By: Nivedita Gopalakrishna, Project Office Journal
Project management is a continually evolving profession. The PMO contributes to successful project delivery by empowering the organization’s project managers, providing standards for project management, and increasing the visibility of project management. To accomplish these vital organizational goals and remain relevant in the industry, PMOs must be dynamic and proactive rather than reactive and static.
In this article at PMO Learning, Lindsay Scott explains various aspects of proactive and reactive PMOs and the advantages of proactive ones.
What is Proactive and Reactive PMO?
Proactive communication is honest, assertive, and focused on objectives. It keeps the project manager in front of the curve, helps in making decisions effectively, enables teamwork, and brings in accountability throughout the project.
“With the reactive services, it’s what we generally see in a more transactional PMO, status reports are collected and filed; meeting minutes are taken, and actions chased; logs are completed; audits are carried out,” says Lindsay.
Importance of Proactive PMO
Consider your personal lives – your home. If you wait for a problem to occur – your oven to break or roof to leak – you will have to deal with all kinds of inconveniences. The same applies to business. You must not wait until the projects suffer from difficulties as it can lead to additional expense, loss of productivity, frustrated teams, and longer timelines. These negative factors will undoubtedly have real bottom-line impacts on the project and the organization. Proactive PMO helps in planning the future by implementing or developing solutions that offer the most beneficial long-term solutions.
So, what do successful PMO leaders do?
- Identify problems in the projects before others see them
- Get a holistic view of PMOs and discuss the common problem across the organization
- Define communication plans and governance to various key stakeholders
- Provide accurate information on projects and programs to the stakeholders
- Mentor the team members and take over their responsibilities if they are unable to achieve their goals
- Identify ideas and opportunities for organizations. Utilize various PMO tools to create the future for your organization
Read the full article here
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