Project Management Office (PMO): Using Projects as Strategies for Managing Organizational and Human Resources

Introduction

Projects can be used as change and strategic implementation vehicles for organizations (Richardson & Jackson, 2018). Projects as strategic implementation vehicles, use project management skills, processes, tools, and techniques for change and strategic initiatives, (Crawford, 2011; Pinto, 2012; Richardson & Jackson, 2018) to achieve their strategic management goals. These initiatives are focused on delivering products and services to internal and external customers. A Project Management Office (PMO), which is a group that supports and facilitates project management activities (Darling & Whitty, 2016), is one entity that can be used to manage the change as well as the effectiveness, centralization, and standardization of global projects (Crawford, 2011; Project Management Institute, 2017).

The project management activities include usage of project tools and techniques, optimizing project resources, human resource development and training, monitoring and controlling project schedules, and maintaining data repositories (Hobbs & Aubrey, 2010; Project Management Institute, 2017). Crawford (2011) noted the administrative advantages via a PMO including better project management using established standards and best practices. More specifically, the benefits of using projects as strategic implementation vehicles include reducing operational costs, meeting compliance requirements, achieving competitive advantages, and improving employee morale (Anderson, Henriksen & Aarseth, 2007: Crawford, 2011). However, if the change is not managed properly there is a chance the PMO structure will not be effective. This was noted by Sebastianelli & Tamimi (2003) in their study about quality management implementations. Therefore, creating a culture that embraces change is an important activity for PMO implementations as well as PMOs have an essential role in aligning a fit between project management activities and organizational assets (Iden & Hallikas, 2019).

The PMO uses project human resources to select projects that are aligned with the organization’s strategic goals and includes functions and responsibilities for those project human resources (Fernandes, Pinto, Araujo & Machado, 2018; Pinto, Cota, & Levin; 2010). The PMO is also focused on providing an organized and standard approach for executing projects, programs, and portfolios (Crawford, 2011). The use of a standardized approach helps to highlight issues across the organization that facilitates the decision-making process (Crawford, 2011; Pinto, Cota, & Levin; 2010) as well as supports the consistent work activities to ensure requirements are met and that the project team is adhering to the project methodology (Crawford, 2011; Meredith & Zwikael, 2020; Soderlund & Bredin, 2006). According to PMI’s 2018 Pulse of the Profession report, 93% of the organizations use standardized project management practices but 42% of the organizations do not understand the value of project management. These statistics support the idea that organizations may not be efficiently and effectively using projects (Pinto, 2012) via the PMO to bridge the gap between strategy and customer delivery. Some of the challenges to implementing a PMO are related to resistance to change, resource talent, PMO alignment with strategic goals, and standard and consistent methodology use (Crawford, 2011; PMI Solutions, Inc., 2012; Singh, Keil and Kasi (2009). Additional challenges also include lack top management support, lack of scope management, inexperienced project managers, lack of change management culture, and non-value add activities (Singh, Keil, & Kasi, 2009; Spalek, 2013).