PROJECT MANAGEMENT OFFICE TOOLS AND PROCESSES The Project Management Office (PMO) is an essential support structure in an organisation that generally acts as a source for guidance, documentation, and metrics related to the practices involved in managing and implementing projects within an organisation. Their form can range from that of a department, body, entity, or group, however their underlying responsibility is defining and maintaining project management standards and guidance in a repeatable process within an organisation – i.e. their responsibility is to oversee and manage a project, which is a process that connects all other project activities and processes together. It is clear from this definition of the Project Management Office that they are a crucial part in any project, of course, this includes software development projects. We all know that the software development cycle consists of 5 stages: Requirements, Design, Development, Testing, and Implementation. Though the processes of PMO can vary from organisation to organisation, they also consist of 5 main stages, which are considered to be Project Initiation, Project Planning, Project Execution, Control and Validation, and Closeout and Evaluation. It can already been seen that the stages of the SDLC and the processes of PMO align very closely, if not exactly. Let’s have a look at this in more detail. The first process of PMO is Project Initiation - this is the starting point of any project. This stage starts with a project, or an idea of a project being carefully examined to determine whether or not it benefits the organisation. Once a project is determined to be beneficial, the next step is one of this phase’s main activities: the pre-sale. This refers to the pro... ... middle of paper ... ..., or leaders, to manage the team. PMO ensures that the project managers and other team leaders are equipped with the capabilities to oversee and control their team. They provide guidance in maximising member participation (having all members attend meetings…), task performance, status reporting etc. - Project communications management: Information regarding the project – project plans, project progress and the corresponding status information, must be communicated and delivered to all parties involved in the project, this of course includes higher levels of management within the organisation. It is part of the PMO’s responsibility to ensure that such parties are well informed and that the information they deliver is both current and relevant. Doing this requires the PMO to oversee the documentation, distribution and disposal of project plans and progress reports.
Business requirements are gathered in this stage. This stage is the main focus of the project managers and stake holders. It is performed by the senior members of the team with inputs from the customer, the sales department, market surveys and domain experts in the industry. This information is then used to plan the main project approach and to conduct product feasibility study in the economical, operational and technical areas. You identify needs of the software. This is the vital stage, because bad investigation may lead to the project
Reference Hallows, J.E. (2002). The 'Secondary' of the 'Second The Project Management Office Toolkit. American Management Association, New York. Wells-Stam, D.. a.
According to George Baram (2003), Project management oversight (PMO) is an established practice where a review by an independent (non-project personnel) is prepared to examine the risk status of the project (time, cost, and profit) at selected points in time, and possibly explore potential hidden problems that should be addressed and proactively reported to the top management. The overall purpose of project oversight is to ensure timelines are met, costs are not exceeded and revenue is generated. This practice is not only a onetime event, but should be utilized throughout the entire project life.
Gray, C., Larson, E. (2008). Project Management: The managerial Process. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.
Every organization has some specific needs depending on their project goals and also they have their own way of doing things. So, the organization should create their own methodologies considering the organization and project goals. The PMBOK® Guide has some standard practices which are followed by project managers. It provides five process groups. They are Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring and controlling, Closing (Schwalbe, 2014). Let us look at these five process groups briefly.
The projects in today’s world are given a lot of importance and it will continue to grow in the coming years. There are a lot of companies which do not have production, but all of them do have projects. There are a lot of books which have been published on which related to planning and managing the projects. The one of the most important one was published by the author Eli Goldratt in his book ‘Critical chain’. This book basically talks and shows how the application of theory of constraints in the field of project management. The novel is basically based on one of the MBA classes in America where a number of ideas are developed in discussions among the students and the lecturers. The lecturer is basically fighting for a tenure with the president of the university who expects a downturn in the executive MBA. The lecturer who teaches project management has a word with one the senior colleagues and project management was the right topic to teach. There were three students who were placed in the project management team of their company which manufactures electronic products. The students are enrolled in this MBA class along with other students, here they discover a new approach to project management which is known as the
Scope: The first document a project manager will put together with his team members is the sco...
Project Management Institute (PMI) (2013). Project Management Professional (PMP) Handbook. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.pmi.org/certification/~/media/pdf/certifications/pdc_pmphandbook.ashx. [Last Accessed 20 April 2014].
A project manager should have a clear vision of the desired outcome and he/she should be aware of
Unlike many traditional Embry-Riddle-Aeronautical University (ERAU) students, I began my college career having a vast amount of work experience. Many traditional students begin their college careers at the age of eighteen or nineteen, but I began college at the age of thirty four. The reason this is relevant is because when I started this class I had many preconceived notions about project management and project managers. After completing the class, I have dispelled many of these preconceived notions.
AtekPC might face many challenges and obstacles while implementing the PMO. AtekPC has an informal way of communication where requests for new projects are done between the lead analysts and the manager of the division. Changing this informal approach to a formal one might be difficult but can be done by explaining to employees the strengths and advantages of this process. The lack of skilled personnel in the PMO is an obstacle that can be overcome by training the current mangers and hiring new staff members. The success of PMO depends on the buy-in of the executive leadership, which if delayed can erode the value of PMO and have a negative impact on the project. There is a high risk that PMO might been seen as an authoritative figure and might face resistance, it is extremely important to clearly set the expectations to avoid misunderstandings.
Communication is a crucial part of project management. Project managers should be able to communicate clearly, simply, effectively and frequently. As good communication skills are vital in comprehending what is expected by clients and help to convey that goal to the project team. Also it helps to receive essential information from the project team and take the corrective steps when in process.
Project management involves all activities that encompass scheduling, planning, and controlling projects. A successful project manager ensure that an organization’s resources are being used both efficiently and effectively. Most projects need to be uniquely developed require a sense of customization and the ability to adapt to any posed challenges. The scope of effective project management includes defining what the project is and what is being expected to be accomplished. Projects are imposed to fulfill a certain need and project managers must have the ability to create the proper definition. Goals and the means used to attain those goals have to be clearly stated. Project Managers must also have the ability to plan
When planning a new project, how the project will be managed is one of the most important factors. The importance of a managers will determine the success of the project. The success of the project will be determined by how well it is managed. Project management is referred to as the discipline that entails the processes of carefully planning, organizing, controlling, and motivating the organization resources so as to foster and facilitate the achievement of specific established and desired goals and meet the specific criteria of success required in the organization (Larson, 2014). Over the course of this paper I will be discussing and analyzing the importance of project management.
“Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to organisational and project activities to achieve the aims of an organisation through projects” (PMI, 2003).