Section 3 – PMO Recommendations
The purpose of the Portfolio Project is to synthesize current research about the project management office (PMO) for the purpose of developing a PMO recommendation. The Portfolio Project is structured to help you demonstrate understanding of the course material, as well as the implications of new knowledge gained from research beyond the course readings and lectures.
Your Portfolio Project will be developed in three independent but cohesive sections, which considered in whole constitutes your PMO recommendation. The three sections are:
- Section 1: Subject Organization and Rationale
- Section 2: PMO Mission, Charter, and Competency
- Section 3: PMO Recommendations
Sections 1 and 2 will be submitted as Portfolio Project milestones in Modules 3 and 6, respectively.
Section 3 will constitute your final Portfolio Project assignment, which due at the end of the course in Module 8.
Based on your Section 1 choice, one of the two PMO recommendation options will be performed for your Portfolio Project assignment, which are described as:
Option #2: Recommendation for the advancement of an existing PMO
For Section 1 (submitted in Week 3): Subject Organization and Rationale of the Portfolio Project, you are required to select a subject organization for developing a PMO recommendation. The subject organization must have an international/global aspect and may be your workplace, an organization that you are familiar with, or an organization that is based on your research.
For Option 1, the subject organization must exhibit the characteristics and attributes of a viable candidate for benefiting from a PMO.
For Option 2, the subject organization must exhibit a functioning PMO as qualified by the PMO competency continuum.
A key aspect of the Portfolio Project Section 1 is to secure instructor approval for the Portfolio Project subject organization selected, which is required before commencing with subsequent Portfolio Project sections.
Based on your research of the subject organization, substantively address the following key elements:
- Subject organization information:
- Organization name
- Organization’s mission, vision, and values statement
- Industry type and organization demographics
- Description of organization’s culture
- Executive sponsor and key stakeholders
- PMO business case:
- Assessment of existing project management:
- Project management methods
- Project management tools
- Project management experience
- Project management maturity
- Perceived PMO benefits for the organization:
- Overarching business rationale
- Long term measurable goals (2-3)
- First year specific goals and metrics
- Quantified value proposition (short and long term)
For Section 2 (submitted in Week 6): PMO Mission, Charter, and Competency of the Portfolio Project, you will build on the information detailed in your Portfolio Project Section 1. Based on analysis of your subject organization and further research, purpose the PMO’s mission and vision, PMO charter, and PMO competency continuum stage resultant from your Option 1 or Option 2 recommendation. To this end, substantively address the following key elements for your subject organization’s PMO recommendation:
- Develop the PMO’s Mission and Vision including:
- State the PMO’ mission and vision.
- Validate alignment with subject organization’s mission and vision.
- Designate key PMO stakeholders.
- Develop the PMO’s Charter:
- State the PMO’s business purpose.
- Describe the PMO’s business alignment and affiliation.
- Designate the PMO’s empowerment authority.
- Describe the PMO’s fiscal management.
- Identify the Charter approval.
- Relate to the PMO competency continuum
- Designate the PMO competency continuum stage.
- Justify the subject organization’s designated PMO competency continuum stage determination.
- Correlate the designated PMO competency continuum stage to the Organizational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3).
For Section 3 (submitted in Week 8): PMO Recommendations of the Portfolio Project, you will build on the information detailed in your Portfolio Project Sections 1 and 2. Based on analysis of your subject organization and further research, develop either Option 1 or Option 2 recommendations for key aspects of the PMO that optimally support the subject organization’s PMO framework as designated in Section 2. To this end, substantively address the following key elements for your subject organization’s PMO recommendation:
- Designate recommendations, with appropriate rationale, for each of the following PMO key elements:
- PMO type
- PMO structure
- PMO culture
- PMO project methods
- PMO project tools
- PMO governance
- PMO risk management
- PMO business integration
- PMO global challenges
- Other relevant PMO considerations
- Recommend professional development for PMO advancement
- Apply aspects of the project manager competency development (PMCD) framework for the PMO’s professional development.
- Designate professional certification requirements.
- Describe mentorship role.
- Identify project and portfolio leadership
Submit your Section 3 Portfolio Project final assignment as a single Microsoft Word document to the Module 8 submissions area established for this purpose.
Your essay should address the following requirements:
- Your well-written PMO recommendation essay thesis should be 10 pages in length, which does not include the title, reference, or appendix pages. You need to add headings and subheadings associated with each of the bullet points listed in the Section 3 requirements.
- Format your paper per the CSU Global Guide to Writing & APA (Links to an external site.) standards, which includes an introduction and conclusion.
- Include title and reference pages.
- In addition to your course textbook, cite at least six current (published within the past 5 years) scholarly resources (peer-reviewed, official governmental reports, and other scholarly source) to support your suppositions, assertions, and conclusions. To enhance your learning experience, scholarly resources are available from the CSU Global library.
- Include an appendix for tables and figures as appropriate.
Please write clearly, concisely, and cohesively; use section level headers to organize the key elements of your thesis.
