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IMPLEMENT MEASURES WITH THE HELP OF A PROJECT MANAGEMENT OFFICE (PMO)

Why a PMO becomes indispensable in small and medium-sized businesses

In a company that has set the course for the future, the project management office is a central point. From here projects are controlled digitally. It assigns tasks, is an important part of quality management and provides operative help in the day-to-day business of the company. The Project Management Office is also known under the terms Program Management Office and Portfolio Management Office. Why it has become almost indispensable today, can you read in the following post.

  1. How does a PMO work?
  2. Central tasks of PMO
  3. Integrate PMO into a company
  4. PMO as crisis manager
Project Management Office can also be used by you. We will gladly call you back without obligation. An initial conversation is completely free.

This is what a PMO does in your company

You can visualize a project management office like a fairy godmother. It is active 24 hours in all important strategic areas of the enterprise and for all departments an important contact person, who always keeps the overview. Although the PMO does not work on the content of the projects itself, it is always up to date. It always knows what has been done and what has been done and where it is getting stuck. The PMO is the most important ally of any project manager.

How does a PMO work?

A PMO can best work in combination with appropriate software support. If you have a project management software installed in your house, a PMO will be especially easy to accomplish its tasks.

In a project management software, the progress of the individual projects is immediately apparent. The individual project managers operate their own control in the form of a kind of self-management. The PMO can then set up from there and check whether all agreed activities have actually been fulfilled.

But even if there is no own software, a PMO can be managed very efficiently. The first “PMO-manager”, which we got to know at Limendo, probably noticed this already over 15 years ago, as he was armed with a thick folder, paper, pen and a telephone. That’s all you need in the PMO.

These are the central tasks of the PMO

Coordination of projects and resources

One has to keep track – and that will be your PMO in the future. The system enables efficient coordination between projects and project managers. Free resources are managed according to standardized procedures.

Standardization and quality management

The project management office can be an important component when it comes to establishing uniform standards in a company. It creates access to guidelines and guidelines for all teams working on a project or across projects. This makes it possible to ensure from a central point that all employees work with the same tools and use the same methods. The PMO primarily supports the project managers and ensures that tasks at all levels are handled at the same level.

Strategy

What needs to be done first and which projects have priority over the others? These strategic questions are clarified by the project management office in your company. It enables a digitized prioritization process so that each team member can see exactly which tasks need to be done next.

Operational help

A digital system that operates in the operational area? That’s fine! The PMO is able to moderate workshops, accompany meetings and carry out a temporary controlling. This makes the project progress visible to the management at first glance. In addition, the project management office is able to optimize communication within the teams and also to ensure better and more realistic scheduling. This makes sense, especially in small companies, as they rarely have their own team assistance.

Increase efficiency

Hardly anything is as important as the optimal use and control of resources. And this is exactly where a project management office is so useful. The PMO takes on the opportunity and risk management and thus makes an important contribution to increasing the effectiveness. Simply providing standards increases efficiency. For example, new team members can be trained faster.

Coaching

The intelligent project management Office is able to provide professional training for all involved project staff. Among other things, it is able to organize kick-off meetings when new projects are launched. Software training is also possible via the PMO.

How to integrate a new PMO into a company?

A project management office can certainly not be implemented in one day in existing corporate structures. It is integrated in different phases to create a smooth and smooth transition. The introduction of the PMO is also a separate project that should be well planned from the start.

Step 1: Analysis
In the first step you should know the actual state in your company. Sounds trivial, but the most important prerequisite for your PMO to fulfill what you expect from it in the end. Analyze where to standardize processes to relieve project managers or allow them to focus on their core tasks. It must be the goal of integrating software to tailor it to individual business needs rather than just putting it on hold. Another important step. The parallel should be the transparency towards all employees of the company. From the managing director to the reception, everyone should have understood the advantages PMO has for the company as well as the employees. Nobody should get the feeling to be replaced by a software or to be controlled beyond measure. The implementation process should therefore be transparent. The PMO should be understood as an aid.

Step 2: Concept
On the basis of the insights gained from the analysis, a realistic concept will now be developed which tasks the PMO can assume in the company. Requirements are defined and decisions are made as to whether the project management office is integrated as an operational, project monitoring or strategic system. Now it becomes clear which resources are still needed.

Step 3: Implementation
The established concept will now be implemented gradually. Free positions are filled so that the available resources are optimally utilized. Tasks and areas of responsibility can then be assigned to the individual project participants.

Step 4: Everyday life
After the implementation has been successfully completed, the use of the system in everyday business becomes a matter of course. All team members should now be able to use the system independently and the PMO should be able to work as effectively as possible.

You’ll quickly realize that companies with a working PMO will complete significantly more projects than companies without a PMO.

The PMO as crisis manager: How to get digital help

The project management office is not only useful if all numbers are green. Especially in times of crisis, it is a valuable help. By providing all the important data promptly, which can be viewed by all central offices, equally fast decisions can be made. Also, the communication of a team can be improved, so that errors and weaknesses quickly notice and can be eliminated. A PMO can take over the crisis management within the company and provide the crucial impetus to poorly running projects. Improved scheduling can be enough to use resources optimally.