Explainer
In business, PMO stands for project, programme or portfolio management office. Here is what each type does, the roles inside it, what good looks like and the signs yours is not working.
By Christopher Fagan, Managing Partner, PEF Consulting Partners
In business, PMO stands for project management office, programme management office or portfolio management office, depending on what it supports. All three do the same basic job: they give the people running change the standards, information and support to deliver it, and they give leaders an honest view of what is happening across the work.
| Type | What it supports | Typical focus |
|---|---|---|
| Project management office | A single large project | Planning, reporting, RAID, change control |
| Programme management office | A programme of related projects | Dependencies, benefits, the integrated plan and governance |
| Portfolio management office, often called an enterprise PMO | All change across the organisation | Prioritisation, investment decisions, capacity and benefits |
A PMO lead or head of PMO runs the function. PMO analysts produce the plans, reports and logs, and are often the first to notice when the numbers stop adding up. Larger PMOs add planners, finance analysts and a benefits manager. On a programme, the PMO usually reports to the programme director.
A good PMO is judged by the decisions it makes possible, not the number of templates it owns. Reports arrive on time, are short and lead with the decisions needed. The plan is believed by the people doing the work. Risks are owned and closed. Leaders hear bad news early. If the PMO spends most of its time chasing updates and formatting slides, it is administration rather than control.
Some organisations do not need a permanent PMO, or need one quickly for a major programme. PMO as a service provides experienced PMO people, methods and tools for a period, then hands over to an internal team. It suits programmes with a defined life, such as an ERP implementation or a separation. Our article on whether to insource or outsource your PMO covers how to decide.
Related reading: PMO setup and uplift, the free PMO maturity assessment, the RAID log template, the project status report template.
Project management office, programme management office or portfolio management office: the team that sets standards, runs reporting and governance, and supports the delivery of change. If you have seen PMO in a text message, that is unrelated slang.
A project manager runs a project and is accountable for delivering it. The PMO supports project managers and leaders with planning, reporting, governance and standards across one or many projects.
A portfolio level PMO that looks across all the change in an organisation, helping leaders decide which projects to fund, in what order and with which people.
Not a large one. Even a single experienced person who runs the plan, the RAID log and the steering committee papers gives most of the benefit.
If your PMO produces plenty of reports but leaders are still surprised, a short maturity review will show where to focus.