Once an enterprise PMO has been launched within the organization, its effectiveness should be measured on a regular basis. In the past I have mainly seen assessments conducted on an annual or bi-annual basis.
To begin an ongoing assessment of the enterprise PMO, baseline information should be captured on how projects were conducted prior to the launch of the enterprise PMO. For example, capture information on the following:
- Number of projects regularly completed within the organization and complexity of those projects
- Number of projects with a direct tie to the strategic goals of the organization
- Number of projects with an indirect tie to the strategic goals of the organization
- Number of projects with no alignment to strategic goals of the organization
- Number of resources who support projects
- How projects were selected within the organization
- For each project: original schedule vs. completed schedule and original budget vs actual budget
- For each project: original scope vs: expanded scope during project implementation
- Number of failed projects (projects never launched)
Use this baselined information to evaluate how effective projects are upon rollout of an enterprise PMO. Key milestones should be in place to measure against as well as any other criteria which is essential for measuring the success of the enterprise PMO. This might include information on:
- How projects are prioritized within the portfolio
- Stage gate processes
- Allocation of project resources
- Tracking to schedule and budget
- Alignment to project selection criteria/strategic goals of organization
And any other criteria used to implement projects within the enterprise PMO and to evaluate the success of the enterprise PMO. In the early stages of launching an enterprise PMO, it is likely that there will still be projects being accomplished outside the PMO; however, as the enterprise PMO matures, all projects throughout the organization should be managed through the enterprise PMO and go through the selection and prioritization process in place.
