Establishing PMO Standards and Metrics

Establishing PMO Standards and Metrics
Option #1: Establishing PMO Standards and Metrics

Standards and metrics are an essential aspect of the project management office (PMO) practice management. The purpose of this assignment is for you to understand and synthesize the application of PM standards and metrics as an integration agent for enabling PMO success.

For this assignment, address the following items:

Define PM standards and metrics in context of the PMO.
Based on a scenario of implementing a PMO in a medium-size organization:
Identify the types of PM standards needed, designate which are the most important two or three standards for successfully establishing a PMO, and explain why.
Describe three key metrics needed to guide a new PMO.
Identify the information technology needed for the implementation of PMO standards and metrics.
Summarize how the integration of standards and metrics enables the successful implementation of a PMO.

Your responses to these items should meet the following requirements:

Your paper should be 3-4 pages in length. In addition, include a title page and reference page.
Format your paper per the CSU-Global Guide to Writing and APA.
Cite at least three current scholarly resources, available from the CSU-Global library, to support your assertions. One of the sources may be your textbook.

Standards and metrics definitions in the context of PMO
Standards refer to the guidelines set aside by recognized bodies with the purpose of providing a basis for performance. On the other hand, metrics refer to the guidelines put in place to provide for measurement of the performance against the set standards. Therefore, project management practices may employ metrics for the establishment of both the extent and depth of the application of the standard selected by an organization. Both the standards and metrics function aids the PMO to develop a common frame of reference for project management, technical, and business interests within the environment of project management (Hill, 2013). It can thus be said that standards and metrics are applied across relevant organizations and companies for the fulfillment of the responsibilities of the PMO.
Types of PM standards
They include: A Guide for Project Management Body of Knowledge, Global Alliance for Project Performance Standards (GAPPS), Capability Maturity Model, PRINCE2, HERMES method, Total Cost Management Framework, Team Software Process (TSP), V-Mode, The Logical Framework Approach, The International Association of Project & Program Management (IAPPM), and ISO standards ISO 9000 and ISO 10006:2003 (Xie, 2013).
For successful establishment of PMO, the most two essential standards are GAPPS and ISO 10006:2003. The reason is that GAPPS is an open source standard that gives a description of the competencies of the project and program management. ISO 10006:2003 also outlines the same principle but focuses on the quality management systems and guidelines for quality management in projects (Ghosh, 2012). Creating competence staff members and quality and a good system will steer PMO to success.
Key metrics needed for guidance of PMO
Three metrics required for the guidance of the PMO are values, scope, and duration. Scope: in a medium-sized organization, defining the scope of the project is important because it restricts the project management from going astray. It is important to remain within the bounds of the project for proper deliberation and avoidance of wastage. Duration: in every project the start and end time should be well stated. Through this, the cost of the project will not be accelerated. Values: a value-based approach metrics help in the estimation of the cost of the project. It is thus important in that sources of finances are planned for and with that in mind there no expectation that the project will fail based (Kerzner, 2013). The three metrics described are essential in giving a roadmap to the project.
IT needed for the implementation of PMO standards and metrics
The information technology used in the PMO process is called program management. This is the process required for coordination of multiple and related projects. According to Senft and Gallegos (2008), the application has tremendously increased in complexity day by day due to demand for a more elaborate application for multiple groups that require an integration of functionality within multiple groups. Most of these applications demand actions from different functions within the information technology. For example, software development, production support, security, and network engineering among others. Program management thus performs a great work by bringing all the disintegrated parts or pieces of a major program together. It entails the following components: definition of program management framework, the creation of PMO, setting up of staffing requirements, metrics and processes, implementation of technology to manage projects and establishing consistency in project management practices.
How integration of standards and metrics enable successful implementation of PMO
PMO focuses on the selection and recommending standards that are useful in relevant organizations. After that, a benchmarking against the selected standards is performed for the identification of the foundation from which to make plan and measure project and business performance improvement by use of metrics (Hill, 2013). Therefore, the integration of standards and metrics plays a significant role in the success of the implementation of the PMO as explained below.
The standards used in the project management focuses on the performance of the project through application of appropriate practices, approaches, and methodologies which are intertwined in the project management environment. Apart from performance, there is the role of business integrator warrant consideration. For this role, the introduction of standards configured with the project management environment facilitates the realization of the strategic business objectives. The institution standards broaden the competitive advantage, demonstrate the qualification and certification of an organization, and improve the inherent performance of the business (Dai & Wells, 2004). On the other hand, metrics serve as means of guidance and measurement. Guidance metrics allows the PMO to set performance requirements expectation regarding scope, threshold and values and others within the project management environment. The metrics measurements help as results performance indicator through the revelation of trends, variations, discrepancies, expectations, and achievements (Hill, 2013). It is thus clear that the integration of the standards and metrics enhance the performance of PMO through giving and a roadmap and evaluation and performance indicators. The project management standards concentrate on the project’s performance through the use of acceptable practices, techniques, and methodologies that are integrated into the project management environment. In addition to performance, the function of a business integrator deserves attention. The use of standards aligned with the project management environment in this function makes it easier to realize the strategic business goals. Institutional standards increase a company’s competitive edge, show that they are qualified and certified, and boost their overall performance (Dai & Wells, 2004). Metrics, on the other hand, act as tools for measurement and direction. The PMO can set performance expectations for the project management environment’s scope, thresholds, and values using guidance metrics. By revealing trends, variations, inconsistencies, expectations, and accomplishments, metrics measurements serve as results performance indicators (Hill, 2013). As a result, it is obvious that the integration of standards and metrics improves PMO performance by providing a roadmap, an evaluation system, and performance indicators.

References
Kerzner, H. (2013). Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Senft, S., & Gallegos, F. (2008). Information technology control and audit. CRC Press.
Hill, G. M. (2013). The complete project management office handbook. CRC Press.
Ghosh, S., Forrest, D., DiNetta, T., Wolfe, B., & Lambert, D. C. (2012). Enhance PMBOK® by Comparing it with P2M, ICB, PRINCE2, APM and Scrum Project Management Standards. PM World Today, 14(1), 1-77.
Dai, C. X., & Wells, W. G. (2004). An exploration of project management office features and their relationship to project performance. International Journal of Project Management, 22(7), 523-532.
Xie, H. (2013). History and Topics of the Project Management. In Applied Mechanics and Materials (Vol. 405, pp. 3372-3375). Trans Tech Publications.