Unger et al, p.610). Thus, after clarifying the terminology aspects it’s necessary to pay attention to the existing typologies of PMOs although some issues have already been mentioned in the discussion above.
J.K. Crawford (2010) provides a typology of project management offices based on the number of projects held. According to this principle the author distinguish three types of offices: Project control office, Business unit project office and Strategic project office.
The first concept is used to describe the separate temporary PMO created for each project, however it differs from the concept of “Project office” described earlier. The purpose of such office consists not only in improving control over the project but to increase the efficiency and quality of the project in general and deal with budget and time constraints. Such offices are usually implemented for projects for external customers in project-oriented organizations.
The second type of office is usually established at the level of single business unit or department and is mainly involved into resource allocation. By optimizing resources these offices eliminate or at least decrease the competition for resources within the division and prevent conflicts between functional and project managers.
The last office type is identical to the enterprise project management office mentioned above. Responsible for strategy implementation through projects it has a high importance and influence in organization and executes a wide rage of functions.
Another group of classifications is based on the roles and functions performed by the project management offices. Thus, Kendall and Rollins (2003) distinguish four main models of PMOs: a repository model, a coach, an Enterprise PMO and “Deliver Now” office.
In case when the repository model is applied the PMO serves as a storage and source of information about projects, methods and project management standards. It is usually used in decentralized organizations where authority and responsibility for the projects are divided between divisions. It’s necessary to mention that this model includes a very little or even no economic component, as, in fact, the office does not bear any responsibility for performance of the company so its performance is not measured as well.
Being a development of repository model a coach model includes not only storage and information source functions but also coordinates the implementation of project management methodology in company. As well it monitors and evaluates the project performance that is used to improve the project management efficiency and train project managers; participates in project planning and analyzes the results. According to the authors the coach model could bring significant support to management, however, it always plays the second role in the company.
Talking about an Enterprise PMO, first of all, it’s necessary to highlight that it requires quite a huge investments and has well defined goals, responsibilities and strong support from top management. This type of PMO significantly differs from the other models as it plays crucial role in project management activities during the whole project’s life cycle. Quite often almost all the PM professionals belong to this department that increases the economic significance of it.
Finally, the “Deliver now” office is concerned with getting the immediate results which have to be shown every half-year. This kind of models has the support on the highest level and a wide range of responsibilities targeted to get real economic benefits in project activities. More precisely its functions will be described in the following part of the chapter.
Another typology based on the functions has been provided by Kevin Desouza and Roberto Evaristo in 2006 dividing the PMO types into two main groups: administrative offices and knowledge-intensive offices.
As it follows from the name administrative offices are mainly focused on providing administrative support to project managers, including managing information, communication, resources etc. While knowledge-intensive offices are mainly concerned with the increasing of organizational maturity in the field of project management, knowledge accumulation and implementation of best practices that in general improve the project management efficiency. Within these two broad areas the researchers also identify four more types of offices such as supporter, information manager, knowledge manager and coach.
