How to turn the Project Management Office into a powerhouse of productivity

Is your organisation’s Project Management Office (PMO) failing to deliver on its expectations and remit? Arthur Liew, General Manager of the Smartsheet practice at Atturra, outlines how organisations can turn their PMO into a powerhouse of productivity.

Unfortunately, in some larger Australian organisations, it’s the latter and often unfairly so. Established with the worthy remit of maintaining compliance and oversight, many PMOs have come to be viewed as officially sanctioned road blockers whose laser focus on process and doing things by the book can stand in the way of vital transformation and progress.

From outputs to outcomes

That’s a shame and a wasted opportunity too because shifting the PMO’s focus from managing outputs to expediting desired outcomes can bring a host of benefits – think improved prioritisation of projects along with the enterprise-wide adoption of more effective project delivery methodologies.

Support from senior leaders is needed to enable this shift – and so is evidence of the value that can ensue, if PMO and project teams begin to engage and collaborate differently.

Here are some tips to help you turn your PMO into a powerhouse of productivity and a well-regarded asset that drives consistently positive outcomes for the enterprise at large.

A place to call home

Is it part of the legal department, an offshoot of ICT or a standalone unit reporting to who knows where or who? The absence of a permanent ‘home’ within the organisation can make it tricky for a PMO to gain traction and make its mark. Establishing its position on the company’s organisational chart can put paid to any confusion and make it easier for PMO staffers to obtain buy-in and support for their activities from individual project teams.

A clear mandate

So can issuing the PMO with a clear mandate – a mission and responsibilities that are well defined and understood by all. If that mandate comes from the C suite, your PMO will have the authority and confidence to engage more effectively with stakeholders across the project eco-system and ensure its endeavours are well aligned with theirs.

Centralised data management and reporting

Despite the plethora of digital tools at their disposal, a great many Australian PMOs continue to operate in manual mode, using paper-based reports and spreadsheets to manage their activities and record key metrics. The latter remain popular for good reason – they’re simple, flexible and familiar to almost everyone who’s worked in an office during the past 40 years. It’s quick and easy to spin one up whenever something needs to be tracked or monitored.

But spreadsheets have their limitations, particularly when it comes to multi-party collaboration and version control. In short, they break the second things get complex or you attempt to scale.

That’s why ahead-of-the-curve PMOs are doing things differently. They’re replacing old school platforms and processes with automated, cloud-based work management platforms that provide team members with at-the-fingertips access to accurate, up-to-date data and insights.

Embracing this technology allows PMOs to replace ad hoc project requests with a structured intake process and to centralise project reporting and tracking via a single dashboard.

Smartly implemented, the benefits are compelling: reduced friction between PMO and project teams; a dramatic decrease in the volume of repetitive manual tasks and accelerated time to value for programs and projects.

Making change iterative instead of instant

Finally, Rome wasn’t built in a day, as the old saying has it. It certainly holds true when it comes to transforming the PMO from bureaucratic blocker to activity accelerator. Time and effort is required to effect positive change – and to make sure that change sticks.

That’s why it pays to take an iterative approach to repositioning the function, overhauling governance processes and upgrading the software and systems PMO staff use to do their jobs.

Optimising the PMO

Having projects comply with organisational policies and processes and deliver significant, measurable returns, at speed, are universal goals for businesses seeking to maintain profitability and record healthy growth. If achieving these ends is a priority, there’s never been a better time to start turning your PMO into a powerful asset that can help you enjoy success sooner.