Growth Plan for a Project Office

Define Growth Plan

The last step taken when creating a business case is to define the growth plan.

As it’s highly likely that the initial assessment will have identified more problems than the PMO can address during the first one year of operation, the resolution of the problems should be prioritized in the growth plan. The growth plan will identify which problems are to be addressed initially, and which problems will be addressed in each subsequent year of the PMO operation. Here is a partial example of a growth plan.

Be sure to allow enough time within your growth plan, for the initiation and planning of the PMO itself. It will be some time, before the problems identified can start to be addressed by the PMO.

Obtain Sponsorship

After the business case has been created, the next step is to obtain sponsorship for the PMO. A PMO must have a high-level executive sponsor, as the sponsor will both oversee and champion the PMO. The PMO also needs a senior internal manager, called the PMO manager.

In this step, the PMO initiator identifies the most appropriate PMO sponsor and manager, and formalizes this selection within the Statement of Intent:

1. Identify Sponsor
2. Identify PMO Manager
3. Prepare Statement of Intent

   • Identify sponsor. This task requires understanding the requirements for being the sponsor of a PMO, selecting the best person, and convincing that person to become the sponsor.
   • Identify PMO Manager. Most often, the PMO initiator stays on and becomes the PMO Manager. If the initiator is not available or does not want the job, then another PMO manager must be chosen.
   • Prepare Statement of Intent. The PMO initiator prepares a statement of intent that the sponsor will agree to, paving the way for preparation of the PMO Charter.