Snap Poll on Project Management Organizations

Snap polls reflect questions posed by members of the Celent executive research panel. This question came about from a member who is looking at their own PMO organization. They were trying to get a sense of how other insurers have organized the PMO role. This snap poll was conducted on April 28 - May 3, 2021. 14 insurers responded to this survey over the course of 72 hours.

The question that was posed was:

Background:

One of the members of the research panel is looking at their PMO organization. They’re trying to get a sense of whether they have organized and staffed it effectively. They’re interested in how other insurers think about where this function reports and what duties fall into the PMO organization.

Questions:

• Do you have a PMO?

• Do the resources in the group report into one person, or are they dispersed?

– If centralized, to whom does the PMO report (CIO, CFO, COO, other)?

– If centralized, do you allocate out their costs i.e., charge salary costs – on a usage basis – to business areas, or are costs allocated to projects who use them, or do you have a different way of handling costs?

• How many resources are in your PMO expressed as an approximate percentage of your total employee count

– 1% to 3%

– 4% to 6%

– 7% to 9%

– 10% or more

• Which of the following role types are represented in your PMO?

– Project managers

– Program/portfolio managers

– Business analysts/SMEs

– QA/Testers

– OCM specialists

– Other – please specify

• Which organizational functions are addressed by your PMO?

– PM HR Functions – recruit, select, evaluate, salary admin for project managers

– CoE Specialist/SME Skills – contract negotiation, risk management (on behalf of project managers); SME/CRM for business units

– Competency and Methodology – promote project management standards (methodology, framework, tools, templates); provide training and mentoring for project managers

– Strategic Management – define business cases and track benefits realization; participate in strategic planning and provide advice to senior management

– Monitor and Control – report summary-level status and project dashboard info to senior management; monitor project management performance and respond to indicators of poor performance

– Program and Portfolio Management – coordinate between projects; manage portfolio of projects (for business units or entire company), source and schedule projects

– Continuous PM Improvement – manage archives of project documentation; conduct project audits and post-project reviews; manage database of project risks and lessons learned

• Does your PMO handle IT projects only? Or do they provide services across the enterprise – even for projects that have no IT implications?

About Celent’s Research Panel

The Celent Research Panel is a free knowledge sharing resource for senior technology and operations executives at insurers in North America.It provides an easy way for executives to share information, obtain quantitative data, and learn from each otherthrough regular ongoing surveys, snap polls, round tables, and webinars.If you are interested in joining the Celent research panel, you can reach out to Karlyn Carnahan kcarnahan@celent.comor Dan McCoach dmccoach@celent.com