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Home - White Paper Index

Setting up a Project Office

Rating

Neville Turbit - Project Perfect

 

Project Office, Project Management Office, Program Office, Program Management Office.....?

No matter what you call it, a central office to manage projects across an organisation, or part of an organisation, is becoming a more common occurrence. I have seen they called Program Office, Program Management Office, Project Office, Project Management Office, Project Control Centre, Project and several other variations. People have their own interpretation for each but in the end, their role is to make projects more efficient.

Project Office Role

It is essential for the success of a new Project Office that there is clear understanding before establishment, as to the role of the office, and the interaction between the office and the individual projects.

The key to successfully establish a Project Office or Programme Office is to gain agreement at the start of the process, as to the responsibilities.  A useful and speedy technique is to workshop the possible activities with the key players, and gain consensus as to what the office is intended to do.  The starting point is to create a list of possible activities, then hold a workshop to evaluate the responsibility of the office, for each activity.  It is likely in some cases there will be no activity, and in other cases, the activities will need to be split down further.  It is also useful if the office is not to have responsibility, to identify who does have the responsibility

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Attached is a list in no particular order.  The list is not definitive.  It is intended to form the basis of a review of the role.  Each organisation will have specific activities that may, or may not be included in the role of a Project Office.

This matrix allows four conditions for each activity.

·        Uninvolved.  The Project Office has no responsibility for the activity

·        Monitor. Essentially they are aware of the activity and pass on information.

·        Influence.  Whilst the Project Office is not responsible for the activity, there is a responsibility for the project team and the Project Office to work together on the particular activity.

·        Control.  The Project Office is fully responsible for the activity.

On completion of this matrix, questions such as resourcing, inputs and outputs can be determined.

The Project Perfect Checklist for Project Offices

Rate each of these as one of the four categories above. Also try to identify activities that may be important in your organisation.

IT Strategic Plan

IT Annual Operational Plan

Project Establishment

Project Sizing

Project Charter

Budget

Scope

Staffing

Methodology & Processes

Tools

Funding

Standards

Admin Support

Planning

Risk Management

Issue Mgmt

Dependencies

Communication

Change Mgmt

Problem Escalation

Library

Benefits

Constraints

Reporting

Integration

Audit

PIR

Acceptance & Conformance

Configuration Management

Mentoring

Project Management SoftwareBusiness Interaction


For more information on Project Management visit www.projectperfect.com.au

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