Project office
A project office (also Project Office, PO ) is part of the project management (PM) team and takes on all development-accompanying and supporting tasks within a project . The advantage of a cross-project and centralized project office lies in the optimal utilization of the PM staff while at the same time relieving the specialists of project administrative tasks.
Like many terms, that of the Project Office is not used uniformly. Depending on the company, different tasks from the spectrum can be assigned to a project office.
The project office should be differentiated from the PMO , the Project Management Office . A PMO can include the tasks of a project office, but the spectrum goes well beyond that.
activities
Project office
A project office supports the project management in planning , recording and information tasks, covers all development- supporting and supporting tasks and thus maintains an overall view of the project.
In addition, the work of the project office enables the uniform and equal penetration of the processes with project management know-how. It is guaranteed that the same methods and tools are used in all projects. On this basis, as part of its cross-project activities, the project office is able to bring together the various project information on a higher level and - appropriately prepared - make it available at any time.
The aim of the project office is the effective, accurate, timely and cost-effective processing of all projects in an organization, taking into account the dependencies between different projects through shared resource use, task-related dependencies and project prioritization.
The project office supports the implementation of a uniform, cross-project, methodically structured and thus reproducible procedure and thus contributes directly to the quality and experience assurance of the organization .
Furthermore, the establishment of a project office for organizations in which the systematic establishment of structures and methods is still in the implementation phase (e.g. process introduction) is ideally suited to introducing processes in areas in which such processes are not yet available .
Planning tasks (e.g. support and collaboration in structuring the project, support in economic analysis, creation / updating of effort and time schedules, simulation of network plan variants, identification of critical project parts, etc.)
Recording tasks (e.g. recording project master data, generating, distributing and collecting hourly account assignment documents, recording deadline confirmation data, etc.)
Information tasks (e.g. generating project data evaluations, creating project plans and project reports, printing and distributing plans, preparing decision documents for the project management, creating project reports for the division management, setting up and updating the project database, preparing information for the experience database, etc.)
The working method of a project office is characterized by constant on-site availability as a contact for the operative project manager. The project office offers administrative support and coaching for the project managers.
The use and further development of existing document templates, the establishment of a uniform reporting system as well as the use of standard tools and the integration of the company-specific IT infrastructure ensure effective and cost-optimized support for the project management.
Project Management Office
In addition to the administrative tasks of a project office, a PMO often takes on the following tasks:
- Implementation of requirements management (coordination and prioritization of project applications / ideas)
- Development and further development of the company's project management methodology ( these can be standard methodologies such as PMBOK, PRINCE2 or the ICB. )
- Development and implementation of PM training for project staff and managers
- Implementation of project audits and reviews
- Project portfolio and program management for the company
- Provision and administration of a project manager pool
- Skill management of project employees and project managers ( this can also include preparation for certification of project employees and project managers according to standards. )
- Knowledge management for projects
economics
Due to the different fields of activity of a project office, it must be adequately equipped with regard to the number and qualifications of employees. For example, a project office for a large development project should have at least one project organizer, network technician (deadline controlling) and person responsible for hourly controlling.
The absolute number of employees in a project office depends on both the PM penetration in the relevant development area and the size of the project or the projects to be supervised in parallel. The activities mentioned can also be concentrated on fewer employees in a small project office if the individual activities do not each represent a full-time job.
A cost reduction of the pro rata project management costs per project is also dependent on the size and complexity of the project and is shown in the following graphic.