A project management office (PMO) is a group or department that defines, maintains and ensures project management standards across an organization. A PMO can either be internal or external. They can also be referred to as a program or project portfolio management office, but they’re different types of PMO. Let’s quickly explain the differences:
Project Management Office: Provides administrative support for the project management team and standardizes the project-related management processes.
Program Management Office: Manages the program governance process and coordinates the efforts of the program management team.
Portfolio Management Office: The project portfolio management office oversees all the projects and programs of an organization and supports project and program management offices.
A project management office keeps documentation on projects and offers direction and key metrics in the execution of the projects under its governance. Through guidance, the PMO helps organizations get a return on their investment and add value to their stakeholders through projects, programs and portfolios. This is executed with the help of project portfolio management tools, which provide data and insights into projects and programs across an organization.
The PMO doesn’t always focus solely on standards and project management methodologies. They can also be part of strategic project management by facilitating, or even owning, the project portfolio management process. In this capacity, they can monitor and report on active projects and portfolios to top-tier management and foster strategic decision-making.
A project management office is meant to operate as a centralized and coordinated management hub for all the projects, with the aim to create efficiencies between projects—as well as merely defining standards in the project management process.
