Reflection on “The PMO: Something of Value by Gale, August 2011”

The article “The PMO: Something of Value” continues the discussion about the PMOs and the challenges they face. And also it touched a few points related to the good practices that the PMOs need to have in order to survive in this market place, where the issues that a firm is facing should be the framework for the PMO and its primary measure of progress.

Many of the PMOs fail due to lack of the executive support, vision or expertise, and to reduce number of the so many failing PMOs, a business case supported by solid measures plus metrics should be constructed, this case should have a clear vision for what it going to be accomplish, and of course align its goals with the goals of the business, that is why the PMO directors should be certain from the beginning that they have the needed tools and resources.

In order to match the PMO mission with the business goals, to reduces the chances of the PMO failure, the PMO leaders should use some tools like the SWOT analysis, which stands for; strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Using this type of analysis can improve planning, control and execution of projects.

PMOs support project execution, mentor and assist project managers, and through that the firms witness a PMOs contribute directly to the following performance improvements and decrease in failed projects, projects delivered under budget, improvement in productivity, projects delivered ahead of schedule, and increase in resource capacity; however, that cannot be accomplished without committed support from the top management. To win the top management support, the PMO leaders should focus on defining quantifiable measurements to prove what is accomplished, setting a realistic time frame for results, making sure of having the resources necessary to achieve the goals, establishing credibility throughout the organization.

Some of the lesson learned from this article is that the PMO leaders should focus on what the executive team values today, and work hard on demonstrating the value through the PMO activities, knowing that it is very important to generate regular reports which demonstrate the PMO successes, and also using the language of the executive board to show the positive impact of the PMO on business.

I personally believe that the PMO directors need to take their time understanding the needs of their organization, using all the available tools to achieve that level of understanding. One of the tools was mentioned in the article is the SWOT; however, when it comes to understanding the macroeniroment, I see this tool very general and in many cases it might not be effective. The market place now is a global market, with players from all over the globe, and if you cannot provide quality to your final customers, someone else well, so it is crucial to understand that globalization term and its effect on your firm’s performance. One of the analysis tools that I consider to be effective is the PESTLE analysis, which consists of various factors that affect the business environment. Each letter represents a set of factors which can affect every industry directly or indirectly; Political factors, Economic factors, Social factors, Technological factors, Legal factors and Environmental factors, and that makes it a very strong strategic analysis tool to be used by the PMOs.