Project Management Offices (PMOs) often fail for the same reasons. Poor resource allocation, bad data, and lack of standardization can disable your PMO before it even gets off the ground. By addressing obstacles before they become issues, your PMO can not only avoid them, but it can establish a solid foundation for successful project management (PM).
Eight Common PMO Roadblocks
- Ambiguous Goals – If your organizational and internal, PMO-specific, goals are not defined and clearly-outlined, team members will not be on the same page.
- Poor Communication – With so many people working remotely, it can be hard to maintain open and effective lines of communication.
- Disorganization – If every project sets its own standards, it will be hard to find what you need – when you need it.
- Change Aversion – The PMO needs to live on change in order to meet evolving needs, but not everyone enjoys a state of constant transition.
- Inflexibility –If you can’t make adjustments quickly, scope creep may get out of control.
- Insufficient Data – You need to be able to compare “apples to apples” across projects. If you can’t, then the PMO will not know how to allocate resources or set priorities properly.
- Poor Reporting – Reports are crucial to securing and maintaining stakeholder engagement. Without support from all levels, the PMO will not survive.
- Lack of Innovation – Ideas keep the PMO fresh and dynamic. If there is no forum for them – and a way to give credit where credit is due – the PMO will become stagnant.
Turning PMO Challenges into Advantages
To combat roadblocks, you need to seek solutions that will avoid them proactively. First, define your PMO processes and standardize procedures. By ensuring that every project adhere to the same requirements, you will be able to compare them fairly. It will also help you streamline PMO actions across the board.
Technologically, your PMO platform needs to:
Setting the Stage with Hammerhead
If your PMO needs a platform to combat roadblocks and institute best practices in PM, Projility’s Hammerhead solution may be just what your enterprise needs. Hammerhead adds business intelligence and advanced reporting to Microsoft Project Online and Project Server, utilizing on-demand, user-defined dashboards and visually-compelling graphs that highlight key performance indicators (KPIs). Team members can collaborate, follow customized workflows, and stay up-to-date with goals and priorities with real-time data and analytics. And with complete visibility into every project, stakeholders can make smart, informed decisions.
If your PMO is ready for success, contact us today to schedule your free demo.
Projility provides expert solutions for effective change. We offer enterprise portfolio and project management solutions based on Microsoft Project Server and Project Online, with tailored dashboard reporting, analytics, and decision-making tools via our Hammerhead technology. Projility also implements professional services automation systems established on Microsoft Dynamics CRM Project Service, and presents cloud-based strategies, migrations, and hosting solutions through Microsoft Azure. Contact us for more information.