REINVENTING PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

Lately, people are seeing a lot of fingers being pointed in the direction of the Program Management Office (PMO). After all, the PMO people are the ones who are responsible for guiding the program to a successful launch. Too often, the PMO staff gets caught up in the day-to-day responsibilities of program administration and management, even as bigger issues loom. The most effective approach people have seen so far is what you call a Results Management Office (RMO). The RMO approach is grounded in linking smart business choices and rigorous technology implementations, often with hundreds of millions of dollars on the line. That takes discipline above all else. Exactly how the RMO is designed depends on the individual needs of each organization, but there are four core principles that should be part of every RMO: 1. program strategy and mission alignment, 2. integration across all projects, 3. stakeholder buy-in, and 4. program management.