 U


Creating a PMO
Handbook
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

Written By Andrew Makar

Professional Cat Herder and an Agile
Enthusiast with a keen interest in putting
PM theory into actual practice.

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 Project Management Office

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PMO handbook is useful for organizations seeking a common set of steps to
upport project management processes. It can also quickly orient new project
anagers to the organization’s project management expectations and helps align
ctivities to standardized processes and tools. Here’s an example to get you
arted.

you’re managing a PMO, how do you communicate the project management

ctivities required to deliver PMO functions? The project management
ethodologies found in many organizations are specific to the project-level
anagement processes and do not provide guidelines for program- or
nterprise-level PMOs. Project managers understand the project management
rocesses but may not understand how project management is executed
hroughout the organization. The following article describes an approach that
igns an organization’s project management methodology to its organizational
MO functions.

previously worked in an organization where project managers understood the

oncepts of initiate, plan, execute, control and close, and they followed a project
anagement methodology to deliver projects. The project management
ethodology described issue, risk and change management processes, but each
roject manager used different tools to track the issues, risks and change
equests. Project schedules lacked standardized milestones and project
 anagers didn’t consistently establish project baselines or track schedule
ariances.
y implementing a PMO handbook, we helped align project managers to the
roject management processes, and provided a standardized set of tools and
sks for the organization to follow.

Who

is the intended audience?

ur PMO handbook was written by experienced project managers within the
MOand shared with novice project managers entering the organization. If your
rganization already has standardized templates that project managers follow,
hen a PMO handbook or similar process guide has likely been integrated into
he project management process. The handbook is useful for organizations
eeking a common set of steps to support project management processes. It also
uickly orients new project managers to the organization’s project management
xpectations and helps align to a standardized process.
roject management processes within an enterprise may vary by organization.
rojects can be initiated, executed and controlled differently across business
nctions. In my example, the IT organization’s software development teams and
frastructure management teams initiated and managed projects differently
espite a common project management methodology. The activities described in
he PMO handbook helped align project managers to a common set of tools and
chniques to deliver the project management process.

How is the PMO Handbook organized?

he PMO handbook was organized around the five-phase project lifecycle of
itiate, Plan, Execute, Control and Close. A sample table of contents includes:
M 1.0 Initiate Project

Establish Project Control File

Identify Stakeholders
Initial Project Charter
 Initial Project Charter Signoff

M 2.0 Plan Project

Determine project team

Hold Project Kickoff Meeting
Create a project schedule

Determine Roles and Responsibilities

Establish the Communications Management Plan

Establish the Issues and Risk Management Plan
Establish Change Control Process
Establish weekly project status meetings

M 3.0 Execute Project

Hold weekly status meetings

Report project status
Maintain the project schedule
Manage Project Information

M 4.0 Control Project

Monitor and Control the Project

Conduct Reviews

M 5.0 Close Project

Finalize Delivery
Conduct Lessons Learned
Update the Estimation Matrices
Close and Archive Records
et’s take a closer look at PMO 3.0, which describes the details of the Execute
roject expectations.
old weekly status meetings. Conduct weekly project status meetings and upload
he meeting minutes to the project repository:

eport project status (weekly). Update the project schedule. Project schedules

re maintained in the project repository at: and need to be version controlled.
roject
 plans must be updated weekly, at minimum, in order to update the

eekly
 project status report and to perform earned value analysis (EVA).

onduct EVA. At the end of each week, the project manager should generate the
VA metrics to determine the SPI and CPI and update the project portfolio tool.
ease refer to the PMO website for instructions on how to apply EVA to your
roject.

pdate the monthly project health scorecard. All medium and large category
rojects must complete the scorecard and submit to the PMO on a monthly
asis. The scorecard is due on the 26th of each month and should be published
o: . The scorecards will be reviewed with the portfolio manager during the
eekly portfolio review.

pdate the project portfolio tool. Enter your project’s status in the portfolio
anagement tool, distribute the project status report as outlined in the
ommunication plan and include a link to your project’s scorecard as an
ttachment in the portfolio management tool.

upport the weekly project portfolio review meeting. The portfolio review
eeting occurs on Mondays from 11am to 12:30 pm. Please see the PMO
anager to be added to the meeting distribution list. Be prepared to discuss
our project’s status at this meeting.
 aintain the project schedule. [Insert standard process on how to update the
roject schedule]

anage project information. Save electronic approval emails and upload them
to the project repository and update the original document with the signoff
ate. Maintain a copy of the .mpp and .pdf project schedule in the project

epository. Upload important team project documents into the non-methodology
ocsfolder in the project repository to control versions. (technical diagrams,
mail
 chain regarding a specific issue, etc.)

xpanding the PMO Handbook

the article, PMO Functions,” several key PMO functions were identified. If you
re managing a PMO, reviewing these functions and providing a PMO handbook
o implement these functions consistently across the organization will help align
roject managers to the project management process. The table of contents
bove addresses aspects of performance, schedule and issue management.
xpanding on all the PMO functions and providing a consistent direction on how
hey are implemented within an organization can improve the handbook.

you’re looking for a specific project control book format, check out my article
n the Project Control book.

his has been a glimpse into the tactical steps to implement a project
anagement methodology. A methodology provides process descriptions but
oesn’t necessarily address the tools and techniques to execute the process
onsistently. Process descriptions are useful, although mature project
anagement organizations follow standardized processes using common tools
nd techniques. The PMO handbook is one approach to adopt common tools and
chniques and to help improve your organization’s project management

← Previous: IT Portfolio Management Framework

Next: Promoting the Project Management Office →
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