Get Active in Our Amazing Community of Over 452,000 Peers!

Schedule mock interviews on the Meeting Board, join the latest community discussions in our Consulting Q&A and find like-minded Case Partners to connect and practice with!

What specific things do you do for a client when you are on a PMO project?

projects
New answer on Dec 05, 2021
3 Answers
824 Views
Anonymous A asked on Dec 04, 2021

What specific things do you do for a client when you are on a PMO project? What about your day to day work?

Overview of answers

Upvotes
  • Upvotes
  • Date ascending
  • Date descending
Best answer
Pedro
Expert
replied on Dec 04, 2021
30% off in April 2024 | Bain | EY-Parthenon | Roland Berger | Market Sizing | DARDEN MBA

This is difficult to answer, as it really depends on the specific scope and role. I've seen all types of PMO work, but the common theme is that you are making sure that things happen (or at least giving visibility on whether they are happening or not).

You will have an implementation roadmap with key activities and responsibles and it is your job to:

  • Make sure each person knows what they have to do
  • Validate if they will meet the deadlines
  • Understand what their concerns are and if they need help or additional resources
  • Provide help where appropriate / perform specific analysis (and this is where the work can go from operational problem solving to strategic problem solving)
  • Give visibility to the client PMO sponsors on any issues (i.e., resources needed, issues with timelines)
  • Help replanning the timelines
  • Build status reports

Hope this makes it a bit more clear.

Was this answer helpful?
Ian
Expert
Content Creator
replied on Dec 05, 2021
#1 BCG coach | MBB | Tier 2 | Digital, Tech, Platinion | 100% personal success rate (8/8) | 95% candidate success rate

Hi there,

So first of all, the project work/cadence won't be substaintially different than any other project (powerpoint, client meetings, etc.)

In terms of what you actually do for them, you're helping them setup their PMO. This means your establishing their processes (review cadence, meetings, project/program status reporting etc.), their tools (dashboards, trackers, etc.) and people (PMO director, staff, experts, etc.)

Was this answer helpful?
Hagen
Expert
Content Creator
replied on Dec 04, 2021
#1 Bain coach | >95% success rate | interviewer for 8+ years | mentor and coach for 7+ years

Hi there,

This is indeed an interesting question which is probably relevant for quite a lot of users, so I am happy to provide my perspective on it:

  • Generally speaking, it really depends on the scope of the engagement. As a strategy consulting company, though, you mostly just set up the PMO, train the client's project manager to work with the tools and then leave as this normally is the start of the implementation phase.
  • Setting up the PMO typically covers all tasks around developing and defining the central PMO tools and processes and initially filling the tools jointly with the client. You take care of all risks, activities and decisions associated with the project regarding the value (i.e. project financials and financial goals), people (i.e. availability and staffing of project members) and process (i.e. the activities and decisions required to run the project).

In case you want a more detailed discussion on the details, advantages and disadvantages of PMO projects, please feel free to contact me directly.

I hope this helps,

Hagen

Was this answer helpful?
Pedro gave the best answer

Pedro

CoachingPlus Expert
Premium + Coaching Expert
30% off in April 2024 | Bain | EY-Parthenon | Roland Berger | Market Sizing | DARDEN MBA
132
Meetings
16,344
Q&A Upvotes
54
Awards
5.0
21 Reviews