Need Investment for Your PMO?
It’s not always easy to get management buy-in for a PMO set up. PMOs are often used in large organizations as a way of instituting best practice, project processes and improving quality. But they take time and effort to set up so managers often need convincing before committing to PMO investment.
PMOs take a lot of resources to get up and running too – people, process changes and potentially more management involvement. It takes careful planning as well as influencing others at the company about its benefits.
This article will guide you through the thought process for getting that PMO investment with a few tips for making sure you present your case well and include all the key stakeholders who need influencing!
It’s never a walk in the park to set up a PMO, but the benefits are huge. A good PMO can improve quality and project processes, which in turn has an impact on project success rates. It’s often all about standardization and repeatability.
Sell the benefits
PMO investment is important for any organisation that’s trying to improve project outcomes, and that’s the first thing to consider. First, sell the benefits of what you are trying to achieve.
PMO’s provide a lot of value in the way that they improve project processes, quality and team morale. PMO investment not only helps with delivering projects but also helps with other areas such as resource management and training. But you need to make others aware of that – especially stakeholders who have a vested interest in the proposal.
Make it clear what problem your PMO will solve; this could be improving quality on projects or increasing efficiency with fewer staff. If you know what issues are plaguing the business, you can tailor your proposal to start there. PMOs can pretty much tackle any challenge related to project delivery and governance, so you can be very flexible with what you pitch. People are more likely to be open to a solution that obviously solves a pain point.
So what are you trying to achieve from implementing PMO? It may be improving project outcomes, or saving time; it could be better coordination between departments or teams too – whatever your goal is, focus on this when making your case for PMO investment.
Consider who needs influencing
Next, think about who are the key players when it comes to making the final decision.
The team putting the proposal together should consider who needs to be influenced in order to attract investment and support.
This will depend on the size of your organization, but generally stakeholders include senior management and project managers. It may also be influential for other groups such as HR or Finance teams – after all, they may be involved with recruitment efforts too.
Employees are another important stakeholder group that need convincing, especially if you want PMOs to have a positive impact internally. Your business case for the PMO can talk about the communications involved in the launch to make sure everyone is aware of the services the PMO will be able to provide and why the company is investing in the structure.
Consider who the audience is for the proposal – this ensures your business case is more likely to be successful and has a higher chance of being funded.
Start small
Sometimes leadership doesn’t recognize the importance of investing in an organization’s PMO until it has been implemented successfully elsewhere.
Do some research on what worked elsewhere so you can make an informed argument about how PMOs have benefited other organizations in similar situations. Perhaps there is another part of the organization that has already implemented a PMO – talk to that team and see what their experience has been.
There is no harm in starting small and building on your successes. Fix one business pain point and then expand the services offered by the PMO over time.
Planning the costs
The main costs involved in launching the PMO will be staff. You can’t implement PMOs without staff so make sure this is taken into account when making your business case. There may already be project professionals in the business who will be moving into the PMO, so their costs will probably need to be reallocated to a new cost center.
However, if your PMO is going to be successful, it’s likely to need a few more resources to provide the centralized structure required. A PMO Director, for example, and maybe a team administrator.
You’ll also want to include the costs of PMO implementation planning and using expert consultants to help bring your PMO to fruition quickly. It often works out cheaper in the long run if you use expert resources to get started because they know exactly what works and how to stand up a PMO in super quick time.
Include costings related to the cost of not having a PMO as well, if you can. They will help demonstrate the benefits of investing in PMOs now rather than waiting until it becomes too difficult or expensive to do anything else.
There are many benefits involved with PMOs so make sure you highlight these during discussions about implementation costs. The potential return on investment is often much higher than anticipated, if everyone gets behind the idea of the PMO and works effectively to make it a success.
You already know that PMOs are a great way to improve project management. Not only do they provide the staff and processes for tackling projects in an efficient manner but PMOs also allow companies to follow internal and industry best practices which is important for attracting business and securing repeat business from contracts.
If you’re interested in learning more about how we can help you set up a PMO that is the perfect fit for your business, then get in touch.