Launching a Project Management Office: Establish and Evolve

Billy Guinan
By | Updated July 5, 2021 | 3 min read
project tasks

In this series of articles on launching a successful project management office, I’ve explained how to assess the current status of projects in your organization, determine your PMO strategy, and what actions as needed to initiate the project.

 

Learn how to launch a PMO with BrightWork for SharePoint On-Premises [Watch demo]

 

Now it’s time to establish the PMO.

You need to resource the PMO and decide upon immediate needs such as a project management methodology and tools.

 

3 Factors to Establish and Evolve your PMO

Using the business case and PMO services roadmap, establish the PMO with a focus on space, people, processes, and tools.

 

1. PMO Location

Start by thinking about an actual physical place for the PMO. Some organizations opt for a central location so all project managers can work together.

In other instances, the PMO may be situated within the relevant business unit.

 

2. Project Management Processes

A key function of the PMO  is to decide on a project management process.

Will you use a waterfall methodology, agile, or a hybrid approach? What types of projects does your organization typically run and what templates are needed for these projects? What reports do senior stakeholders want to see

Decide upon the project management process that your PMO will use and document in a central location.

Based on the agreed processes, identify training requirements for project teams.

 

 

3. Project and Portfolio Management Software

With the project methodology in place, you can now select the right project and portfolio management software to support your goals.

BrightWork, a project and portfolio management solution for SharePoint, is an ideal platform for your PMO.

BrightWork includes:

  • Flexible project and portfolio templates
  • Project Request Management
  • Real-time, cross-project dashboards
  • Interactive Power BI dashboards
  • Agile Boards
  • Gannt charts
  • Work reports and charts
  • Project Status Reports and Charts
  • Automated report sharing.

 

 

BrightWork customers collaborate with a dedicated Customer Success Partner, who will configure and deploy the right templates for your business needs.

 

Launching a Project Management Office

This article is part of a four-part series, which looks at how to establish a successful PMO. If you want to jump to another part of the process, just follow the links below:

 

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in October 2015 and has been updated for freshness, accuracy, and comprehensiveness.

 

 Image credit 

Billy Guinan
Billy Guinan

BrightWork Demand Generation Manager • Marketing

Working with a range of B2B SaaS project portfolio management software for nearly 15 years, Billy specializes in best practices and methods of how to leverage Microsoft 365, Teams, Power Platform, and SharePoint to make project management easier. His focus areas are Collaborative Project Management and Template-Driven Project Management on the Microsoft platform. Beyond all things BrightWork, Billy enjoys reading, trying to golf, and walking his pug named Nova.

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