What does a PMO do, and when does a business need one?

A PMO's job varies from business to business, but most do some or all of the following:

• Sets the rules. It decides how a project gets approved, who signs off what, when it's reviewed and when it's stopped.
• Standardises the documents. Every project uses the same business case, initiation document, RAID log and status report, so they can be compared.
• Runs the reporting. It collects progress, cost and risk from each project and turns them into one picture for leadership.
• Helps decide priorities. It gives the board the information to choose which projects to fund, pause or stop.
• Manages capacity. It shows where people are over-committed before deadlines start to slip.
• Builds capability. It coaches project managers and keeps improving how delivery works.

A PMO doesn't have to do all six from day one. The best ones start with the two or three that solve the biggest problem.

PMOs are usually described by how much control they have over projects:

• Supportive. The PMO provides templates, guidance and training, but project managers decide how to use them. This type has low control and suits businesses where projects already run reasonably well.
• Controlling. Projects must follow the agreed standards, and the PMO checks that they do through reviews and reporting. This type has moderate control and is the most common starting point for a growing business.
• Directive. The PMO manages projects directly, and project managers report into it. This type has high control and is usually found in large organisations with a big portfolio.

Most businesses start supportive or controlling, and move further only if they need to. For how a PMO differs from a project office or programme office, see our guide to PMO types and names.

Other common signs:

• Projects slip and nobody finds out until month-end.
• Status reporting is a manual scramble across spreadsheets.
• Every project runs to its own standard, or none.
• There's no consistent basis for deciding what gets funded or stopped.
• The same people are booked on too many projects at once.
• Delivery depends on a few people holding it all in their heads.

If you run only a handful of projects, they share the same small team, and the leadership already has a clear view of progress, a full PMO would add cost without much benefit. A simple, consistent set of templates and a monthly review may be enough for now.

1. Find out where delivery breaks today. A short health check across governance, reporting, RAID, resourcing and tools shows where to focus first.
2. Agree a light set of rules. Decide who approves what and when projects are reviewed. You need far less process than full PRINCE2.
3. Standardise the core documents. Start with a business case, an initiation document, a RAID log and a status report.
4. Put reporting on one screen. Reporting that updates itself removes the weekly chase.
5. Hand it to the people who run projects. A PMO works when your own team owns it, not when it depends on outsiders.

• Hire a PMO lead. This works well if you have the budget for a permanent role and time to recruit.
• Do it yourself with templates. Our PMO Governance Pack gives you the framework and documents to build your own.
• Have it set up for you. Our PMO Setup in Six Weeks puts one agreed way of running projects in place, at a fixed price, and hands it over to your team.