Page 370 - Global Project Management Handbook

MANAGEMENT OF THE PROJECT-ORIENTED COMPANY 18-1118-11
MANAGEMENT OF THE PROJECT-ORIENTED COMPANY
project-oriented companies, members of the management board also may belong to the proj-
ect portfolio group. One member is to be nominated as the spokesperson for the group.
A project portfolio group of an Austrian telecommunications company, for example, con-
sists of five managers from those divisions particularly active in projects (finance, network
setup, marketing, IT, and call center) and the project management office manager. The
spokesperson for the project portfolio group is the manager of the finance division. This proj-
ect portfolio group meets once a week for two to four hours for project portfolio management.
Depending on the number and the complexity of the projects to be coordinated, several
project portfolio groups may be required in a project-oriented organization. At most, proj-
ect portfolios with about 50 to 70 projects can be managed by one project portfolio group.
Project portfolio groups can be differentiated according to company divisions (or profit
centers) and types of projects.
An Austrian engineering construction company, for example, distinguishes among
three project portfolio groups: one for offer projects and contracting projects, one for
product-development projects, and one for personnel, organizational, and marketing pro-
jects. In order to ensure that the decisions taken by these three project portfolio groups
are coordinated, individual managers are members of several project portfolio groups. A
description of the role of the project portfolio group is given in Table 18.2.

Project Management Office
The project management office supports the project portfolio group in its preparation,
performance, and follow-up of coordination meetings. In particular, the project management
office can develop the project portfolio reports. Project management offices therefore
perform services regarding not only the project and program management but also project
portfolio management.
With the increasing importance of projects and programs in organizations, there arises
a need to standardize the practices in projects and programs and to ensure the quality of
project and program management. There also arises the need for a project portfolio point
of view and for project portfolio reports. A project management office is frequently
established in the course of the formal introduction of project and program management.
The project management office represents the institutionalized competencies in project,
program, and project portfolio management.
The objective of a project management office is to ensure professional project, program,

and project portfolio management in the project-oriented organization. In this context, appro-
priate individual, collective, and organizational competencies should be developed by the
project management office.
By providing tools for project and program management and by providing management
support, the project management office contributes to achieving project and program objec-
tives. By means of regular maintenance of the project portfolio database and the development
of project portfolio reports and their adequate communication, a contribution is also made
toward optimizing the project portfolio. Nonobjectives of the project management office are
the performance of project owner team roles and project manager roles in projects.
The project management office sees itself as a service provider, not as a controller.
The services of the project management office are listed in Table 18.3. The catalog presents
the maximum amount of possible services by the project management office. Various
tools can be provided in virtual form.
The management support for projects and programs can contain the following services:
● Providing support in the use of project management software for the development
of project plans
● Moderating and recording project meetings