Need for PMO

A nice article about PMO in Projectmanager.com.

For the past years PMO has been kind of "de facto" in the working environment. Now I'm facing a situation where I need to think What's in it for me.

• Create and implement consistent systems and processes
• An objective source of truth
• Introduces economies of scale

 Let's see. Having a background in a large international company I truly believe in consistent systems and processes. If you don't "speak the same language" things tend to get difficult. Consistent framework for running projects supports the project work. With the framework I mean simply a defined and commonly committed way of running projects. This may include

• Common methodology which for me stands for the thinking part of the work - we look the work and issues from different angles, we process the data in a similar way.  To put it short "We have thought about it how to make the project happen".  To support the methodology you may need some defined deliverables: Project business case template, project plan template, change management & communication template etc. These will help to implement the common methodology, but just filling in the templates withouth thinking (and sharing those thoughts) the added value of having templates is close to zero. Processes once again play a part in this and yes - it is good to have at least some basics in place.
• Summary: Consistent systems and processes are good but just like in any other case you need to find the right tool for the right job and implement things that are needed - nothing else.
• An objective source of truth is a more difficult topic. For me personally, it is important to have facts for decision making so this supports my need. The but comes from fact that how to ensure with feasible control level that what we see is really the truth. Does it come from the consistent way of working and the processes - everybody analyzes and treates the risks in the same way - dispite their personal risk taking capability?
• Summary: There is need for having visibility to "truth". Is that reached by focusing and putting effort to common practises and processes or how.  So yes, I think idea is a plus for establishing PMO.
• Economies of scale: If this refers to (just like in the article) more efficient usage of available resources then definately yes - PMO is needed.
• Summary: I see this kind of another side of the coin - introducing common practises, streamlining the common effort and removing waste is a good thing.