A well-defined transformation portfolio is essential for maintaining alignment, optimizing resources, and ensuring focus on critical objectives. The role of the PMO/TMO becomes indispensable in orchestrating these efforts, as it coordinates priorities, fosters team connectivity, and streamlines initiatives to eliminate redundancies and gaps.
A core and centralised approach should enable organisations to remain agile, achieve seamless execution, and maximize the impact of their transformation efforts, regardless of where teams are located and the maturity of their teams.
In an interview with our CEO and Lead Consultant Rob Saunders, we ask his thoughts on the role of a PMO or TMO across significant programmes of work.
Firstly, what is a PMO / TMO?
A Project or Programme Management office to Transformation Management Office is for me the jurisdiction point for your change programme. It’s the glue that helps tie in all the moving parts across any change organisation and its first priority for me is keeping everyone aligned and honest. I won't go into the specific day to day duties or we'd be here all day!
What are the basic principles behind a PMO/TMO?
First this function does not replace a programme manager or project manager. Too often a P/TMO is loaded with the day-to-day duties of a project lead and this ceases to make it effective.
It’s the support mechanism a project manager needs in their day-to-day life, and importantly it must have visibility of all strategic objectives and initiatives to be fully effective as a function.
The left arm must know what the right arm is doing and the P/TMO is the oil that keeps the cogs moving.
What does a P/TMO do?
Setting standards. This is across planning, budget management, reporting, process improvement and monitoring.
The projects feed into the P/TMO and provide the necessary information and inputs required to measure and provide governance across the projects.
What is the P/TMO not?
It’s not an excuse for poor project management practice. Too often we see a hierarchy where the PMO feels beholding to the Project or Programme teams, and often there is no accountability from the projects into the PMO. It’s seen as a necessary evil but isn’t respected and valued for the contribution the office, or the individuals undertake.
Why do we see a P/TMO fail or not deliver?
My experience is that they are not resourced correctly, have little or no authority and then aren’t embedded in the change, all resulting in a lack of true and required authority when it comes to enforcing standards.
Breaking that down it’s often because these functions don’t have seasoned professionals running them, therefore they aren’t commanding any respect because they lack the experience required to effectively communicate with the teams and drive effective change.
They become ‘removed or extracted’ from the change and become an external frustration rather than an internal enabler for the change teams.
How can a P/TMO be effective in a modern organisation?
Embed within the change and facilitate the process.
The key is not to over govern a programme or project and not to overload the teams with unnecessary administration. There are some real basics any Project or Programme needs to follow; the key is to enable these or highlight to the leadership when these things can’t be done due to constraints.
Highlighting and mitigating risk is the goal here, there is no value beating a Project Manager up because they have not delivered when you know they have no resource to deliver – the PMOs role here is to support, raise and highlight risk and provide escalation where required. Gatekeeping success is fundamental.
How can Incubus help companies who need a P/TMO but can’t justify the expense?
More and more we’re offering PMO services on a fractional basis. Covering the basics such as managing plans, facilitating risk workshops then managing central RAID logs, mentoring PMs who have not always understood the intrinsic value in governance – or just haven’t been taught what good looks like.
If you feel your change initiative lacks a T/PMO and you’d like to discuss options with the team, we’d love to speak to you. Please contact us (hello@incubusdigital.com) and we’ll be in touch.
