A project management office (PMO) provides structure, oversight and support for project delivery. Whether embedded within a department or operating at enterprise level, the PMO defines standards, monitors performance and helps organizations turn strategy into results.
At its simplest, a PMO establishes consistency: common processes, reporting standards and governance frameworks. At its most mature, it acts as a strategic partner — prioritizing work, balancing portfolios, tracking benefits and ensuring investment decisions deliver measurable value.
There is no single ‘correct’ PMO model. Some focus on compliance and reporting. Others concentrate on capability development, coaching and tools. Enterprise PMOs may oversee programmes and portfolios, while smaller organizations often operate a lightweight support function.
On RebelsGuideToPM, you’ll find practical advice for setting up, evolving and working within a PMO, from governance and RAG reporting to stakeholder engagement, portfolio oversight and performance measurement. Whether you are establishing a PMO from scratch or improving an existing function, this guide pulls together the key concepts, frameworks and tools you need.
Start here: below you’ll find my favorite selection of articles on how to set up and get started with a PMO for your organization!
Establishing a project management office (PMO) requires more than creating templates and appointing a lead. A successful PMO is built around clear purpose, defined authority and a realistic understanding of organizational maturity. Whether you are setting up a PMO in a small business or launching an enterprise PMO in a complex environment, the foundation stage determines long-term credibility and impact.
The first step in setting up a PMO is clarifying its mandate. Is the function primarily supportive, providing guidance, project assurance and tools to project managers? Is it controlling, enforcing governance standards and reporting requirements? Are you going to be a Center of Excellence? Or is it directive, directly managing projects and programs?
Defining the PMO structure, reporting lines and decision-making authority early avoids confusion and resistance later.
You will also need to establish core PMO processes: governance frameworks, stage gates, portfolio oversight, risk reporting, and resource management standards. This includes designing reporting templates, defining RAG criteria and RAG reporting, and agreeing escalation pathways. A PMO charter or terms of reference document is essential to formalize scope and responsibilities.
Are you going to support agile project management as well as predictive methodologies or hybrid ways of working? How are each of those going to look different (if indeed they are)?
Staffing is another critical consideration, because it’s people who get projects done. A lean PMO can be highly effective if roles are clearly defined and aligned to organizational priorities. Building capability, not bureaucracy, should be the goal. When setting up a PMO, focus on delivering visible value quickly. In practice, that looks like improved reporting clarity, knowing what performance indicators to track, better prioritization decisions and stronger stakeholder confidence.
Below you’ll find practical guidance on structuring, staffing and launching a PMO that is proportionate, credible and aligned to strategy. Because that’s what stakeholders and your exec lead will be looking for!
Have you been asked to “set up a Project Management Office” but you aren’t really sure where to start? I know the feeling! I’m going to share with you a step-by-step plan for setting up a PMO. These simple steps are specifically aimed at smaller teams, so if you are a project manager who has…
Check out this step by step guide on how to set up a PMO from project management office expert Bill Dow.
Learn the core components of how to build a project management office (PMO) in this helpful guest post from expert Bill Dow.
Once established, the challenge for you as PMO leader shifts from design to delivery. Running Project Management Offices effectively requires consistent governance, clear communication and a focus on performance improvement, because the leadership team will want to see that you’re developing maturity over time, adding more services and functions.
A project management office balances oversight with support, ensuring projects comply with standards while enabling delivery teams to succeed, regardless of what ‘model’ of PMO you’ve opted for.
Operational PMO management includes maintaining reporting cycles, consolidating portfolio data and facilitating steering group meetings. There’s annual and quarterly planning, roadmap sessions and presenting to the exec.
You’ll be expected to track project performance metrics, monitor risk exposure, review benefits realization and support resource allocation decisions. Regular portfolio reviews and transparent dashboards help senior stakeholders understand progress and make informed investment choices. Or, they should do — sometimes exec leaders are a rule unto themselves, but we do the best we can to help them make the right calls.
Lessons learned processes, assurance reviews and maturity assessments provide insight into where project management capability can be strengthened.
You don’t have to do it all at once, but feed that input into your development plans. Remember, running a PMO is not about enforcing process for its own sake; it is about enabling predictable delivery outcomes to help meet business goals, so the more you can help teams do that, the better.
Stakeholder engagement is critical (as it is for all project-adjacent roles!). PMOs have to build trust with project managers, sponsors and executives. Clear governance frameworks, consistent RAG criteria and well-defined escalation routes reduce friction and increase confidence in reporting accuracy. Trust is the currency of your PMO, so don’t squander it.
Technology and tooling also play an important role in PMO operations. The tools you need depend on the PMO functions that you prioritize and whether the team need real-time insights from their project metrics. From portfolio management software to reporting automation and benefits tracking tools, the right systems can increase visibility and reduce administrative burden.
In this section, you’ll find practical advice on managing day-to-day PMO operations, improving performance and maintaining strategic relevance over time.
Not every PMO starts with a team of full-time project professionals. Many small organizations begin with just one person wearing multiple hats. Sound familiar? I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve taken calls with project managers who are setting up a PMO for their department or team. So it’s time to write out…
So you’ve been asked to set up a Project Management Office. Great! That means your company is moving on and taking project management seriously. But for you, that means having to pull together assets and processes, standards and approaches, checklists and guidelines… the list goes on. I can help! If you are setting up a…
How to write a PMO mission statement that packs a punch.
At its most mature, a PMO acts as a strategic partner rather than a reporting function, so ideally that’s the goal. Managing strategy through a PMO means aligning projects and programs to organizational objectives, prioritizing investment decisions and ensuring benefits are realized. This is where portfolio management and governance intersect with executive decision-making.
Strategic PMO management begins with clear portfolio oversight (and of course, your organizational strategy, which you have to have before you can align projects to it). Projects should be evaluated against business cases, capacity constraints and risk exposure. Effective portfolio prioritization ensures your limited resources (i.e. people doing the work) are directed towards initiatives that deliver measurable value. For that, you’ll need robust governance frameworks, transparent criteria and regular review cycles.
A strategy-focused PMO also supports benefits realization management. Tracking outputs is not enough these days (was it ever?); the PMO should be monitoring outcomes and ensuring that expected benefits are achieved. This often involves defining KPIs at the beginning of projects, working with business owners and embedding accountability into governance structures. Someone has to own the benefits once the project is done
Change management is another strategic consideration. Large-scale transformation initiatives, digital programs and organizational change efforts require coordination across multiple projects. A PMO can provide the structure needed to maintain alignment and manage interdependencies. Because there’s only so many new things a team can take on at a time. Dump too much change on any one department and they’ll crumble. The pace of change these days can be a lot.
Finally, managing strategy means adapting to evolving priorities. Market conditions, regulatory requirements and leadership direction can shift quickly. A mature PMO provides visibility, flexibility and structured decision-making to respond effectively.
Explore the resources below to understand how a PMO can move beyond administration and become a driver of strategic value and portfolio success.
“The PMO of the future must transition from traditional administrative roles to becoming strategic value-drivers capable of directly influencing organizational performance,” says Ben Rawson, a seasoned professional in the fields of portfolio and resource management. More and more experts emphasize that PMO’s purely administrative function is no longer sufficient. Organizational environments have become more complex…
In this article, I’ll explain what a strategy planning meeting agenda can cover and share a sample agenda you can customize for your strategy sessions.
Learn how to turn your company’s strategy into an actual project.
Get a step-by-step guide to prioritizing and learn how to decide what projects to do in this article.
Here’s a collection of videos from me and some of my favorite creators on the topic of PMO, so have a browse through.
A successful PMO depends on more than process and governance — it’s you, and the people in your team. They might not report to you, but the project delivery, transformation or assurance function, are all part of the wider project infrastructure within the organization.
Having strong PMO skills will underpin your ability to provide effective portfolio oversight, engage the right people and do all that strategic alignment. Whether you are working in a centralized enterprise PMO or a small departmental office, the right mix of technical expertise and leadership capability is essential.
Core PMO skills include project portfolio management, performance reporting, risk analysis, benefits realization tracking and resource planning. However, how you conduct yourself is probably even more important. Behavioural skills (the ones PMI calls power skills and we all used to call soft skills back in the day) include influencing senior stakeholders, facilitating governance forums, challenging assumptions constructively and communicating complex data.
As PMOs evolve from administrative support functions into strategic partners, skills in data interpretation, business case evaluation and change management become increasingly valuable because senior stakeholders will look to you to make sense of the portfolio and performance.
Building you capability across these areas strengthens the PMO’s credibility and ensures it (and therefore you/the people in it) can support effective decision-making at every level of the organization.
Explore the resources below to develop the practical and leadership skills required to thrive in a high-performing PMO environment.
Learn what program management skills and competencies you should be working on and highlighting on your resume. Showcase exactly what employers are looking for!
Learn how to use effective questioning and active listening to improve your mentoring power skills. Vital skills to improve all of your projects.
How to develop the organizational competencies you need to succeed in today’s business climate.
This article by Jaime Capitel of ITM Platform reviews 5 key considerations and knowledge areas under which the main criteria for managing a project portfolio can be grouped.
“The successful project communicator is a good networker and builds effective working relationships within the project, across the wider organization of which the project is a part and sometimes externally,” writes Ann Pilkington in her book, Communicating Projects. You need good communication skills in order to be able to do that, but what are ‘good…
Tera Simon spoke at Digital Project Management Summit 2016 about complex projects and the 5 skills you need to manage them.
A PMO analyst supports the project management office by collecting, analyzing and reporting project and portfolio data. The role typically involves maintaining dashboards, consolidating status reports, tracking risks and issues, monitoring budgets and supporting governance processes such as stage gates and steering group reviews. A PMO analyst ensures data accuracy and consistency across projects so that senior leaders can make informed decisions. In more mature PMOs, the role may also include benefits tracking, resource forecasting and portfolio performance analysis. Strong analytical skills, attention to detail and stakeholder communication are essential for success in this role.
PMO documentation is the standard templates, frameworks and governance artefacts used to manage and oversee projects and programmes. This can include project charters, business case templates, risk logs, RAG reporting criteria, portfolio dashboards, terms of reference and stage gate review checklists. The purpose of PMO documentation is to create consistency, improve transparency and ensure projects follow agreed governance standards. Good PMO documentation should be practical and proportionate, enabling effective oversight without creating unnecessary bureaucracy.
Within an individual project, the PMO provides structure, oversight and support. This may include defining reporting requirements, monitoring progress against milestones, reviewing risk and issue logs, facilitating governance reviews and ensuring compliance with organisational standards. The PMO does not typically manage the project directly (unless operating in a directive model, or maybe the project managers report into the PMO structure), but it helps ensure that the project is aligned with portfolio priorities and delivers against its business case. The PMO also supports escalation processes and provides independent assurance where required.
At organizational level, a PMO aligns projects and programmes with strategic objectives. It supports portfolio prioritization, resource planning, governance frameworks and performance reporting. A company-wide PMO may oversee investment decisions, track benefits realization and ensure consistent project management standards across departments. In more mature organizations, the PMO acts as a strategic partner, providing data-driven insight to senior leadership and improving overall project delivery capability. Its ultimate purpose is to increase visibility, reduce delivery risk and ensure that organisational investments generate measurable value.
The best structure for a PMO is the one that works for you. Typically, PMOs are often ‘independent’ and report directly into the CEO or MD. They may also report into the Director of Strategy or the CIO. There will be a Director of PMO or Chief Projects Office, supported by a team of project portfolio office specialists and analysts. Project managers may also report directly into the PMO. There’s normally an assurance function to support project delivery, as well as someone (or a team) who manage portfolio planning, the pipeline of projects and the alignment to strategy. There are also divisional PMOs that support one business unit.
Don’t worry if your PMO evolves over time, it’s supposed to. As organizations grow, portfolios become more complex and governance requirements increase, and the role of the PMO and the people in it adapts. Whether you are working in a small PMO supporting a handful of projects or an enterprise PMO overseeing programs and strategic initiatives, expect your role to change as the months and years go by!
Beyond the core themes of setting up a PMO, running day-to-day operations and managing portfolio strategy, there are many related areas that influence PMO effectiveness. Developing your influence and skills in a wide range of organizational areas, as well as business acumen, can only strengthen the PMO’s ability to deliver consistent, predictable outcomes. Which, after all, is the goal. Your PMO has more chance of being around for the long term if you can prove that you’re supporting delivery.
On RebelsGuideToPM, you’ll also find guidance on program management, digital transformation oversight, governance frameworks and performance reporting. Together, these articles provide practical insight into how a PMO can move from administrative support to strategic leadership. So I hope we can support your journey as a PMO leader.
Browse the articles below to explore specific topics in more depth. Whether you are building a new PMO or refining an established function, you’ll find actionable advice to support better governance, stronger delivery and improved organizational performance.
Angel Berniz, Director of ProjectManagers.org, spoke at Nordic Project Zone. He’s talking about ISO 21500, the new project management standard. I caught up with him to find out why this new standard is important and how it will impact project managers. Angel, tell me why the new ISO 21500 standard is important for project management?…
What are the benefits of project governance? This infographic shares 6 reasons why project governance is a good thing for projects and project managers.
This is a guest post by Neil Stolovitsky, Senior Solution Specialist at Genius. Although the fundamentals of project management are applicable across all types of project environments, the areas of emphasis can vary depending on the nature of the project you are running. Working for a PPM software vendor (Genius Inside) has its advantages in…
Austerity, explained Andy Murray, Director of Outperform, is a government policy of deficit cutting, lower spending and a reduction in the amount of benefits and public services provided. Murray was speaking at The Austerity Debate, a discussion at the historic Lloyd’s Register building in the City, about how project management is being affected by the…
In this video I talk to Josh Nankivel from pmStudent.com, about new trends in project management (and some pitfalls), specifically around collaboration tools and social media. A transcript follows below. We’re on the bank of the Potomac River, in National Harbour, Maryland, just down from Washington, D.C. Josh Nankivel: Hello everyone! This is Josh from…
I joined in with Managing and Saving Programs in a Changing World, an audio/Webex conference with LeRoy Ward, Executive VP at ESI, recently. It wasn’t radical – the ESI approach to managing programs in a changing world is obviously to be great at the basics – but it was a good revision session and a…
A new study* has shown that nearly half of Project, Programme and Portfolio Management Offices (PMOs) rate themselves as Fair or Poor in terms of effectiveness. I think that’s terrible, especially as it was the PMO team or those close to them who responded to the survey. As the purpose of having a PMO is…
Last week I wrote about the challenges facing project management as a result of evolving business practices. So, how is project management responding to these challenges? Frankly, I don’t think that we are. 71% of projects fail each year Projects achieve 93% of what they set out to deliver… … and take 84% more time…
At the APM conference last month I spoke about the challenges facing project managers working in a 21st Century business environment. I first got interested in this as a topic when I started working in healthcare about 18 months ago. The speed of advancements in healthcare technology is incredible, and every week there’s something new…