220.0 PMO Initiation

There are a thousand ways to build a PMO. You don’t know the best way to build your PMO until you have a better idea of where your organization is and where you want to be. This is the “current state, future state, gap analysis” process. Some organizations also call this the “as is, to-be, gap analysis” process.

Organizations begin many change initiatives by trying to define their future vision. However, describing the future state of project management in your organization is not the major deliverable at this point. The ultimate deliverable from this initial assessment is a Gap Analysis that shows what you need to focus on to move the organization from where it is today to where you want it to be in the future. This is important because you do not want to spend your time implementing in areas where your organization already does well. For example, one PMO may determine that training needs to be a core service offered by the PMO, since the skill level of project managers is not what it needs to be in the future. However, another PMO in another organization may determine that the skill level of current project managers is very strong, and, in fact, is close to where it needs to be in the future state. For this PMO, training would not be a core service. This example points out why it is important to tailor the products and services of your PMO based on closing the gap between the current state and future state. 

At the same time, you don't want to implement a number of changes and still see your effort fail because you did not address other important related areas as well. This initial organization assessment gives you a holistic view of what needs to be done. It gives you the information you need to prepare your overall deployment strategy and deployment plan.

PMO Session

Note: There are many ways to gather the information for the current state, future state and gap analysis. In PMOStep, the assumption is that the technique is a session of interested stakeholders. The session should include any known members of the PMO, the PMO sponsor, a few representative project managers, and a few representative managers.

TenStep has a specific consulting service that helps companies through this process. The service is called PMONow! and it is explained in more detail at 220.0.1 PMONow Session.

The best way to start an organizational change management initiative is with these three steps:

220.1 Current State Assessment. First, determine where the organization is today in all areas that will be impacted by the project.

220.2 Future State Vision. Next, gather the requirements that describe the vision of where you are trying to go.

220.3 Gap Analysis. Then, analyze the relative size and priority of the gap between the current state and the future state. This is actually the most important information since it gives you the direction you need to define the products and services of the PMO.