In working out your responses to the Discussion Question, you should choose examples from your own experience or find appropriate cases on the Web which you can discuss. You will receive credit for references you make to relevant examples from real companies. Please make sure that you cite and reference all your outside sources properly, as per the Harvard Referencing System.
As companies begin to recognise the favorable effect which project management has on profitability, they place emphasis on achieving professionalism in project management using the project office (PO) concept. The concept of a PO or project management office (PMO) could very well be the most important project management activity in this decade. Maturity and excellence in project management do not occur simply by using project management over a prolonged period of time. Rather, they grow out of strategic planning for both project management and the PO.
General strategic planning involves the determination of where one wishes to be in the future and then how one plans to get there. For PO strategic planning, it is often easier to decide which activities should be under the control of the PO rather than determining how or when to do it.
For this week, discuss the following questions:
Examine the steps an organisation would take to establish a PMO or PO if it did not previously have one. Explain which of these steps would be the most difficult for the organisation to complete successfully.
Analyse the various types of PMOs an organisation can create, the differences between each, and the criteria an organisation would use to select the type of PMO which fits its strategy and mission.
Analyse how Six Sigma can be used in the operation of a PMO and how Six Sigma can be used to improve the operations of a PMO.