Today I would like to touch base on Strategic PMO. Well, in real life there might not be a dedicated organization called Strategic PMO. The role would be embedded within PMO organization. Hence what I am discussing here is more to emphasize the strategic role of a PMO.
When I say 'strategic' I am actually referring to the contribution of PMO to the overall strategy decision of the organization. In my role, PMO plays a vital role in determining the business initiatives to be executed in the coming fiscal or calendar year.
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| Picture credit: keijj44 |
In order to run the strategic function, below are some key points to be taken by a mature PMO:
1. The PMO should take the function of central processing of all business initiatives. This will give the team a full visibility towards the objectives and initiatives of each business unit and support function. In order to run the function, PMO should manage a close communication with all business units and act as an account manager accordingly.
2. PMO should have the access to higher level management in order to understand the organization's long term, medium term and short term strategy. In order for PMO to run this function effectively, senior management should share a detailed elaboration of their strategy, including the financial and non-financial target in the next one, three, five years and beyond. PMO should have a regular checkpoint with the senior management on the organization's strategy and roadmap. In this occassion, PMO should discuss the collected business initiatives to the senior management to ensure alignment with the organization strategy. Decision on which initiatives to be executed is to be made by the senior management accordingly.
3. PMO should come up with a prioritization framework based on a certain criteria, such as alignment with strategy, financial benefit, risk mitigation, compliance to regulatory, and operational efficiency / productivity. The framework should be discussed and agreed by the top management. Once the framework is approved, it is used as a baseline to shortlist and prioritize upcoming business initiatives.
Being able to run the above successfully will bring PMO to the next level, not only as an executor of the submitted business initiatives but also as a strategic partner to the senior management in defining the organization's direction.
Edwin
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