Driving IT Projects: The Value of the Project Management Officer

The establishment of a project management office can help organizations integrate IT with business strategies by facilitating standardization and encouraging collaboration between various stakeholders. 

A November 2023 Capterra study of 400 project managers at US-based businesses found a formal PMO significantly enhances project management quality, with 60% of project managers surveyed affirming its value.

Among those project managers, more than two-thirds (67%) reported having a formal project management officer (PMO), while an additional 18% have an informal one.

The traditional PMO typically sets the policies and procedures for project management along with performing issue escalation/resolution, resource management, and ensuring strategic alignment with the overall business goals and objectives.

The report noted companies lacking a PMO are five times more likely to have minimally informed project sponsors and more than twice as likely to encounter project delays exceeding one month.

"We're seeing a shift away from a strict focus on rule setting and prescriptive processes and starting to see more PMOs acting as a strategic partner to the business, providing more leadership, guidance, and soft skills-based support to project leaders and teams," says Olivia Montgomery, associate principal analyst at Capterra, in an email interview. 

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As project management software continues to improve, PMOs can evolve to focus on being strategic partners to executive, IT, and operations leaders.

PMOs: Keeping It All Together

In a business with a formal PMO, project teams would know the processes and have the tools needed for each phase of the project and each project could be properly staffed.

From standardized status updates to an issue escalation path, the PMs would have the guidance and support to provide clear, regular communication with all stakeholders.

This increased level of predictable engagement supports timely decision-making, reduces the likelihood of misunderstandings, and fosters a collaborative environment.

"People like to have clear and standardized information, and a PMO helps ensure this happens," Montgomery says. 

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