Are you wondering how to set up a PMO (project management office) within your organisation? What are the roles and responsibilities of a PMO? Learn from the experience of the PMO Alptis Insurances, a specialist in health insurance. The implementation of the ISO standard at Alptis a few years ago led to significant work across all of the company’s processes to support its development. But how can a company perform without a clear and accurate vision of its project portfolio? Especially with the risk of a breakdown in dialogue between the management committee and the project teams? This is where the project office, or PMO, comes in – resulting in a transversal role as a facilitator within the organisation.
Exclusive interview with the PMO of Alptis Insurances Group
Exclusive interview with Alptis Assurances’ PMO, Joseph Pares, who is responsible for portfolio project management.
In this article, we’re going to help you determine the role of the PMO as well as the tools it needs to carry out its tasks. You can also watch the replay of the interview with Alptis Assurances’ PMO below.
In this article, discover the keys to understanding the Project Management Office:
- What is the PMO?
- What are the steps involved in setting up a PMO?
- How does the PMO provide a framework to the project teams?
- How best to handle change management?
- What are the PMO’s tools?
What is the role of the PMO ?
What does a PMO office do ?
PMO stands for Project Management Office. It’s a department within the organisation that is responsible for the project management process. It oversees and assists with the management of the organisation’s projects, programmes and portfolios.
Firstly, an entry point when starting to think about a project
The PMO has a central role in the company, between management, the business line department, the IS systems department and the finance department.
Secondly, the role of the PMO is to guide and coordinate projects’ life cycles :
- Coordinate qualification of hierarchical superior’s project portfolio
- Ensure a link with the company’s strategy
- Assist project managers and sponsors
- Monitor the portfolio and facilitate its implementation
What is a PMO structure ?
The PMO is at the heart of project portfolio governance
The PMO ensures that the data provided is high quality so that management can make the right decisions on projects. Joseph Pares, PMO at Alptis Assurances.
| Event | Participants | Goals |
| Weekly operational update | OTOP Dept., IS Dept. (Managers), Data (Managers) | Discuss the difficulties encountered by teams, find solutions, identify new topics. |
| Monthly project portfolio review | OTOP Dept., IS Dept. (Director), Data (Head), Finance Dept. (Group Head) | Review portfolio projects to discuss the issues encountered and identify options to put in place (decision-making, payment order, etc.). |
| Management Committee convened on request | Alptis Assurances management | Situation update + decision-making if necessary |
How to set up a PMO?
Before setting up a project office, you have to ask yourself questions about the organisation and how its projects are managed :
- What is the company’s level of maturity in terms of project management? Project portfolios?
- Project managers within the organisation: do they have a role or a function?
- Projects: what are the shared elements? What are we looking to consolidate?
- How many project portfolios? Within what scopes? For whom?
- What is the positioning of the project office? Decision-maker? Coordinator/Facilitator?
- What are the key steps involved in setting up a PMO unit?
How to implement a pmo into your organization
How do you set up a project management office? From implementing methodological processes to giving the unit the tools it needs, how ultimately do you move from project management to project portfolio management?
It all started at Alptis Insurance with the ISO standard. A lot of work was done on all processes to support the company’s development. As part of the ISO standard, we set out a project methodology. As a result, this project methodology made it possible to identify all of the shared metrics to be tracked as part of a project portfolio. It’s crucial to take the company culture and the way teams are organised into account. This also means taking account of employees’ positions/roles. For example, a contracting authority assistant or business analyst who, alongside this role, also acts as a project manager will not have the same level of project management skills. As a result, the project methodology aims to set out a common framework for everyone.
4 steps to set up a PMO
With all things considered, in the “quest for the PMO hero”, we identified 4 key moments when setting up our project office at Alptis Insurances :
- Step 1 : Iso standard and project methodology
- Step 2 : Beginnings or a project porfolio through consolidation
- Step 3 : Project office born
- Step 4 : Use of a PPM tool to improve management
How does the PMO provide a framework to the project teams ?
How does the PMO provide a framework for employees? The PMO helps to distribute a common methodological project management structure. It supports employees with a range of techniques and methodologies to manage all issues relating to projects, from the planning stage to completion. In these conditions, the PMO enables a common project language to develop by setting out key indicators and metrics so that everyone communicates and consolidates information in the same way. The PMO coordinates the work of a wide range of stakeholders, thus facilitating communication.
How best to handle change management ?
When we created the processes, we adapted them to stakeholders’ roles. The PMO is in direct contact with project managers to take the constraints they face into account and to adapt in the best possible way. Regardless of the project methodologies or PPM tool used, processes are set out in a way that is as close as possible to the needs of the project teams and the management. We set up workshops to identify needs and developed specifications (an important point when ensuring the project office is aligned with teams). Change management occurs naturally when employees are taken into account from the beginning of the tool and method selection process. Joseph Pares, PMO at Alptis Assurances.
What are the PMO’s tools ?
Given its transversal duties between management and the project teams, the PMO requires a range of project management and decision-making tools. As a result, different features are needed: a scheduling solution, budget and resource management (capacity planning), project portfolio dashboards and reporting dashboards, task management, project monitoring, and more. To do this, some PMOs manage these needs via Excel or “homemade” solutions. But what if we told you that having more tools brings no benefit? In fact, there is a category of software that offers all of the features the PMO needs in one place. This is project portfolio management software, or PPM software for short. In light of this, Alptis Assurances chose Project Monitor, an all-in-one project portfolio management software solution.
We use Project Monitor project portfolio management software to manage activity monitoring, capacity planning, budget monitoring and project portfolio reviews for management. In terms of choosing which software to use, it’s Project Monitor’s ergonomics and configurability that won us over. Joseph Pares, PMO at Alptis Assurances.
Want to know more about using a PPM tool? Want to discover how it can help you in your everyday work (project portfolio reviews, resource planning, scheduling milestones and stages, etc.)? Then take part in our next Product Tour! In just 30 minutes, discover the key features our clients love when managing their project portfolios.
Discover in 30 minutes a PPM tool for successful projects
Ask for a Demonstration of Project Monitor, PPM software
A summary of the key tips to help you set up your PMO
- Identify the practices and tools currently used in your organisation and how the many stakeholders interact.
- Get future users involved in creating the specifications for choosing the project portfolio management tool. The idea is to fully understand what problems they face and what their expectations are.
- Create a common thread between project teams and management. What information needs to be consolidated? How can decision-making be facilitated?
- Set out the steps involved in the implementation: analysis of practices, methodologies, planning, tool selection (workshops, specifications, training)
Find out more about Alptis Assurances: supplementary health insurance, loan insurance, and pensions
This webinar was held in conjunction with Alptis Assurances. The Alptis model was born in 1976 in the form of an organisation founded in Lyon by freelancers who wanted to find insurance solutions that fit their needs. Today, the group protects over 450,000 people (individuals, self-employed people, and businesses).
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