Support Innovation
Evolve the PMO to support bimodal IT and digital business.
The PMO must adapt its service model to support the technological changes at the heart of every growth and innovation-led transformation project. For example, a PMO may have been formed several years ago, with the economic downturn being the primary driver. At that time, cost reduction and efficiency were the main desired outcomes, but the same business may now be far more concerned with flexibility and speed of delivery. Consequently, the PMO's configuration and staffing may no longer be ideal and may need to change to reflect the new focus. "An effective PMO continuously reexamines its processes and capabilities to ensure they are in line with the current needs of the business," said Ms. Schoen.
How to Create an Effective Project Management Office
How to Create an Effective Project Management Office
It's essential for the health of any organization that all departments, units and initiatives focus on achieving the overall goals of the business and provide real value to the bottom line — without it, the business will fail. As such, units are continuously challenged to show that they do in fact add value, especially those without immediately quantifiable revenue, such as IT or project management.
In particular, project management offices (PMOs) must operate in such a way that they demonstrate that they can support and add to the wider organization and its strategic goals.
"Digitalization and bimodal IT are just two examples of the many developments in the business environment that the PMO must support," said Mbula Schoen, senior research analyst at Gartner. "A failure to evolve and adjust to such changes can result in a PMO being misaligned with an organization's goals, and therefore being seen as failing to deliver value."
In this slideshow, Gartner has identified seven best practices to help PMO leaders adapt to such developments and demonstrate the PMO's value to the business.
