Program Management for Improved Business Results

Chapter 15. The Program Management Office

As an organization grows in its implementation and maturity of the program management discipline, a natural progression that many firms follow is the formation of a program management office, or PMO. The PMO addresses two of the most common problems that arise as the use of program management increases within an organization. First is the realization of the need for consistency in the definition, planning, and execution of all programs within a business unit. Without consistency across the portfolio of programs, business results are not predictable or repeatable on a recurring basis. The second realization that arises is the need for a single program management point of contact within an organization. A single point of contact for program management provides improved communication, decision making, and program oversight.

The PMO provides leadership and infrastructure for managing and controlling multiple programs. It represents a compilation of program management infrastructure, support, tools, and best practices that have been melded together to improve business results and drive continual gains in a firm's management of its product, service, or infrastructure development efforts.

Roger Lundberg is a former PMO director of the Jeep division at DaimlerChrysler and currently the director of Chrysler development system and vehicle engineering operations. According to Lundberg,

"Successful implementation of program management within an organization ...