Claire Heron
16th June 2011
Introducing the ISS Project Management Office
What is a Project Management Office?
A Project Management Office is a centralised office providing a focal point for all project
management matters. It identifies and addresses project management issues and assists
and supports the achievement of organisational goals.
What are the benefits of having a Project Management Office?
A Project Management Office provides structure and support for a range of project
management activities including proposing, defining, planning, implementing and reviewing
projects.
Specific benefits include:

Consistency and professionalism in project management and delivery

Improved project management skills and capabilities

More effective deployment of resources

Enhanced strategic overview of projects

Fewer ‘out of control’ projects

Higher levels of customer satisfaction

Improved reporting capabilities

Better understanding of project outcomes and lessons learned
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Purpose of the ISS Project Management Office
The ISS Project Management Office implements and champions good project management
practices to support ISS activities and promote successful delivery of all projects.
Scope of Work
The Project Management Office provides ISS with a project assurance and project
management service. It is primarily involved in the following activities:
Project Assurance

Empowering ISS colleagues to manage successful projects

Providing ISS with a project management centre of competence

Creating and promoting a Project Management Methodology and Toolkit

Embedding a benefits-led approach to IT projects

Supporting project initiation and lessons learned analysis

Providing project health checks
Project Management

Taking a Project Management role on specific projects, typically those which cross
multiple sections within ISS

Assessing resource implications

Working with stakeholders and reporting to strategic decision making groups
What is not provided by the Project Management Office
In order to make best use of the resources available, the Project Management Office does
not usually undertake the following activities:

General administrative support for projects

A Project Management role on every project

‘Policing’ of project management practice

Undertaking projects because others don’t want to
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Project Management Office Objectives
First Year Objectives

Research requirements for and establish a Newcastle University ISS Project
Management Office

Establish a baseline report to understand where we are now

Create a Project Management best practice Methodology and Toolkit

Provide Project Management support to a small number of specific projects

Communicate regular progress reports and key messages to ISS colleagues

Establish structured reporting to Strategic Information Systems Steering Group
(SISG)

Work with ISS teams to implement a whole-ISS change management process to
provide a more controlled project management environment

Estimate resource requirements of current and future projects and report to SISG

Identify key stakeholders and introduce the ISS Project Management Office to them
Longer-Term Objectives
In addition, the Project Management Office will review progress and establish longer-term
objectives including, but not exclusively:

Periodically review progress against the baseline report

Provide Project Management leadership on a range of specific projects

Encourage all ISS projects to follow the best practice methodology

Assist the implementation of a Benefits-led approach into all ISS projects

Liaise with project management structures outside of ISS to ensure University-wide
best practice
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The Project Management Office Operational Environment
The Project Management Office operates within a range of internal and external decisionmaking structures. These are detailed below:
Project Management Decision Making Structure
Executive Board
FMBSG
SISG
Stakeholders
Stakeholders
Project
Management Office
Change Board
ISS
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How the Project Management Office operates
The Project Management Office operates on 3 levels; Empowering, Assisting and Leading.
Empowering
In the first instance, the Project Management Office seeks to empower ISS colleagues to
successfully manage their own projects independently. This provides the bulk of projectrelated work within ISS. The role of the Project Management Office is therefore to support
ISS colleagues as follows:

Champion use of the Project Management Methodology and Toolkit

Advise which procedures and guidelines to follow

Help to identify best practice and lessons learned

Advise on risk management

Advise on implementation of benefits-led IT

Review project management challenges to promote even more successful projects

Identify project management skills gaps and help to address them

Promote the ISS project management approach with stakeholders

Communicate key decisions, improvements and changes from within the Project
Management Office
In these cases, ISS colleagues are actively encouraged to contact the Project Management
Office whenever they need project management advice, guidance and support.
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Assisting
In some instances, the Project Management Office needs to take a more involved role in
actual project management. This covers a flexible range of tasks and involves various levels
of intervention depending on the scale of the project.
The scale of involvement is
determined by a range of control measures in place to ensure best value from the Project
Management Office resources available. Control measures include (but are not restricted
to):

Number of teams a project involves

The financial value of the project

The length of time the project is expected to take

The number of stakeholders involved

The potential impact of the project on the reputation of the University
If a project hits the stated thresholds (to add) within these control measures, it may benefit
from greater Project Management Office involvement. This decision would be submitted to
the Change Board. If agreed, the Project Management Office will undertake a more
directive role within that project. This could include amongst other things:

Scoping of projects

Initiating projects

Undertaking risk analysis

Developing project budgets

Hosting workshops

Undertaking project health checks

Carrying out lessons learned analysis

Helping people from ISS and other stakeholders to understand their role on a project
Involvement on this level requires a clear entry and exit strategy for the Project
Management Office. This ensures valuable resources are not tied up for extended periods
of time. This maintains the flexibility the Project Management Office to get involved as
challenging issues arise and ensures project ownership and responsibility remains within the
discrete project team.
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Leading
In a limited number of cases, again determined by the Change Board, the Project
Management Office will undertake a complete end-to-end Project Management role. This
will involve the Project Management Office providing a dedicated Project Manager to work
on a specific large-scale, multi-stakeholder project from inception to final delivery and
handover.
Over time, it is anticipated that this particular level of involvement will provide the majority
of the workload of the Project Management Office. This ambition reflects the ability of ISS
colleagues to successfully manage clearly defined projects in more controlled environments
without the need for ad hoc PMO involvement. This frees up the Project Management
Office to undertake a greater number of leading roles in holistic project management.
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