How to set up a PMO

So your organisation has asked you to set up a PMO. What do you do next?

If you read the literature, you can see that there are tons of benefits for setting up a PMO. Ranging from better project execution to better strategic alignment, from better financial control to more certainty over benefit delivery. But delve a little deeper and you'll read about the dark side and the problems.

Problems include the 3 year PMO cycle - where the average PMO has a 3 year lifespan, after which it is changed in some fundamental way, or disbanded. You'll hear about PMOs increasing costs without increasing results. You'll find the execs start to resent the amount of their time that the PMO needs. And project managers will rally against the enforced changes that they perceive are “wrong”.

Setting up a PMO is a mindfield. So how do you do it right?

Start with why

Find out first why your organisation wants to set up a PMO. What are the problems that they are hoping this will solve? Ideally, get the decision makers, which includes some of the top people in your company and hear from them directly. Someone at the top has had to sanction the expense and the organisational change. You need to hear what they're expecting in return.

Second, make it measurable. If one of the drivers is reduced project cost, for example, how much reduction is expected by when? If a driver is more transparency into project delivery, what does that mean and how is that going to be measured?

You need to know what success looks like. When you know what is expected, you can start reporting on current value of the measurement and show trends over time. If you're in charge, you need to show that you're being successful.

Avoid the power trip

For a lot of people who have been in project delivery, heading up a PMO is an exciting endeavour. Your now in charge of project delivery. Wrong!

The power trip is a trap that many PMO leaders fall in to. You do not run all projects. Instead, think of this as a project in its own right. The “why” from step 1 are the benefits you are expected to deliver. The project managers are the people that will help you deliver it. You should do what you do on every project

• Have a project kick off meeting with all of the people. Talk about what success looks like. Feel out the committers and the detractors.

• Have a plan. What are the things you are going to do, to achieve success? How are you going to measure success? What resources will you need?

• Publish your milestones. Show the execs what they are going to get for their investment and when. Publish a benefit profile. Write the PMO business case if there isn't one (hint: there won't be one)

• Run this as a project. Do a status report. Show costs incurred and benefits received.

Hearts and minds

Like in a normal project, you have to build a sense of team, a sense of mission. People have to want the targets you are aiming at. Data is your friend. Project Managers have lots of opinions, you need to show the data to support the change.

Like a normal project, you ask the team for their input. How can they support? What activities do they think should be done? If you enlist the help of the project community you can do great things. Check your ego at the door. This is just a project, it is not about you.

Get good at influencing

Finally, polish up on getting execs to sanction changes that scare them. In your pursuit of your objectives, you will need to change organisational norms. The reasons projects don't deliver to expectation today include deep rooted organisational behavior and standards that stretch well beyond the project management community. If you're going to be truly successful, your going to need to change some of those.

For example, are your approval processes slowing down delivery, or are your quarterly planning rituals prioritising the wrong work, or are you overly capacity constrained in some disciplines? You're going to have to face in to and resolve some of these problems.

Building a PMO can be an incredibly daunting prospect. Treat it like a project, think about some of the ideas presented here and it can also be an incredibly rewarding and fulfilling experience.