Describing the PMO Organization

Describe Organization

The PMO Manager defines the internal and external organization, within an Organization Chart.

Preparing the internal organization chart

First, the PMO Manager reviews the Growth Plan in the Business Case and all of the job roles, as defined within the section Define Staff Roles. He selects the roles that are needed, deletes any that are not needed, and adds any special roles that are not on the standard list. Then he defines when each job role needs to be filled. Some are needed to launch the PMO, but others will be added later according to the Growth Plan. For preparation of the internal organization chart, the manager does not need to prepare a full description of each job, nor does he need to determine if the job will be full-time or part-time. This work can be done later, when the Job Descriptions are created.

The PMO manager then prepares the internal organization chart, a graphical picture of how the various team members report to one another and the manager inside the PMO. The PMO manager may prepare a single chart, with dates indicating when positions are expected to be filled, or may create a chart for PMO start-up and an additional chart or charts for growth of the PMO at future dates.

Preparing the external organization chart

The PMO manager then prepares the external organization chart. First, he identifies all offices and divisions within the organization. Ideally, he finds an up-to-date organizational chart. If not, he creates one. Then he creates a new version of the organizational chart that includes the PMO, the PMO Steering Committee, and the lines by which the PMO reports to various offices and divisional executives.

The PMO manager also identifies where project managers fit into the organization, and either includes them on the organizational chart, or creates a separate diagram to show how project managers relate to the PMO.

If the PMO will provide primarily general, supportive, and controlling services, then the PMO is added to the organization chart with few other changes. If the PMO is going to provide directive services, then a large number of project managers will be reporting directly to the PMO. In this case, the organization's organizational chart may change a great deal when the directive PMO is set up. For more information on this topic, see PMO Types in the learning section.