PMOs: Great ... and Gone
I wish this were not true, but ever since 2002 when we began facilitating project management benchmarking groups, I have been meeting PMO directors who brought project management to the attention to senior management, created PMOs or Centers of Excellence, drove PM improvements across organizations, improved project and portfolio performance ... and wound up unemployed.
Of course, the present economic climate puts every area of the organization under the microscope, but it does seem that PMOs are more susceptible to the ax than many other functions. My theory about this is that great project (or program) management is like great editing: invisible. When the management of projects, programs, or portfolios goes smoothly .... nothing dramatic happens. Things get done, decisions get made, money gets made, schedules are met. No problem. No bloopers, no typos.
"Hey," says the CEO. "Everything is going so well. What do we need this PMO for? It's overhead."
The latest cover story in PM Network magazine focuses on just this issue: the crucial requirement for PMOs to show value, and show it often, in order to simply maintain their place in the organization. (The Accident Fund PMO, by the way, has been a finalist and a winner of our PMO of the Year Award in previous years, under the previous director Norm Buckwalter--something that isn't mentioned in the article).
Often, PMOs succumb to a disease that is affecting all areas of organizations: the short-term CEO syndrome. Research by executive search firm Drake Beam Morin notes that when CEO tenure drops, businesses focus on achieving quick and short-term results. Since (as our 2008 study The State of the PMO revealed), it's only mature PMOs that bring business benefits, it's easy to see how short-term thinking can doom PMOs. Unfortunately, this only harms organizations in the long run.
Have a PMO success-to-sadness story? I'm all ears.
- PMO Staff vs PMO Leaders: Realism or Pessimism?
- PMO of the Year Finalist Ontario Power Generation
- The Future is Already Here for These PMOs
- Will A.I. Kill the PMO? Part 3 in Our A.I. in PM Series
- PMO Research Reveal: What You'll Learn in This Week's Webinar
- The Enterprise PMO Delivers
- The PMO at 20: New Research Findings Released
- Extended: The State of the PMO Research Study, Thru Feb. 18.
- Why Research Is Important
- 2022: What Is the State of Your PMO?
- Blog PMI series #3 The SAFe PMO: Two Experts Respond
- PMI Virtual Experience Attendees: Your Questions Answered! Part 2
- PMI Virtual Event Dec. 9: Join Us and Learn More About the Agile PMO
- Another Covid-Era Success Story: New Agile Maturity Model Unveiled
- Download New Research Report Today: State of PM 2020
- Managing Project Managers Within and Outside the PMO
- Four Things to Do Right Now: Insights from New Research
- Join Us on an Agile PMO Journey
- @PMOSym We Debrief Our Execs
- It's a Wrap: Day 4 @PMOSym
- Blogging from the PMO Symposium: Day Three -- A Quest
- Blogging from the PMO Symposium: Day Two
- The View from PMI50: Winds of Change
- Questions Answered: Following Up on The Adaptive Organization Webinar Part 3
- Women In Project Management
- PMO of the Year and Finalists: An Award Judge's Perspective
- New Thought Leadership by PM Solutions Experts
- The PMO Symposium: Conference Review Part 3
- The PMO Symposium: Conference Review Part 2
- The PMO Symposium: Conference Review Part 1
Related Posts:
Tags:
(No ratings yet)
2 Comments on PMOs: Great ... and Gone
Popular Posts
- The Project Management Maturity Model … Now with Agile/Adaptive Assessment!
- PM Solutions Celebrates 25 Years of Project Management Excellence
- Managing Project Managers Within and Outside the PMO
Popular Categories
- Agile or Adaptive PM (5)
- Culture & Change Management (75)
- Project & Program Management (82)
- Portfolio Management (50)
- Project Management Office (PMO) (107)
- Project Management Research (50)
- Resource Optimization (26)
search blog:
Sign up for PM Solutions'
Insights eNewsletter
Delivered every other month in addition to periodic research, white papers, and news alerts.
A PMO’s PMO - Project Management Office’s Pr says:
[...] it will be revered; but that it could actually lead to its demise (by Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin at http://pmsolutions.com/blog/uncategorized/pmos-great/ [...]
Posted on July 15, 2009 at 5:04 pm
EPM, Microsoft Project and You » Blog Archiv says:
[...] it will be revered; but that it could actually lead to its demise (by Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin at http://pmsolutions.com/blog/uncategorized/pmos-great/ [...]
Posted on July 15, 2009 at 5:05 pm