You may notice recent discussions about PMO, should we keep it, change it or demolish it. In this fast-changing business environment, it is difficult to stay alive if you are still holding on to a decision you made 5 years ago!

We all know that establishing a PMO can help regain control of failing projects. A PMO should enable organizations to implement processes and methods that help the organization not only meet their technical goals but also accomplish the processes around the technology implemented. We also agreed that the PMO should be neutral in the management role it plays, operating as a center of excellence and the custodian of the methodology chosen for all project managers.

When they were established, many PMOs who followed the standard structure chose only one methodology for their organizations to solve the problems at hand. However, over time not just project managers, but project sponsors and program managers started asking for different methodologies to manage their projects!

How can you let every project team choose a different methodology, such as Waterfall, Agile, PRINCE2, Kanban, Scrum and still be able to help them succeed? It is easier than you think. First, let’s agree that PMO is not a policing organization! It is not PMO’s role to monitor and control projects budget or resources or scope! This is a project manager’s and sponsor’s role along with related departments.

In addition, all these methodologies have one common goal; to make your project a success! There are certain tasks that need to be included in every project, such as reporting format. This is governance part of PMO, identifying high-level objectives and requirements. The second part of PMO function should be supported; providing guidance on which methodology to choose for a project or even for a work package; and training about the methodologies to choose.