The right PMO structure for your business depends on a lot of factors…. But the good news is that one of them will be right for you!
The set up of your PMO is as unique and flexible as your business, and you can adapt the team and structure to grow as your project needs develop and change. The first step is making the decision about the right structure for your project office needs.
In this article, we’ll look at different factors that go into project management office structures so you can pick and choose the best approach for your PMO implementation planning.
Different PMO structures
There are several different ways a Project Management Office can be structured. Most commonly, these are aligned to different levels of the organization and where the PMO fits into the corporate hierarchy. There are four levels.
Level 1: The PMO operates for an individual project or program. This is often a temporary team structure that lasts as long as the project or program lasts.
Level 2: The PMO serves a business unit or department, providing project management and program management support within that department. This would be a permanent structure, although team members could rotate in and out of the PMO function.
Level 3: The PMO supports a portfolio across an entire division or region. For example, the PMO may support all projects and programs within North America, or worldwide sales. This would be a permanent structure with significant influence and importance within the business.
Level 4: The PMO supports the entire organization and may include multiple portfolios. This level of PMO operates at the highest level and acts as a strategic partner to the executive team.
It’s hard to go directly into a Level 4 structure without having spent some time on building up PMO successes. However, you can set up a PMO at whatever level makes the most sense to you, and if you have the support of the senior management team, you know you can make it work.
Structure by service
PMOs can also be structured depending on what services you want the team to offer. For example, the PMBOK® Guide – Sixth Edition talks about three different types of PMOs, supportive, controlling and directive.
Supportive PMO: The Supportive PMO acts in a largely support and admin capacity for project teams. It provides templates and may do the management of project management software tools. They may deliver training and do some project reporting, aggregating updates from project managers.
Think of this type of PMO as ‘behind the scenes’. They consolidate lessons learned from projects, and may provide admin support to project managers, for example in facilitating workshops or capturing meeting notes. This type of PMO has the least influence across the organization, and is the guardian of best practice, functioning as a document repository amongst other things. They may also take on the role of Center of Excellence.
Controlling PMO: The Controlling PMO is a structure that provides support but also expects project teams to meet compliance standards. This includes complying with standard project management approaches and using certain processes, tools, templates or systems. There is likely to be an overarching governance framework and the PMO will hold project teams to account, making sure they are compliant with standards and best practices.
Directive PMO: The Directive PMO consolidates all project delivery personnel under one team. The PMO manages resources and allocates project managers out to various projects. The project managers report directly to the PMO manager and not into functional department leads. The PMO in this situation has a high degree of influence and control because it controls the resources.
Choosing a PMO structure
The Project Management Office structure that you choose is going to depend on a number of factors including:
- Culture and maturity: Can the PMO support the whole organization or is the project management maturity level such that it would be most appropriate to set up a small PMO and scale later?
- Resources: Where are the resources based and what skills do they have?
- Goals: What do you want the PMO to do?
- Policies and processes: Are there already existing policies and processes, and how will the PMO fit into those?
You can take a mix and match approach of the examples listed above, or design something totally bespoke to your organization. There are lots of variants you could include, and one of the first to consider is whether you want the PMO team to be temporary or permanent.
Temporary and permanent structures
A temporary PMO structure is one that exists only for the duration of a project or a fixed term. You can set up a temporary project office to support a complex initiative, using resources and processes from the main permanent structure.
You can also have hub offices, serving different divisions, projects or programs, and then cascade information up and down the organization. Your PMOs can exist at different levels in the business, so you can have one in each department if that makes sense for your business model! Then you could add another layer at the portfolio level to consolidate and report on aggregated information from across the different departments.
If you do opt for a multi-PMO structure or a mix of temporary and permanent project offices, then it would make sense to try to standardize reporting and risk management between them as much as possible.
Every PMO is different
There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ PMO structure. Every organization is different and you’ll need to make the right choice for your business.
The PMO model is very flexible, and wherever you start there is room for growth. As your business gets used to operating with a PMO, you can adapt the structure to suit your needs. Think about what you want the PMO team to do, and then create a structure that empowers them to deliver that.