Is your Project Management Office mature? 7 questions to ask

The difference between the highest and lowest performing Project Management Offices is stark. PMOs that recognize the strategic value of projects and modernize their approach to project management by connecting outcomes to customers are gaining a distinct marketplace advantage, according to our Global Survey on Transformation and Project Management. To assess if your PMO is positioned as a value driver or a cost center, ask and answer the following questions about your company’s attitudes and actions around the PMO:

1. Does your company see project managers as strategic players who enable business or order takers who increase costs?

How a company views the project management office can become a competitive advantage or a drag on performance, depending on the prevailing mindset. Mature PMOs use words like—problem solvers, enablers and motivators—to define project managers. In contrast, immature PMOs describe project managers as—box checkers, note takers and rule followers. Downplaying the strategic potential of project managers is a formula for failure. With PMO maturity, comes a renewed and refreshed image of the project manager as a business driver.

2. Do project managers receive upskilling?

More mature PMOs value a wider skill set in their project managers. The most important capabilities of a project manager—ranked top three by maturity are 1) collaborative leadership; 2) understanding of the organizational strategy; and 3) motivating others.

Mature PMOs are more likely to be thinking about a range of training measures, focusing on upskilling project managers in several different areas including business acumen, building trust, communicating, collaborating and managing to drive an invisible line between business and technology.

3. Is your book of work easily consumable in terms of business value or more veering toward a list of projects?

Out of a list of 23 choices, respondents ranked enabling project visibility and regularly engaging with senior leaders and communicating the milestones and impacts of projects as the top two behaviors they engage in all the time. Mature PMOs also focus on wider organizational purpose and values, including ESG initiatives at 47% compared to 27% from the average.

4. Do your project managers feel valued and supported by the C-suite?

The C-suite’s participation with the project management team is a direct reflection of the business’s cultural perception of the project management group. PMOs most advanced in maturity are much more likely to agree they feel valued and supported by the C-suite in their organization. The survey found: “94% agree that C-suite in their organization supports the PMO and its objectives and demonstrate commitment to its success; 93% agree the C-suite in their organization understands and appreciate the value of the PMO; 93% agree the C-suite in their organization considers the PMO to be a strategic partner.”

5. Does the company empower project managers to align their strategic goals with the larger organization?

Aligning the strategic priorities of project managers with the larger goals of the organization is how to achieve success. The importance of understanding organizational strategy ranks high among mature PMOs.

6. Are you excelling at managing project managers who work remotely?

Talent is king. Mature PMOs are much more likely to say that they enable flexible working, including remote working, 50% for the average vs 61% for mature PMOs. Part of providing an optimal work environment is focusing on wellbeing. 48% of mature PMOs say they focus on mental health compared to 37% for the average.

7. Are you providing early and consistent career progression opportunities for project managers?

The frontrunners in PMO maturity are working harder to attract, develop and retain talent, with twice as many providing clear and early opportunities for career progression. Mature PMOs are far more likely to say they are promoting positive and cohesive team cultures, strengthening diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and providing attractive financial benefits.

Very few companies can answer yes to all these questions. But we can help you get there. In as little as six weeks, we can assess the state of your PMO, quantifying it with our PMI based metric. Then, we collaborate with you to devise a real roadmap for the future, step by step. Our inflection-based model can inform your journey from cost center to value driver. We can help you turn nos into yeses.

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