A Project Management Office (PMO) is an increasingly important role in many large, project focused organisations that are required to deliver a huge range of projects on a regular basis.

Put simply, a PMO is a group or department most commonly set up to support, standardise and manage the project management team and standards. It might involve setting up standardised IT systems that enable all projects to be managed and reported in the same format. Equally, it might support each project in various forms, whether it be implementing a specific IT system, training new staff or liaising with project sponsors as required. Our friends at projectmanager.com provide more details on this.

In many cases, the PMO will not directly manage projects, but it will instead act as a critical resource for project managers to draw on as and when they require it. The value of this type of support in organisations that are delivering large numbers of projects or very complex projects cannot be underestimated.

Think of it in terms of the background staff of a high-profile football team. The manager and players are the ones that are most well-known and visible in delivering the actual performance, but the backroom staff will have done huge amounts of work to support the managers and team in delivering the best possible performance and result.

Key day-to-day tasks of the PMO often include;

• Assistance in setting up risk registers.
• Managing user permissions on a project management IT system.
• Setting up a project management IT system for a new project.
• Liaising with key stakeholders to discuss any issues or potential risks identified by the project manager.
• Delivering tailored training to contractors on how to use the chosen system.

If you think you may need a PMO to support your project(s), get in touch or visit our PMO Support page for more information.