Delivering a project successfully is a challenge for many organisations; however, there is no point in completing a project if it does not contribute to your organisation’s business strategy in the first place. So, how do we ensure we are delivering the right projects correctly? Types of project offices Many companies choose to establish a project office to oversee projects. There are a number of different approaches that can be taken and different types of office which perform different functions. Only one of them, the Enterprise Portfolio Office, or EPO, focuses on whether projects are the right ones in terms of company strategy and goals. The types of project offices and their functions are as follows: A Project Management Office or PMO is a temporary formal body that manages and provides an organised approach to projects and project management. This is a temporary structure exclusively focused on supporting a, usually, large project or a joint-venture project. A Programme Management Office or PgMO is a temporary body, within a department or organisation that manages a group of interdependent projects taking a programme management approach. As programmes tend to run for longer than projects, a PgMO ensures projects within the programme are managed in a co-ordinated way to obtain the best benefits and a level of control that would not be achieved by managing the projects individually. Where projects focus on the delivery of a certain outcome or product, programmes focus on the direction and delivery of a strategy. A PgMO has extra focus on benefits management and change management. An Enterprise Portfolio Office or EPO is a permanent body that takes an organisationwide approach to the entire collection of projects and programmes (your portfolio) by focusing on doing the right projects. An EPO will not only provide aggregated reporting on the progress of an organisation’s projects and programmes, but will support the executives regarding the decision-making process involved in selecting the right projects. The right office for you Setting up the right type of project office depends on your company’s specific needs and there are a number of factors to consider. If your organisation’s current level of project management maturity is low, then it will likely struggle with any project office beyond a PMO. If the commitment level and desire to focus on the right projects is high, then a well-structured and deployed EPO will deliver the best results in the shortest period of time. Remember, Project Offices can vary widely in structure, roles, responsibilities, reporting lines, resource and authority. Time and effort must be invested up front in the decision-making and planning phase for the implementation and ongoing success of an organisation’s project office. Each organisation is unique and a tailored approach is required to ensure the long-term success of the chosen project office.Best practice and success We recommend as a best practice that you take a top-down approach to portfolio management and invest in the establishment of an EPO that will deliver key benefits in a very short period of time. Whatever office you institute, here are some straightforward tips when establishing the culture of the office: 1 KPIs are the key to monitoring performance and improvements:
- Can you measure the maturity of the project/programme/portfolio management in your organisation?
- How will you know if you are moving towards your desired state?
- How well are you delivering projects?
- What are the measures?
- How do you identify the right projects?
- Formal methodologies must be tailored with experience and common sense in to what works best for your organisation.
- Assign true champions for project and portfolio management.
- There is no right way to structure a project office – implement whatever makes best use of the expertise you have.
- There is a fine line to tread between project compliance and project assistance; success lies in getting the mix right, while focusing on the desired outcomes.