Each organization is unique. Client and market demands, financial and organizational objectives, company values and culture are some of the key elements in architecting a centralized project management system that will resonate and, most important, deliver the financial and transformational results our clients seek. Optimize! has a proven 5-phase deployment strategy for successful Project Management Office (PMO) start ups:

Phase 1: Establish the PMO foundation

Optimize! initiates a Project Management Office implementation engagement by first defining the factors integral to its success in a PMO Business Charter:

• Client's external and internal business drivers and goals
• Current project request, selection, and delivery systems
• Existing project management maturity
• Environment's change readiness
• Key stakeholders

Phase 2: Prepare the environment for PMO acceptance

Optimize! fosters acceptance of the Project Management Office initiative through diligent planning and communication. In this phase, we:

• Build middle-management commitment and organization support for the PMO
• Identify staffing and training requirements
• Inventory project requests and active projects
• Measure resource capacity and demand
• Identify project management tool requirements
• Select team(s) and/or projects for pilot

Phase 3: Design the PMO System

Optimize! recognizes that our clients require a PMO framework that will deliver increased productivity and profits. To do this, the PMO system must be disciplined and flexible, comprehensive and deep. In this step, we:

• Partner with the client to identify and acquire PMO staff
• Evaluate and recommend automated project management tools
• Define requirements, standards, and processes for multiple work package categories

Phase 4: Deploy the PMO system

Optimize! knows that it is the combination of talented people using sound processes and reliable tools that make the difference in any PMO implementation, so we devote a phase to bringing these three together. In this step, we:

• Officially deploy the manual tools, training and processes for multiple work package categories
• Serve as a subject matter expert lead in automated PMO tool deployment
• Conduct project management tips, techniques and best practices learning sessions
• Define project management skill set assessment and coaching tools

Phase 5: Continuously Support, Refine and Promote the PMO

Companies who continue to improve their PMO ensure that their project management investments pay dividends. Therefore, in this phase Optimize! deploys a continuous improvement management system to the ongoing PMO framework's operation.