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OPINION
This is a versatile segment of your organization that should be tailored to best fit your company structure, strengths, weaknesses, goals, and needs. What is a project management office?
A s engineers advance in their careers, many find their way into project management, often by default, without (formal) training or mentorship. But project management is easy compared to engineering, right? They will figure it out!
“Project management by default” does a disservice to your firm, clients, and project managers. One solution to this is a project management office, or PMO. The PMO can provide firm-specific tools, processes, oversight, training, and mentoring of your project managers. A PMO can be implemented at firms big and small and can grow with your organization. First, what exactly is a PMO? According to the Project Management Institute, the PMO is, “An organizational unit to centralize and coordinate the management of projects.” It is a versatile segment of your organization that should be tailored to best fit your company structure, strengths, weaknesses, goals, and needs. Prairie Engineers, an 80-person (and growing) small business, initiated a project management office on January 1, 2024. The PMO was initiated with the following goals:
1. Provide support, oversight, mentoring, and training for current and future project managers. 2. Improve overall project performance. 3. Integrate reporting across markets and disciplines. 4. Coordinate project alignment with corporate direction. The principal theme of these goals is to provide support for project managers and senior leadership to help position Prairie for continued growth and success. In preparation to launch the PMO, Prairie undertook a process to research typical duties of a PMO, including
Alicia Kamischke
See ALICIA KAMISCHKE , page 4
THE ZWEIG LETTER JUNE 17, 2024, ISSUE 1542
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