What is the effect of a PMO on the internal dynamics of an organization?
The internal dynamics, organizational chart, culture, succession planning, overall objective, and of course office politics are all considerations when determining the role of a PMO. These internal dynamics are more likely to have an impact on the structure and function of the PMO than external business factors.
PMOs are often stand-alone, and are frequently closed and/or restructured. They can also take up to 24 months to implement. The questions I would pose:
- Is there duplication of staff and duties when you create an office so highly specialized, such as administrative support?
- How do you determine value added to the organization versus more traditional org charts?
- Since change is always difficult to manage and communicate, what impact does implementing or restructuring a PMO have on the organizational climate and overall attitude?
- With so many roles and functions to consider adding to the mandate of a PMO how much decision-making power, authority and autonomy will the PMO have?
- To whom will the office ultimately report?
There is currently no clear consensus among the industry what constitutes a PMO, and what their role is within an organization. The bottom line though is that they are ultimately managing projects, and could benefit from a project portal like BigWave with their multi-site rollouts.
Written by John Livermore - Multi-site Project Management
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