The PBMO as an Enterprise Governance Approach
The key to successfully executing project business management best practices across an organization depends on incorporating four related elements of project business management, the first of which is governance. Governance can be defined as a system or method of management. Any management methodology that includes the planning and authorization of projects requires establishing the organizational structures within the enterprise that will institute the planning process for portfolios, programs, and projects, and manage the project authorization processes. This structure, by definition, is an enterprise project management office.
The PBMO as a Business Strategy
It is incumbent upon the executives of an enterprise to recognize that portfolio, program and project management are critical business functions that are necessary to achieve the business strategies submitted as worthy goals in support of the enterprise's vision or mission. Embedding project management as a core competency within an enterprise requires a business strategy to first accept project management as a business management function. Once accepted, but before embarking on strategically implementing enterprise-wide project management the enterprise must next prepare an organizational business strategy to create a specific organizational structure preferably known as an Executive Project Business Management Office (EPBMO), i.e. at the executive level.
The EPBMO has the responsibility to instill project management disciplines and manage the processes, procedures, practices, templates and tools used to apply those disciplines enterprise-wide within the organization and implementing project management as a core competency.
The business purpose of incorporating project management into the strategic planning of the enterprise's overall business operations is to improve those strategic planning processes by adding a project business management perspective. This strategic addition of the EPBMO organization to the enterprise can have the following benefits:
- Adds executive level project management planning input into developing business strategies.
- Identifies and implements those project business management processes applicable to the developing the enterprise's business strategies.
- Helps assure the business strategies are not in conflict with enterprise environmental factors applicable to the organization.
- Helps assure that any business strategy will support the enterprise's vision or mission when accomplished.
- Provides executives with a timely and accurate oversight capability of future programs and projects.
- Enables the maturation of the organization's project management strategic planning processes.
The PBMO as a Business Objective
Before the enterprise's management team can effectively prioritize, select, initiate, and authorize portfolios, programs, or projects the enterprise's business objectives must be defined. The job of the PBMO is to support the definition and successful accomplishment of these business objectives enterprise-wide. This task is accomplished by applying project business management practices to integrate tactical business planning and project management planning activities.
The business purpose of incorporating project business management practices into the enterprise's tactical planning processes is to focus those tactical planning processes employed to achieve project-based business objectives. This tactical addition of the PBMO organization to the enterprise can have the following benefits:
- Adds executive level project management planning input into developing project-based business objectives.
- Identifies and implements those project business management processes applicable to defining the enterprise's business objectives.
- Assures all project-based business objectives are aligned with and support the business strategies.
- Ensures those required organizational process assets (see Section 1, Chapter 4) are available and operational to support all selected project-based business objectives.
- Ascertains that required resources are available to meet selected project-based business objectives.
- Improves the quality of the project related portion of the enterprise's budget.
- Provides an integrated enterprise-wide forecast of potential future projects.
- Enables the maturation of the organization's project management tactical planning processes.
To be continued
In Part 2 we will discuss the structuring
of a sustainable Project Business Management Office through the remaining three
pillars of our Enterprise-wide PBM House of Excellence and its essential foundation.
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Governance and Structure
