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PMO
Principles
Eileen J Roden
Dr Robert Joslin
Dr Ralf Müller

AIPMO
Association of International
Project Management Officers
PMO Principles

An AIPMO Pocket Book

Published by IPMO Advisory AG in association with AIPMO

IPMO Advisory AG
Sihleggstrasse 23
8832 Wollerau
Switzerland
CHE 110.075.514

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form
or by any means without permission in writing from IPMO Advisory AG.
Applications to reuse, reproduce or republish material in this publication should
be sent to [email protected]

Online: www.aipmo.org

First Edition: IPMO Advisory AG 2017

ISBN 978-3-906937-00-7

Copyright © IPMO Advisory AG 2017

Foreword

Project Management Offices (PMOs) are increasingly popular. They

exist in all industries and some organizations maintain several hundred
of these organizational entities to provide a range of value added
services in respect of issues with their projects, programs, or
portfolios. All PMOs have varying degrees of uniqueness.

Decades of research shows a multiplicity of mandates, staffing and

organizational roles of the PMO. Their design is often as unique as the
issues they are set up to address within the idiosyncrasies of an
organizational setting. Therefore, the present pocket book refers to
PMOs as any organizational body or entity operating as a single or
multi-entity construct responsible for providing one or more services
relating to a project, program, and/or portfolio.

Much has been written about ’how to’ setup PMOs and the ‘top ten’
roles they fulfil. However, because of the reasons just stated (i.e. the
particularities of their context); these writings at best address only a
subset of any given PMO. Hence, the normative literature within the
practitioner world is sometimes of limited use. This pocket book
provides a different perspective on PMOs by using a principle based
‘lens’ to view PMOs which will help to address questions of PMO
design, implementation, operation and transformation or retirement.
PMOs, as with any socially constructed environment, are characterized
by variety in every aspect - there is no one design or one way of
operation.

There is a management theory that explains this called ‘Contingency

theory’. It states that everything, irrespective of whether it is PMO
services definition, project setup or a ski resort design, all are
contingent on the environment. However, there is a way to guide
people in their decisions; this is by principles. The principles described
in this pocket book provide a means to design, implement, and
operate a PMO that is tailored to the needs and circumstance of each
individual organization.

This pocket book is for managers, and consultants involved in the

setup of PMOs and the definition of the PMO mandates, as well as
PMO Managers and team members who need to tackle the dynamics
in PMO structures, objectives and authorities.

1
About AIPMO

The Association of International Project Management Officers (AIPMO)

is an international professional association guided by academic
researchers and practitioners. Membership of the Association is open
to all those who are involved or responsible for the determination of
the need, business case, design, establishment, running and
retirement of Project Management Offices (PMOs).

AIPMO’s mission is to advance the understanding, design and

implementation of high performing single, group and enterprise PMOs,
through the certification of proven international PMO capabilities
based on its IPMO Body of Knowledge©

The AIPMO® exclusively facilitates and delivers core, specialist and

Masters level certifications based on industry standards and recent
and relevant research. The core certifications comprise the IPMO
Foundation certification (IPMO-F®), the IPMO Practitioner certification
(IPMO-P®), and the IPMO Expert level certification (IPMO-E®).

The three levels of the core certifications indicate the levels of

competencies for International Project Management Officers which
are based on IPMO Body of Knowledge including its integrated IPMO
Lifecycle Framework.

Authors

Eileen J Roden BA (Hons) MA(Dist) MIoD MAPM LicIPD AIPMO-E is an

experienced PMO and PPM Consultant, Mentor and Trainer and a
P3M3© Assessor. She will shortly commence instruction on an MSc for
the Swiss Business School in Zürich, Switzerland. She is an active
member of APM, PMO Flashmob and PMI, supporting the
development of the PMO profession including authoring the P3O® Best
Management Practice and contributions to a number of other
publications. As Director of PMO Learning, she designs, develops and
delivers a broad range of certificated and bespoke PMO training. She
is a frequent conference speaker on a wide range of related subjects,
and contributes to variety of committees and panels including chairing
the Practitioner Board of the AIPMO.

2
Dr Robert Joslin, PMP®, PgMP®, PfMP®, CEng, IEEE, MBCS is a
project/program management instructor, consultant, academic
researcher, PhD/DBA/MSc supervisor and head of a MSc and DBA
program at the Swiss Business School in Zürich, Switzerland in the area
of project management, project leadership, strategy and PMOs. He has
20 plus years in designing, initiating and program management
delivery of large scale business transformation, reengineering,
infrastructure, strategy development including winning prizes for ideas
and product innovation. He is a peer reviewer for the top three project
management journals and sits on the PMI Standards core committee
for the 4th Edition portfolio management standard and reviewer for
the pre-exposure draft of the program management standard. As an
instructor/coach Robert has trained many project and program
managers including using in his own developed PMO information
structuring methodology, aligned and complementing the PMI’s
PMBoK and Standard for Program Management. Robert is in the
process of authoring two books and a new standard in the areas of
projects, programs and PMOs.

Dr Ralf Müller, DBA, MBA, PMP is Professor of Project Management at

BI Norwegian Business School and adjunct and visiting professor at
many other institutions worldwide. He lectures and researches in
leadership, governance, organizational project management, and
research methods. These are also the subjects of his more than 220
academic publications, including 12 books. He is also the Senior Editor
for the Project Management Journal. Among the awards he received
are the 2016 PMI Fellow of the Institute Award, the 2015 PMI Research
Achievement Award (a life-time achievement award), the 2012 IPMA
Research Award, and the 2009 Project Management Journal Best
Paper of the Year Award. Before joining academia, he spent 30 years in
the industry consulting with large enterprises and governments in
more than 50 different countries for their project management and
governance. He also held related line management positions, such as
the Worldwide Director of Project Management at NCR Corporation,
where he designed, implemented, managed and governed PMOs
worldwide.

Reviewers Hans Arnbjerg, Monique Aubry, Anke Bysouth, Stuart

Dixon, Hans Georg Gemuenden, Simon Harris, Peter Kaul, John
McIntyre, Nicole Reilly, Lindsay Scott, Katarina Soltysova, Chris
Walters, Anna Wiewiora.

3
Contents

Foreword 1

About AIPMO 2

Authors 2

Principles 5

Principle 1 – Senior Management Sponsorship and Engagement 8

Principle 2 – Governance Alignment 10

Principle 3 – Consistent, Accurate, Timely and Transparent

Information 13

Principle 4 – Trusted Challenge Partner to Drive Value 15

Principle 5 – Adaptive Capabilities and Services 18

Principle 6 – Leads by Example 20

Principle 7 – Continuous Improvement Mindset 22

Leveraging the value of the PMO Principles 24

How This Pocket Book Came to Be 24

Glossary 26

Bibliography 27

4
Principles

So, what is a principle? A principle is a natural law, fundamental truth

or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or
behaviour or a chain of reasoning. Essentially, a principle is a concept
or value that guides actions and behaviours and can apply to
individuals, organizations, and societies.

Having a defined set of guiding principles for the PMO provides the
foundation for all the services and activities of the PMO and the
behaviours of those that work within it.

Imagine for a moment how long it would take to develop a process or

procedure for every eventuality that could occur in the PMO and
projects, programs and portfolios? Is it even possible? Alternatively,
imagine a PMO that has processes and procedures that cover the key
activities.

What happens when a situation arises where there is not a process or

the current procedure doesn’t work?

This is when principles help to determine the required actions and

behaviours.

All PMOs will benefit from principles as activities and behaviours

cannot be documented for every situation. The need for principles
increases as project, program and portfolio management (PPM) and its
environment becomes more complex and dynamic. This is shown in
Figure 1.

5
Figure 1: When to fall back to Principles, and the importance of adaptive processes

In situations where a project’s requirements are well defined (for

example, it is specification led) and the probability of achieving the
desired outcomes is high, then during execution, when issues occur, it
is likely that existing procedures will cover most or all situations.

However, there are many complex projects and programs where the
predictability of the outcome is low and that is compounded by high
levels of transformation in the organization, often coupled with
political or societal changes.

In this scenario, it is almost impossible and impractical to try to

proceduralize every possible circumstance. The likelihood would be
that many of the procedures created would be risky, poorly fitting and
potentially detrimental to a project or program. This is where
principles come to play.

Standard PMO services can be developed and employed in situations

where the probability of a success outcome is high. They are likely to
also use tools and techniques known within the PMO and project
communities.

6
However, in situations of high complexity and major transformations,
then the PMO services need to be adaptive to the changing
environment. There may also be a need for tools and techniques which
are not typically main-stream within a PMO and project environment
such as systems modelling; double loop learning systems; business
social network design; management and optimization.

In Stephen Covey’s Principled-Centered Leadership book (Covey 1992)

principles are defined as universal, self-validating, and empowering.

The seven principles defined here meet these three criteria.

UNIVERSAL:
They apply to all PMOs irrespective of the services and supporting
capabilities they are providing.

SELF-VALIDATING:
They have proven their value over time.

EMPOWERING:
They help in resolving challenges and problems that are difficult to
resolve with existing procedures, processes, and governance.

7
PRINCIPLE 1 – Senior Management Sponsorship and
Engagement

The scope and effectiveness of the PMO is defined by the level of

sponsorship and engagement from senior management.

Senior management engagement is one of the seventy-two success

factors for project management success (Khan 2012). It is not
surprising then, that PMOs also require the same if not greater
engagement from senior management.

Engagement is required from all PMO stakeholders, especially from

executive or top-level management who provide support and will
define the objectives, requirements and priorities of the organization.
These managers can also help navigate through organizational politics
and contradictions.

Engagement without sponsorship does not help PMOs become

established or have support during times of change. A sponsor is
essential to secure funding and establish appropriate authority for the
PMO services (see also Principle 2). Ideally, the PMO sponsor is
appointed and then drives engagement between senior management
and the PMO. More typically, engagement with management from
one or more PMO champions is required before a PMO sponsor is
appointed.

The sphere of authority and influence of the PMO sponsor has a direct
impact on the sphere of authority of the PMO. For example, as shown
in Figure 2, if the PMO sponsor is a departmental manager, they will
have the authority to set up a departmental PMO. To set up an
enterprise PMO, the PMO sponsor would need to have authority
across the whole organization.

Engagement with senior management may not lead to sponsorship of

a full PMO. It may be for just one or more specific services within an
existing PMO. For example, a Finance Manager may be the sponsor for
project costing and is keen to ensure consistent definition and delivery
of the related services provided by one or more PMOs within his/her
domain.

8
Figure 2: Sponsor and Champion Framework

When sponsorship is not achieved by a single individual but by any

number of senior managers, they (Champions) can be engaged to
collectively support the whole PMO initiative (top right of Figure 2) as
well as one or more PMO services. Most senior managers who are
actively engaged in championing one or more services are most likely
to do so because they are actual or prospective clients of the services
(bottom right of Figure 2).

9
PRINCIPLE 2 – Governance Alignment

The structure and function of a PMO is designed to fit within and

actively support the organizational governance.

Corporate governance is the system of rules, practices and processes

by which an organization is directed and controlled (OECD 2004).
Governance covers all levels and activities of the organization, starting
with the board level to the management level and down to the
operational activities and portfolio, program, and project governance
(Müller 2017). The governance system allocates accountability for
decision making at each level of control.

The table below shows examples of governance and management

activities of a PMO.

PMO Governance Activities Management Activities

(by PMO sponsor) (by PMO Manager)
Define and approve PMO strategy,
Communicate policy and establish
goals and objectives in the PMO
procedures
mandate
Design and determine PMO policy Create or update PMO deliverables
Review and approve PMO Engage with stakeholders across the
deliverables organization
Review and approve portfolio, Communicate and adhere to portfolio,
program, project methodology program, and project methodology
Review, approve, and/or authorize
Manage phase gates and/or reviews
phase gates and/or reviews
Determine and/or approve key
performance indicators Create/consolidate/analyze reports
(KPIs)/measures

10
The PMO, both in its role in supporting project, program and portfolio
delivery and enabling associated decision-making, must understand
and work within the organization’s governance structures. However,
some aspects of governance, such as the rights and responsibilities,
may need to be changed and/or governance processes optimized to
support the establishment and delivery of the evolving PMO services
with its supporting capabilities (see also principle 5). Assessment of
existing governance structures can highlight disconnects and
ineffective areas of governance which will need to be addressed to
maximise the value of the PMO to the organization.

PMOs can operate at one, two or all three levels of project, program
and portfolio management and can contribute to defining/ refining
governance respectively. The PMO needs to agree with its sponsor
about its mandate and the decisions it is authorised to make. This is
needed in order to effectively deliver the agreed services and
supporting capabilities and meet its objectives.

Where the establishment of the PMO requires some revision to

governance practices, it is important that this is communicated across
the organization to ensure the role and value of the PMO is
understood. This is a key role for the PMO sponsor (Principle 1).

Alignment with organizational governance is not a one-off activity. As

organizational governance evolves, or as new PMO services are
established, the PMO must ensure ongoing governance alignment and
take appropriate actions to stay aligned.

The PMO must ensure alignment with all the various functional
departments that will impact project and programme delivery such as
Research & Design, finance, manufacturing, commercial, procurement,
HR etc.

11
In the absence of governance alignment, situations may arise where
some project stakeholders, typically in senior project positions, feel
they are the decision makers (e.g., when initiating a project). Also, if
there are no defined accountabilities assigned to roles there is a risk
that nobody will take accountability for decisions (e.g., stopping a
project when the business case is no longer viable), or the purpose of
the PMO may be challenged. This can lead to the PMO not meeting
the service objectives as well as increasing the risk of project or
program failure.

PMOs that operate without full understanding or agreement from

their sponsor are more likely to encounter misalignment with
governance which can lead to breakdown in relationships and trust.

12
PRINCIPLE 3 – Consistent, Accurate, Timely and
Transparent Information

The PMO provides consistent, accurate and timely information used to

underpin the decision-making process (governance) and transparent
validation of the data provenance.

Accurate, consistent and timely information is a fundamental

requirement to support effective decision-making processes within an
organization. Organizational and project decision makers, take
decisions every day. To ensure these decisions are well-founded
decisions are taken in a timely manner and are based on consistent
and accurate information. Transparency of decision making is key,
where governance and the need for confidentiality permits.

PMOs provide a variety of services, all of which require varying

amounts of data and/or information to deliver, operate, monitor, and
measure. Many PMO services such as reporting, escalations, quality
assurance, and auditing will require the aggregation and dissemination
of information. Care must be taken to ensure that the volume of
information provided is appropriate as it will impact the recipient’s
ability to comprehend the facts and in turn, the ability to take well-
founded decisions. Recipients of PMO information are likely to have
different expectations as to the level of detail and frequency required
and effort is required to achieve cost effectiveness.

In order to be recognized and accepted as the custodian and champion

of project, program and portfolio information, the PMO must provide
transparency from source to the point of delivery, being clear of the
information owner and level of assurance (if any) of the information
provided. The PMO may start out as merely a conduit for the
collection and presentation of information. In this situation, the
original data owner (eg project manager) needs to be seen as
responsible for the accuracy of the data and what it represents (i.e.,
the project is late/on time etc).
13
A high performing PMO, takes responsibility for the accuracy of the
data by providing some additional assurance services and may also
present the implications and recommendations in respect of what the
data represents (e.g., recommendations for a project that is late).
Improving the quality of the data will take time and effort from the
PMO. This can often be helped if data owners are also clear on who
will receive the data and how the data is to be used.

Consistency in the provision of accurate, transparent, and timely

information promotes trust and credibility in the PMO and may lead to
further requests for information for decision support. However, it
needs to be clear, the information itself does not provide the answer
to the decision, it is only an input into the decision. The decision
maker must take accountability for the decision taken.

If the trusting relationship continues to strengthen then some

recipients may decide to move to a reporting mode of ‘management
by exception’.

Introducing a tool/data repository can reduce the reporting burden on

a PMO but education and training is essential for both data owners
and decision makers. Access to individual data items may mean that
the data is taken out of context. Access to dynamic data does not
mean the data is up to date!

14
PRINCIPLE 4 – Trusted Challenge Partner to Drive
Value

The PMO provides objective, rational and constructive challenge at

project, program and portfolio level.

The purpose or desired outcome of this principle is to ensure that the

organization achieves optimal value from each initiative individually
and collectively. The preparation for key decision points including
alternative analysis at project, program and portfolio level requires
appropriate levels of scrutiny and challenge. The role of the PMO is to
help the decision maker make informed decisions by ensuring they
understand the alternatives, the implications of the decision(s) to be
made and the proposed outcome(s). Challenge is undertaken using
the relevant information available (as described in Principle 3).

The PMO’s ability to uphold and live by this principle and the level of
challenge they are undertaking, is highly dependent on the credibility
of the individual(s) within the PMO in the eyes of the decision maker
and the organization. Very often, it will also depend on the relative
seniority of the individuals involved, and their understanding of the
organization.

Constructive challenge facilitates alternative perspectives that can

develop new insights into how the objective can be achieved. ‘Head
on’ challenge meaning with or involving direct confrontation is rarely
constructive. Constructive challenge requires the use of appropriate
behaviours and language that is concrete and specific, concise, precise
and clear and appropriately formal, taking cultural sensitivities into
account.

Figure 3 shows how PMOs have a choice of approaches in determining

what types of constructive challenge they feel is appropriate. In its
simplest form, the PMO may provide a formal but simple challenge
using a check list which the decision maker(s) can go through
independently. This provides limited value as it is a one-way
interaction and depends on the individual to undertake effectively.
Very often they are seen as tick lists and not used to explore new
thinking.

15
A more informal approach which can be spontaneous or planned is a
discussion. It may be structured, semi-structured or unstructured.
However, the fact that the challenge approach is interactive means it is
likely to be more valuable than just using a checklist. Discussions are
typically semi-structured or unstructured as they are less formal and
more likely to encourage open discussion and build trust.

Where the PMO has a higher level of trust and credibility they can
offer a more value-added approach to constructive challenge. For
example, in a more formal setting, the PMO may undertake a
structured challenge in the form of a challenge board such as a
gateway review. For certain reviews, it may be more appropriate to
have an informal consultative challenge where trust is being built with
the decision maker and therefore the use of consulting and diplomacy
skills along with social intelligence will work towards a better solution.
This is especially important if the client is emotionally attached to a
plan, approach or solution.

Figure 3: Constructive Challenge Framework

16
The ability to maximize the impact of this principle and the degree of
embedding it throughout the PMO and within the organization will
depend on the level of maturity of the PMO. Various techniques will
be used in the challenge discussion such as scenario analysis,
assumption analysis, benchmarking etc.

As with any feedback, unwelcome or inappropriate challenge can have

a detrimental effect on the reputation of the PMO and impact on their
ability to uphold other governance practices. At the extreme the PMO
can be retired.

It is worth noting, that the PMO should also be prepared for challenge
on its decision (for example on the services provided) from the
organization it serves.

17
PRINCIPLE 5 – Adaptive Capabilities and Services

The capabilities and services provided by the PMO are set up and then
tailored to the organization in which they operate and the people they
serve.

In today’s world of standardization and rationalization, there may be

pressure from the organization to try to standardize the PMOs.
Research has shown there are literally hundreds of types of PMOs
(Aubry et al. 2012). The size, structure and services provided by a PMO
is always contingent on its environment.

All PMOs at project, program, portfolio or enterprise level are required

to adapt their services and supporting capabilities to the environment
in which they operate, the people within that environment and the
people they serve. Services and capabilities set up for one
organization, even across divisions or sections, cannot necessarily be
replicated in the same way in another organization.

Figure 4: Relationship between Personal Competencies, Organizational Capabilities and

Delivered Services

After the initial services and capabilities are established for the
organization (meeting the immediate needs) it is important that the
PMO retains the confidence and support of the organization and
continues to add value. In order to do this, the PMO will need to
maintain engagement with Senior Management (see also Principle 1)
18
and monitor and measure the service provided to ensure the PMO
services and capabilities are still addressing the current needs and
anticipating the future needs of the organization.

As new needs are identified, new services and supporting capabilities

may need to be established. However, funding and resourcing for
these additional services may be at the cost of current services that,
when reduced or stopped may see some previous issues or problems
reoccur. To help avoid this, the PMO should continue to demonstrate
why the current services are in place and the value they provide.
Stakeholders often ask PMOs to introduce services to drive behaviour
change such as change management, conflict management, and
escalation management. Over time, as the behaviours become
embedded within the organisation, the PMOs oversight can be
reduced or removed, releasing resources to deal with new needs.

Where the PMO starts to engage with a new stakeholder and potential
sponsor, sponsorship may be offered for services that appear (to the
PMO) to have less value than other potential services. However, until
the PMO has become a trusted challenge partner (Principle 4), it may
need to focus on the requested services to build up the trust and
credibility.

It is important not to become too focused on continuous improvement

(see Principle 7) of the current services and lose touch with the
changing needs of the organization. If this happens, however mature,
effective or efficient the services are, the PMO may appear redundant.
It is important to understand the changing nature of the business and
continuously review and adapt PMO practices to suit the changing
organizational and project management needs.

19
PRINCIPLE 6 – Leads by Example

The PMO exhibits appropriate behaviours and expertise when

delivering change and demonstrates the value of project and program
processes and systems and their contribution to project and program
success.

To implement and institutionalize project management within an

organization, the PMO plays a key role in being able to contextualize
this for the recipient of PMO services. PMOs need to be able to
instruct and provide examples of the successful use of services and the
value it offers, and coaching why alternatives would lead to a less
successful outcome.

For PMOs to succeed they need to gain the credibility and respect of
their stakeholders. This will typically include the project, program,
portfolio managers, functional managers, and project and program
team members.

PMOs comprised of professionals, some of which may have already

worked on projects or programs within the organization, should
actively demonstrate their expertise, and show their value. They are in
a position to lead by example. With those new to into the organization
and PMO, time is needed to develop both knowledge and skills, guided
by other more experienced PMO colleagues. It is important that the
PMO experts who have insights and deep understanding of the project,
program and portfolio operations and needs lead by example to the
newer, less experienced PMO team members to ensure a sustainable
PMO.

20
As described in Principle 5, PMOs will continue to evolve their
capabilities and adapt their services to support current and future
needs for the organization. The implementation of these changes
through projects and programs provide an ideal opportunity to
demonstrate how the local delivery framework, tools and template can
be tailored and used.

In some situations, it may not be possible for the PMO to gain or

demonstrate experience in all of the various processes, tools and
techniques. For example, a PMO may not be required to manage an
organization wide transformation program so would not necessarily be
able to demonstrate expertise in the development of a blueprint.
However, it is likely to have the opportunity to demonstrate how the
delivery framework is tailored for projects and programs of various
sizes.

In line with Principle 4, the PMO change projects and programs should
also be up for constructive challenge to ensure they drive value for the
organization.

Failure to follow the processes, templates and tools within the agreed
framework will have a significant impact on the credibility of the PMO
and may hinder use of the processes, templates and tools on other
projects and programs.

21
PRINCIPLE 7 – Continuous Improvement Mindset

The PMO looks to improve itself and its contribution to the successful
delivery of projects and programs within the organization through
continuous improvement of its services.

This principle refers to the continuous improvement of the capabilities

and services currently in place, rather than varying the selection of
services provided which is addressed in Principle 5.
The concept of continuous improvement is well documented and
embedded in theories such as Kaizen, Shewhart’s ideas popularized in
the Deming Cycle, 6 Sigma, and Crosby’s ideas as popularized in ISO
9001. Kaizen describes continuous improvement as a mindset or habit.
PMOs need to demonstrate this mindset in relation to their capabilities
and services, with the aim of increasing consistency in the
achievement of the agreed targets. Continuous improvement can
address both the effectiveness and/or the efficiency of the services
provided.

In improving the effectiveness of a service, the

aim is to increase the impact fullness of the
service for each and every PMO client. Sometimes
the effectiveness of one service is improved by
introducing one or more additional services.

Figure 5: Continuous improvement mindset

In improving the efficiency of a service, the aim is to reduce the cost of

providing the service (in terms of resources or effort) or providing the
same service with less resources, so resources can be released or
diverted to the introduction or improvement of other services.

22
Continuous improvement may be driven internally by the PMO, but
has an overall positive impact on the client. The customer(s) or
sponsor(s) of the service will often have suggestions on potential
improvements. Their ongoing engagement in the improvement of
services will increase acceptance of the changes and ease the process
to implement the improvements to the services.

Improvements can also provide the opportunity to demonstrate or

pilot a new methodology, or part of a methodology, or a new tool or
technique. PMOs should be aware that every methodology and its
component parts have evolved over time which also means they have
been adapted to the organization’s environment. The evolution and
adaption process may be over a period of years. The span of influence
of an existing methodology, including the culture, training, tools,
capabilities etc., should not be underestimated. Therefore, an in-
depth understanding of the organization’s environment is required to
fully appreciate the embeddedness of a methodology and the
implications of a proposed change.

Although this principle advocates continuous improvement, it does not

mean that there are overly frequent updates and changes to services.
Users need time to embed each change. Consideration needs to be
given to any additional training/coaching/mentoring required – for
both the PMO and the user community – in the rollout and operation
of the improved service.

Improvements to services are not always driven externally. PMOs

need to strive to deliver incremental improvements to service, to
increase both efficiency and effectiveness.

In order to deliver these improvements, the PMO members need to

apply the same mindset to their competence level and seek ways of
improving their knowledge in order to improve the service they are
able to offer.

23
Leveraging the value of the PMO Principles

To leverage the value of the principles they must be constantly and

consistently applied. PMO Mangers will need to demonstrate a
balance of leadership and management to embed and uphold the PMO
principles to maximize situational impact.

To fully embed and uphold the seven PMO Principles, the PMO will
need to understand the environment in which they work to determine
where they have the opportunity to lead change, and where they are
merely managing within the existing framework.

The order of embedding the principles will vary from organization to

organization, however, very little can be achieved without embedding
Principle 1.

Principles are not completely independent of each other. Fully

embedding or upholding of one principle might not be possible
without increasing the embeddedness of another. In many
circumstances, more than one principle will need to be considered
when deciding on the most appropriate plan of action.

The importance of PMO Principles and the degrees to which they are
embedded and upheld indicates the level of PMO maturity, accepting
there are other factors that contribute to the level of a maturity
actually achieved.

How this pocket book came to be

This pocket book has been written as a result of a series of events
which culminated in a decision by the authors to write the first PMO
Principles pocket book of its type.

One of the authors’ and founding member of AIPMO, Robert Joslin was
involved in the development and review of two international portfolio
and program standards. During this time, he was involved in a book
project with a specific chapter on project success within the context of
‘governance and governmentality’ (Joslin, 2017), a book edited by Ralf
Müller (2017), a member of AIPMO advisory board.

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During the process of working on the standards and the book, both
authors spent over a month on reviewing the use of principles in
existing international standards to determine the level of
understanding of what the associations understood in terms of the
meaning of principles, the types of principles applied to projects,
programs and portfolios and the importance placed on principles
within the context of the standards. The culmination of this effort
resulted in a section on principles within the AIPMO training materials
for the core AIPMO PMO certifications. It soon became evident during
delivery of the PMO certification courses, the high level of interest and
importance the attendees’ placed on principles and how they can be
applied within and across PMOs, as well as PMOs providing advice to
project, program and portfolio teams in which the principles are to be
adopted to best support their goals.

A few months later Eileen Roden, who joined AIPMO, and now leads
the AIPMO Practitioner Board, in a discussion with Robert Joslin and
Ralf Müller, decided it would be worthwhile to determine the key PMO
principles. During this process, the AIPMO Advisory board and other
PMO experts from over 12 countries were engaged which has resulted
in the publishing of this pocket book on PMO Principles.

The authors hope that readers will benefit from this work and increase
their understanding of principles, the value they provide in both their
private and professional lives, and especially in the establishment and
running of successful, high performing PMOs.

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Glossary
These are not necessarily dictionary definitions but refer to the usage
of terms throughout this publication and AIPMO materials for ease of
understanding.

Competency – Competency relates to individuals and is the application

of knowledge and skills to achieve the desired results.
Capability – Capability relates to organizations and comprises one or
more competencies with the associated tools and techniques to
deliver a service.
Constructive Challenge – Objective challenge based on facts and
information available to address specific issues or concerns.
Data – Individual facts, statistics, or items.
Effective – Adequate to accomplish a purpose; producing the intended
or expected result.
Efficient – Performing or functioning in the best possible manner with
the least waste of time and effort.
Governance – The fundamental norms, rules or values that are
desirable within an organization and guide the establishment of the
governance system.
Governance System - Structures used by the organization to
implement governance, allocation of rights and responsibilities within
those structures and assurance that the organization is operating
effectively and properly within the defined structures.
Information – Knowledge communicated or received concerning a
particular fact or circumstance, news.
PMO – A generic term that refers to any organizational body or entity
operating as a single or multi-entity construct responsible for providing
one or more services relating to a portfolio, program and/or project.
PMO Champion – An individual who is an advocate for the PMO but
does not have sufficient authority to mandate the PMO.
PMO Maturity – Degree of capability and performance of a PMO in
delivering services in a repeatable and sustainable way.
PMO Sponsor – An individual, who is an advocate for the PMO, owns
the Business Case for the PMO and provides the access to funding for
the PMO.
Service – A means of delivering a specific value to customer by
facilitating outcomes that customers want to achieve which can be
monitored and measured.
Value – Something that contributes to meeting organizations goals
that may be financial or non-financial in nature.

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References

Aubry, M., Müller, R., & Glückler, J. (2012). Governance and Communities of PMOs.
Newtown Square, PA, USA: Project Management Institute, USA.

Covey, S. R. (1992). Principle Centered Leadership. Simon and Schuster.

Khan, K., Turner, J.R., Maqsood, T., 2013. Factors that Influence the Success of Public Sector
Projects in Pakistan. Proceedings of IRNOP 2013 Conference, June 17–19, 2013. BI
Norwegian Business School, Oslo, Norway.

Joslin, R. (2017). Governance and project success. In R. Müller (Ed.), Governance and
Governmentality for Projects: Enablers, practices and consequences (pp. 159–172). New
York, NY, USA: Routledge, USA.

Müller, R. (2017). Governance and Governmentality for Projects: Enablers, practices and
consequences. New York, NY, USA: Routledge, USA.

OECD Publishing. (2004). OECD Principles of Corporate Governance. Paris: OECD Publishing.

Further Reading
Aubry, M., & Hobbs, B. (2014). The Project Management Office: Building a PMO for
Performance. In R. Turner (Ed.), Handbook of Project Management (5th ed., pp. 492–504).
Farnham, Surrey, UK: Gower Publishing Limited.

Aubry, M., Hobbs, B., & Müller, R. (2010). Images of PMOs: Results from a Multi-Phase
Research Program. In B. Sandrino-Arndt, R. L. Thomas, & L. Becker (Eds.), Handbuch Project
Management Office (1st ed., pp. 301–321). Düsseldorf, Germany: Symposion Publishing.

Aubry, M., & Lavoie-Tremblay, M. (2017). Organizing for the management of projects: The
Project Management Office in the dynamics of organizational design. In S. Sankaran, R.
Müller, & N. Drouin (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Organizational Project
Management (pp. 119–133). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Aubry, M., Müller, R., & Glückler, J. (2012). Governance and Communities of PMOs.
Newtown Square, PA, USA: Project Management Institute, USA.

Joslin, R., & Müller, R. (2016). The Relationship between Project Governance and Project
Success. International Journal of Project Management, 34(4), 613–626.

Kendall, G. I., & Rollins, S. C. (2003). Advanced Portfolio Management and the PMO. Fort
Lauderdale, FL: J. Ross Publishing, Inc., USA.

Müller, R., Glückler, J. & Aubry, M., 2013. A relational typology of project management
offices. Project Management Journal, 44(1), pp.59–76.

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 AIPMO
Association of International
Project Management Officers

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