The Five "P's" of PMO

The definition of PMO, the acrnoym, has been difficult to pin down to date. There are many interpretations, both, in the service delivery community and the business operations organizations who express an interest in having one.

Since each organization is very different based on their Objectives and the people they hire, and the most pressing need at any one of these organizations can be decidely different from any of the others, the actual delivered PMO can be an extremely unique organization and set of procedures and metrics.

I believe that one of the most important things we can do, first, in any engagement is help the customer understand some of the differences between:

1. Program Management
2. Project Management
3. Process Management
4. Portfolio Management, and
5. People Management

These are my "Five 'Ps" for a PMO and they help me to understand where the highest priority need is and how to focus our efforts on getting a valuable PMO in place early from which we can build additional capabilities (other "P's") when necessary.

bgbg