The term ‘PMO’ can apply to many things (e.g. project, program, or portfolio management office, and even project management officers in some regions). While all these entities help businesses achieve their goals and run more efficiently, they operate differently and serve varied purposes.
When evaluating whether to build, fix or optimise a PMO, businesses should first ask themselves what the ‘P’ in their ‘PMO’ stands for (project, program, or portfolio), which can encourage them to look at the bigger picture.
In this article, we’ll look at the differences between projects, programs and portfolios, and outline helpful definitions for standard terms associated with the famous “PMO”.
Differences Between Projects, Programs and Portfolios
The relationship between project, program, and portfolio management can best be described like this:
- A project is a temporary endeavour undertaken by a company. Examples include the creation of a new project or the implementation of a new department.
- A program is a collection of interrelated projects. They are typically managed and coordinated as a group rather than independently.
- A portfolio is a group of different programs and projects within the same organisation. They may be related to each other, but they don’t have to be.
Here’s another way to visualise the differences: projects can fit within larger programs, which themselves can fit within portfolios. Although related, tasks associated with each level are inherently different.
The management of each (i.e. project management, program management, etc.) is the coordination of activities and the alignment of stakeholders to successfully complete the defined objectives.
Therefore, it follows to say that an “office” to manage projects, programs, and/or portfolios is a group that exists to support the delivery of an organization’s business goals through project portfolio management.
Categories of PMO
First, it’s important to understand that every PMO serves to meet specific objectives of the company, and these vary widely. Additionally, depending on the organization’s maturity and size, it may have many different PMOs. Therefore, it’s useful to consider the following ways that PMOs can be classified, both based on objectives and/or organizational needs. We define these in greater detail in Types of PMO.
- Based on degree of control on projects
- Based on the degree of participation in the project phase
- Based on its position in the organization
- Based on the degree of technologies applied
PMO Glossary: Specialty PMOs
With an understanding of project, program and portfolio management, let’s look at the different kinds of project management offices (PMOs) serving organisations today.
Delivery PMO
Also known as the Project Delivery PMO, the Delivery PMO is tasked with planning and controlling projects’ strategic execution to meet business expectations. This may be the most common PMO style
Delivery PMOs encourage project managers to proactively make decisions and escalate issues as needed. Ultimately, the goal is to establish repeatable processes and techniques that build a productive culture and culminate in desired outcomes.
Security & Compliance PMO
Security and compliance are linked because assets, infrastructure, and data today are not located in a single on-premises data center. Therefore, a unified approach is essential to manage vulnerabilities and risks associated with each of these.
The Security & Compliance PMO is a dedicated PMO function to support the ever-challenging IT environment to deliver Cyber Security projects successfully.
Project Support Office (PSO)
A Project Support Office is an administrative support department of a business that offers daily development and supervision services to project teams and their managers.
The PSO’s primary responsibility is to fill the gaps in your project teams. Because those gaps change frequently, project support officers don’t have specific roles; their duties depend on the project teams’ needs on any given day.
Project support officers act as coordinators and assistants to your project managers, facilitating communication and providing help and resources. They might perform some or all of these tasks:
- Providing support for written project management materials
- Creating documents for research, learning, and legal purposes
- Monitoring and controlling all processes involved in a project
- Developing communication methods for project teams
- Assisting team members
- Ensuring the alignment of projects and overall strategy
- Identifying links between similar projects
- Managing and controlling risks
- Coaching project managers and sponsors on best practices and software.
With the support of a PSO, project teams will thrive and have a much better chance of reaching success.
Program Management Office (PgMO)
A program management office has similar responsibilities to a PMO, but its role extends from simple projects to complete programs.
PMOs usually report to a PgMO, which has greater decisional authority within the business. While their duties might be similar, their focus is different. A PMO works toward the success of individual projects, and a PgMO centres its efforts around the attainment of broader goals. In short, PgMOs are more strategic, and PMOs are more specific.
PgMOs are critical for ensuring the compliance of programs to industry and international standards. They do this by overseeing the management of several projects that make up a single more extensive program. To improve efficiency, the PgMO manages collaboration and information distribution between related projects. It also establishes processes and tools to help the business achieve its objectives and subsequently monitor a program’s benefits according to expectations and proposed outcomes.
Portfolio Management Office (PfMO)
A portfolio management office provides advice to senior management about whether the right projects and programs are being pursued. As the organisation’s priorities evolve, the portfolio office provides data about conflicting priorities, current issues and potential risks. It must also challenge portfolio decisions as industry forces morph and change, and it provides information and recommendations so executives can make informed decisions. In sum, a portfolio office provides value by focusing decision-making on the organisation’s strategic priorities.
Enterprise PMO (EPMO)
An enterprise project management office contrasts with a traditional PMO in that it functions at a strategic level in collaboration with executives to make sure that projects benefit the entire organisation.
An EPMO aims to provide business-wide direction, governance, standardised processes, project portfolio approaches, tools, and best practices. A frequent reason for project failure is a lack of alignment between the project and the organisation’s overall business objectives.
Businesses often upgrade from a traditional PMO to an EPMO when they want to address ambiguous PMO direction, underutilised resources, low company performance or misalignment between projects and organisation-wide strategy.
Transformation Management Office (TMO)
A Transformation Management Office is typically an enterprise framework responsible for actuating complex initiatives that align with a business’s strategy.
A TMO provides a crucial link between the executives’ vision and the work of the business. Sometimes a TMO is referred to as a “Strategy Realisation Office.” No matter what it’s called, the TMO’s mandate is to transform the business into the organisation envisioned by C-suite leadership.
A TMO should assume some or all of the traditional PMO roles and responsibilities. However, a transformation management office handles more than just projects. While a PMO knows how to support a project delivering a new machine part, a TMO helps facilitate the transformation of an organisation’s culture.
Therefore, a TMO must play some specific roles that PMOs don’t. For example, a business may have several needs that appear to be unrelated, such as cutting costs and updating its technology. These initiatives may appear to be misaligned with the business’s strategy. By bringing all of the initiatives together under the TMO’s umbrella, executives can oversee the transitions and ensure that each project fits within the parameters they’ve set.
Project Management Centre of Excellence (PMCoE)
A Project Management Centre of Excellence has organisation-wide authority to create vision and strategies, identify and develop competencies, develop project management processes and create quality standards. Essentially, the PMCoE re-shapes the organisational culture to rally around high, consistent project management standards.
Agile Management Office (AMO)
The agile approach to project management requires minimal planning and maximum collaboration. Instead of focusing on centralised authority and top-down control, an Agile Management Office analyses processes while working in parallel with project managers. The AMO treads lightly, moving one step at a time, and it helps provide a smooth transition when projects have to change directions mid-stream.
Conslusion
Understanding the various types of Project Management Offices and their specific roles is the first step in optimizing your management processes. Each type serves unique functions that align with different organizational needs and strategic goals. By clearly defining the purpose and scope of your PMO, you can ensure that it effectively supports your business objectives, enhances efficiency, and drives successful outcomes.
Whether your organization requires a traditional PMO, or a specialized office like for Security & Compliance, the key is tailoring it to fit your specific needs. Most importantly, ensure all your stakeholders are on the same page and agree on the roles, responsibilities, and expectations of your PMO.
Thank you to the MetaPM team for contributing to this article.
Ready to assess your PMO Maturity?
We’re ready to help you improve your PMO’s performance.
