Is RMO the new PMO?

PMO = Project Management Office

RMO = Results Management Office

I recently found a white paper title: "PMO vs. RMO: Which is the best way to get the most business value from your IT investments", written by Diane Murray and Al Kagan from Deloitte Consulting.

RMO Focuses on Results

Their overall premise is that traditional Project Management Offices (PMOs) that focus on time and budget are not cutting it.

Diane Murray, Principal at Deloitte, says, "Everybody knows that it’s not enough to bring a big technology project in on time and on budget these days. If it doesn’t contribute to the overall business strategy and deliver results, it’s considered a failure."

Al Kagan, Deloitte Director, follows this up with the need to shift towards results. He says, "This simple shift can help remedy problems of strategic alignment in most PMOs – a Results Management Office (RMO) – a reinvention of the PMO that goes well beyond a name change." Check out the paper and read their points on why PMOs are not enough.

Survey shows Results More Important

I recently conducted a simple survey at the Gartner Symposium conference. I asked people to pick either speed and cost or results. Most all of them picked results. I plan to continue this survey at the upcoming PMI PMO conference in San Diego.

*** UPDATE: Check out the survey results.

I found there's already a desire by some senior directors to focus on project results. When will this desire trickle down to the front line team? When will we become better at defining metrics that focus on outcome (quality and strategy alignment) rather than focus only on the time and cost to produce that outcome?

Look me up at the PMI PMO conference. I will be found at the International Institute for Learning (IIL) booth as PIEmatrix is partnering with them. I would enjoy a conversation.

Written by Paul Dandurand, Pie CEO/Founder

Photo by Austin D