Project complexity is most commonly considered by organisations on a project-by-project basis. This is important as the drivers of complexity are often defined by the unique challenges the project sets out to overcome.
However, the Project Management Office (PMO) can play a critical role in extending their organisation’s capability to successfully handle complexity. Common PMO goals include raising project success rates, effective portfolio planning, growing capability through access to specialist resources, providing cost savings through standardization, and improving project schedule and budget achievement.
The PMO’s view - of multiple projects from the past, those in-flight, and in the pipeline, across different business areas and project types, with qualified success rates - allows PMO’s to make five significant contributions to conquering complexity: