The Project Management Office (PMO) is the most dynamic areas of a business due to its ability to continuously reinvent itself to successfully align the best practices in the industry. They also have the ability to provide members the right decision when it comes to tweaking strategies and planning out a project. Since it’s an ever-changing division in a business, there are numerous PMO trends that have popped up the in the last two years or so.
Below are the following PMO trends to watch out for.
PMO Trends:
PMO Trend 1: The ‘Accidental Project Managers’
It’s not surprising that more and more people involved in a certain project get the ‘accidental project manager’ factor within a day. This means that people who have gone in this situation often end up leading a project without formal training or tools, as well as assistance from a corporate PMO.
This PMO trend has sprouted to large-scale projects where individuals are needed on certain divisions or tasks—such as who will become responsible with reporting or who would be assisting with the processes. At this rate, PMOs need to take more resources outside the spectrum.
PMO Trend 2: Agile Management
Another PMO trend in the line is the agile methodology that is a challenge for most PMOs. This is because it’s outside the comfort zone of a PMO to be workingwith such method.
Agile doesn’t have clear-cut benefits and can often change without warning; this, in turn, makes project prioritization difficult on the PMOs part. It also happens to fall outside the normal governance PMOs often get used to.
PMO Trend 3: Paving Career Paths
Besides the normal responsibilities such as governance and decision-making, PMOs also hold the duty of defining career paths for project managers. This PMO trend shows that it’s less costly to manage one’s career paths than letting go of qualified and skilled team members or managers.
More trainingfor complex projects will help retain your resources since these factors will help boost one’s career without sacrificing your resources.
PMO Trend 4: Strategy Delivery
Executing strategy still seems to be a struggle for most companies. This growing PMO trend has become hard work in terms of strategy implementation. That is why PMOs need to be enablers of these strategies in order to effectively bring them into reality. The first step in this area is to be able to identify the projects that best align the strategies and objectives.
PMO Trend 5: Portfolio Management
PMOs have become good in managing programs and projects. However,we are yet to see how such changes affect globally along with improving the way companies manage and acknowledge portfolios. Remember that as the PMO mature so is the need for change.
The PMO trend showcases the importance of such and how it adds value to a business. That being said, a PMO must be led by a credible and trusted senior manager along with his or her team and a good track record.
The Future of PMO
The industry has yet to see more PMO trends popping up in the market in the following year or so. There’s also the concern of retaining staff and filling the gap by adding more resources qualified to get the job done. Is your PMO mature enough to take on the challenge?