4 Ways to Perform a PMO Health Check

At birth, doctors examine babies to make sure they are healthy and strong. But that’s not going to be the last time a baby sees a doctor, is it? There are regular checkups, and, as the baby grows into a toddler and beyond, annual checkups to make sure the child remains healthy. 

A similar experience should occur with your newly formed PMO. Early on, everyone will be checking in on the newborn PMO to see how it is doing and if it’s living up to its expectations. But do these checkups continue as your PMO matures? They should, but statistics lead us to believe they don’t. Only 43% of PMOs rate themselves as successful (aka healthy), according to the 2022 PMO Survey from The PMO Squad! 

Last month we provided you with the PMO Build Checklist. This helpful resource identifies gaps, tracks progress, and enhances productivity of your nascent PMO. The next step is to make sure your PMO stays healthy and strong as it matures. How can this be done? By performing regular PMO Health Checks. 

What’s a PMO Health Check? 

A PMO Health Check is you stepping back on a regular basis, perhaps quarterly but at least annually, and taking an objective look at how your PMO is doing. The key is that it is an objective look. It’s hard to call your “baby” ugly if you created your PMO from scratch. That’s why it will be good to get an independent evaluation from a trusted partner as well as ask others within your organization how your PMO is doing. 

How to Perform a PMO Health Check 

A PMO Health Check looks at the following areas: 

1. Purpose – Every PMO should know why they exist, their Purpose.  By establishing a documented Purpose Statement and validating with your Leadership Team you are setting expectations for your PMO.  As the organization and business climate evolves you need to revisit your PMO Purpose to ensure it is still appropriate.  Consider how PMOs reacted pre-Covid, during Covid, and post-Covid.  Your PMO Purpose surely evolved as the organizational needs changed during these business cycles. 
2. People - Are the people that work in your PMO engaged? How is their morale? You can’t expect everyone to come in with a huge grin on their face every day, but you do need to know if your employees are being challenged, feel like they are contributing, and growing in their profession. Additionally, are the customers that you serve satisfied? You need to know if your customers (both internal and external) are satisfied with the services your PMO is providing, and how it is operating. How do you do this? Ask them! Read How Does Your Project Taste for suggestions on how this conversation can go. 
3. Capabilities - Your PMO was started with expectations around how it would operate and what it would deliver. How is your PMO doing in this area? A good place to start this assessment is the The PMO Build Checklist. Refer back to the same activities that your PMO was built upon and give your PMO a Yes, No, or Sometimes review.  

   For example, look at the excerpt below of activities that were needed to build a PMO. 

You could change the activities highlighted in red to: 

• Library of templates is up-to-date 
• PMO Service Catalog includes current offerings, and 
• Organizational project delivery journey roadmap updated and communicated 

If the answer to all the activities above is Yes, it’s all good. If the answer is No or Sometimes, then fix it. Going back to the annual checkup example, if you find that your blood pressure is high, you need to do something about it. Nothing good comes out of ignoring a health problem and nothing good will come out of ignoring a problem with your PMO. 

4. Strategic Contributions - This is where you put your money where your mouth is. How is your PMO doing when it comes to achieving your organization’s strategic goals, and does it play a BIG part in driving strategic initiatives? Too many PMOs and PMO Leaders struggle in this area because they are running their PMO as opposed to running their organization’s PMO. An objective assessment in this area (with positive answers) will ensure your PMO is healthy for years to come. 

You wouldn’t imagine taking a child to their first-year checkup and then assuming they are going to be healthy for the rest of their life. It takes regular visits to the doctor to assess their health year after year. The same is required of your newly formed PMO. It may be in its infancy right now, but help it grow healthy and strong with frequent and objective PMO health checks!