Project governance and Project Management Office (PMO), introduces you to the important Project Management topic of project governance and how a Project Management Office can support governance. Project governance may be highly formalized, within the organizational governance, for large projects, or programs or portfolios of projects. In smaller organizations, perhaps with less complex projects, some of the governance and support for the project may be undertaken by the project manager themselves. This is further broken into

• Project Governance Establishment
• PMO Establishment.

Each of these is discussed below.

Project Governance Establishment

Project Governance refers to the set of policies, regulations, functions, processes, procedures, and responsibilities that define the establishment, management, and control of projects.  It is a subset of corporate governance, but unique to the project environment. The governance framework addresses several areas such as:

1. Project Management
2. Responsibilities
3. Reporting Structures,
4. Communication with key stakeholders,
5. Risk Management
6. Decision-making.

Our Project Governance Framework is described below, but we can also assist with the development of a governance framework specific to a project, program, or portfolio of projects.

Benefits of Establishing Project Governance

1. Providing scrutiny and challenge
2. Ensuring return on investment
3. Offering the right levels of structure and accountability
4. Outlining roles, responsibilities, and relationships among stakeholders
5. Establishing risk and issue management and resolution practices which enhances the likelihood of project success
6. Establishing a timely and effective communication and reporting process to aid decision making and project control
7. Allowing for the effective management of risk and project delivery
8. Proposing policies, standards, and processes to good practices.

Project Management Office Establishment

A Project Management Office is an organizational entity operating a centralized and coordinated management of projects within its domain.

There are different types of Project Management Office Models, classified based on the requirements of the organization, including:

• Organizational PMO: Provides project-related services to support business services or units.
• Project Support Services: Provides enabling processes to continuously support the management of project work throughout the organization.
• Enterprise PMO: Highest level PMO, typically responsible for aligning project and program work to corporate strategy.
• Center of Excellence: Supports project work by providing the organization with standards, methodologies, and tools
• Project Specific PMO: Provides project-related temporary services as an entity to support a specific project or program.

Procept with over 30 years of Project Management Experience has established PMOs in different organizations, industries, and countries. Our approach to setting up a PMO which is outlined below covers all the types of PMO described above, including:

1. Understanding of the Organization
2. Define PMO Objectives
3. Establish PMO Governance
4. Establish PMO Center of Excellence (CoE)
5. Establish PMO Success Criteria
6. Continual Improvement

Benefits of establishing Project Management Office

1. Establishing a standardized project management practice
2. Ensuring the delivery of projects on schedule, on budget, and according to scope
3. Improving communication among project team and stakeholders
4. Retrospection of past projects, tracking and optimizing ongoing projecting, and ensuring improvement for future projects
5. Increasing the chances of project success and ROI
6. Delivering value beyond on-time, on-budget
7. Providing the opportunity to collaborate and share knowledge
8. Improving Visibility
9. Consistent Support