Serissa

Some of you (members of APM) may be aware of a debate about the worth of PMOs, which has been rumbling online (APM blog, and here) and in print (Project - the APM magazine) since March.

The debate concluded on a more positive note for PMOs, and you can see the "final verdict", in one of the main featured articles of the June issue of Project, which records the face to face discussion David Shannon and I had about this topic. (Click here to download the article)

Over the weekend, David has posted what he considers to be the key questions to determine the value added of PMOs. I copy an extract of his post below, including the questions. What are your views? Are these questions the right challenge? If so, would they be answered positively in your organisation?

The discussion in Project on this topic has now stopped with the June issue in which Lain and I with James's facilitation ended with a large measure of agreement.  Nevertheless, I think all of us involved with PMO's should make sure of positive answers to the these types of questions, the answers made or confirmed  by the the indicated person.

1. Are we saving the project managers time and cost? - The Project Managers.

2. Are the projects' processes better for our contribution? - The Internal Auditor.

3. Are the projects'  products better for our contribution? - The Users.

4. is the oversight of the projects better for our contribution? - The Sponsors.

5. Is our total cost distributed across the portfolio good value? - The Finance Director

6. Are we a source of integration rather than conflict with the business as usual parts of the oganisation? - The Managing Director

Anyone care to modify or add to these questions?

Anyone carried out surveys of this nature to confirm their net worth?  

Anyone interested in forming a benchmarking group?