Due to changes in the business environment, PMOs have had to change their approach to strategy. According to Forrester research, the more agile companies who have been successful despite the changes in the environment have charged their PMOs with strategy implementation to achieve better business outcomes. This includes creating more transparency and consistencies in portfolio planning, establishing better methods and tools, and building environments that are conducive for learning and development.  This decision for a more strategic PMO is most often triggered by fierce market competition, high strategy costs, project failure, or difficultly in replicating the success of a previously successful project.

According to a Forrester research, all leaders involved were trying to add value to their businesses through projects/programs aligned with their strategy. This approach enabled them to increase their current market strength as well as acquiring additional markets.

In order for PMOs to make this transformation, they had to:

• Formulate strategies
• Be consistent with business practices in controlling risk and increasing productivity
• Be open to change in principles in order to encourage growth
• Embrace their role in the company considering themselves as part-owners to promote a deeper sense of obligation.

These changes to break away from the traditional approaches are not necessarily easy. PMOs face issues of inconsistency of projects/programs, interpretation of the ‘business’ language (agreement on what needed to be done), resistance to the changes, inconsistent project management expertise. Additionally, the constant changes in the environment proved to be an issue by itself.

The most successful organizations’ PMOs had strategic titles and reported directly to the highest level executives. Their organizations’ executives recognized the need for change while considering the risks of significant change and the need for a strategically aligned PMO. The approach to dealing with these issues involved setting a vision, prioritizing change management, creating an environment conducive to high performance and recreating and/or improving previous successful programs/projects. Forrester Consulting found that geographic differences and whether or not PMOs were internal or not influences approaches.

KPIs also proved very important to make the entire transition successful. The successful PMOs were the ones that kept things simple, focused and actionable. They were valued based on how efficient they were along with their benefits and engagement practices.

[Strategic PMOs Play A Vital Role In Driving Business Outcomes by Forrester Consulting]