Project Management Office and Project Managers

Relationship with Project Managers

• Providing effective communications of project status to stakeholders
• Providing supportive services for projects, to ensure that each project gets high-quality planning and risk management support
• Providing direct support to project managers and project team members through training and mentoring
• Providing useful information about project status, risks, and issues through reviews and audits
• Providing effective, efficient centralized services
• Helping project managers develop their careers

Relationship with Customers

A PMO may or may not have a relationship with the customers of the projects that it supports. Project customers may be internal to the organization, may be part of the company but external to the organization, or may be outside the company altogether. Most PMOs work internally first. A mature PMO develop relationships with project suppliers, and then, lastly, with project customers.

A PMO that does work with project customers, facilitates two-way communication between the project and its customers. This often includes:

• Ensuring that customer requirements are clearly defined to the project team
• Providing project status information to the customer
• Ensuring that the customer participates in and understands phase reviews so that issues that affect customer satisfaction are identified and resolved promptly
• Being available to provide conflict resolution support, if difficulties arise between the project manager and the customer
• Ensuring that, during project close, delivery, customer acceptance, and contract closure are all performed properly and that customer satisfaction is assured