(^56) 97 Things Every Project Manager Should Know
Developers Unite—PMOs Are Advancing
Developers Unite—PMOs Are Advancing
Angelo Valle
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
IF yoU’RE A SoFTWARE DEvEloPER, you are probably convinced that a
more responsive, adaptable framework is your best chance of producing work-
ing software. Unfortunately, the rest of the world is moving to have a more
standardized approach throughout all departments. This is good news for
everyone except software developers.
A recently emerging concept in organizational structure is the project man-
agement office (PMO). This global phenomenon tasks a small group of indi-
viduals with the supervision and support of enterprise projects and programs.
The group’s purpose is to introduce consistency in documents and templates,
standardize reporting processes, and provide a uniform way to add business
value through projects.
PMOs are intended to be centers of intelligence and coordination. They link
strategic business objectives to employees’ actions within departmental proj-
ects through unified portfolio management, program management, and project
management practices. This is a good thing for your job security.
The PMO’s functions within the business can be:
• Strategic. In this role, the members of the Project Management Office
complete functions of identification, selection, and prioritization of the
projects that are most closely aligned with the organization’s strategic
planning.
• Directive. To fulfill their directive responsibilities, PMO employees define
guidelines, standards, and templates. They evaluate and choose how soft-
ware project managers should apply the best practices, tools, techniques,
and software to successfully complete the goals of their development
teams.