Module 2

The PMO Operating Model Wheel

In this module you will meet the PMO Operating Model Wheel, the model that underpins the whole course.

Estimated study time: about 50 minutes. Suggested week: 2.

2.1 The core concept

At the centre of the Wheel sits the PMO's purpose: enabling predictable, value-driven delivery.

Predictable means leaders can rely on dates, costs and outcomes. Value-driven means delivery is judged by the benefits it produces, not only by whether tasks were completed.

Putting purpose at the centre gives a test for every PMO service: does it make delivery more predictable or more valuable? If not, question why you provide it.

2.2 The four domains

Around the purpose sit four domains, shown in Figure 2.

• Governance & Assurance (confidence, consistency, control): who decides what, which standards apply, and how you know they are followed.
• Planning & Control (structure, visibility, predictability): plans, risks, dependencies and performance reporting.
• People, Skills & Culture (capability, collaboration, leadership): the skills of PMO and delivery staff, how they learn and how they work together.
• Value, Strategy & Outcomes (alignment, measurement, improvement): whether work supports strategy and whether the promised benefits are realised and measured.

Each domain is the subject of a later module.

Figure 2: The PMO Operating Model Wheel

2.3 How the domains interconnect

The Wheel creates strategic alignment across governance, planning, people and value. The domains depend on one another:

• Governance without planning produces rules but no visibility.
• Planning tools without skilled, engaged people produce data nobody uses.
• Strong delivery that is not aligned to strategy produces outputs that do not matter.

A weakness in one domain undermines the others, so they are developed together.

Key points

• The Wheel's centre is the PMO's purpose: predictable, value-driven delivery.
• There are four domains: Governance & Assurance, Planning & Control, People, Skills & Culture, and Value, Strategy & Outcomes.
• The domains depend on each other, so improve them together.

Activity: PMO Mapping

Map your PMO against the four domains.

• List the services your PMO provides today.
• Place each service under the domain it best fits.
• Mark any domain with few or no services. These are your gaps.
• Choose the gap that most affects delivery and write one sentence on why.

Write your answer in your own notes or learning journal. Use the ideas in this module to check your thinking.