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Project Management Office Value testing

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by garrickp

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We are currently reviewing our Services Office(SO) (PMO), we are trying to determine ways of determining the success of the SO.

i.e. What factors do stakeholders consider determine value in services provided by the Services Office and what is their relative importance. How do we determine if the Services Office is providing value to its stakeholders

Should we include valude components such as

1) Scope of services meets requirement: measured on a rating of 1 ... 5. For ratings of lessthan 5 please specify services required but not provided
2) Customer satisfaction - do we do another survey form
3) Cost of management - measured by cost of PM as % of cost of each project phase; relative cost of each phase [determine improvement expected over time}
4) Program performance - measured by % of projects which complete successfully within (10%)? of budget and schedule [determine improvement expected over time]; progress against forecast

These are ideas we have had the difficulty being managing clients perceptions of the service provided.

Any ideas on how to manage these perceptions in a physical way would be appreciated.

6 replies

by timwalsh

Unfortunately, customer satisfaction, and client perception of service quality are THE two biggest areas for gauging success in any service organization.

In my mind, to be truly successful, any service organization must do two things:
1. Keepmanagement happy - your ability to do this is measured by three of the components measured above: scope of services (required by management), management costs (within budget), and program performance (on time and on-budget). Keeping management happy will USUALLY keep you employed.
2. Keep the customer happy - If the customer is external, obviously there is revenue issues here that will also affect your success. I'm assuming your customers are internal. Customer happiness (satisfaction) isvery much determined by perception. You may be providing ALL the services required of you by management, but if the customer thinks you should be doing something else, this will negatively impact their perception. Not providing a service exactly when a customer wants/needs it (whether warranted by lack of priority or not) also negatively impacts their perception. If your organization is perceived as being inflexible in the way you provide services, that's another mark in the negative column. And all it takes is one "aw-s**t" to wipe out a whole bunch of "atta-boys" (in other words, you can be performing flawlessly for an extended period of time providing services the customer uses everyday, but the first time you don't meet their expectations, the customer's perception of your organization will be poisoned. Regaining this customer's positive perception of you may never happen.
(continued)

by timwalsh

Communication is the key. Information (or lack thereof) can greatly affect perception.

Make sure your customers know exactly what services you provide. You may provide a number of services that don't directly support the customer, and they may be unaware of this.

Regularly ask your customers if there is something they would like to see you do differently, or if there is a service not now provided that THEY need/want (obviously budgetary issues may come into play here). If the customer thinks (perceives) they have some impact on how the services provided to them are actually provided, then their satisfaction level will generally increase.

You might consider a periodic newsletter or bulletin (directed at stakeholders/clients). You could include such things as ongoing project updates, top ten FAQs, known problem areas and expected resolutions, improvement suggestions that have been accepted and will be implemented, etc.

Continuously reevaluate customer satisfaction. Do it randomly as part of providing services rather than distributing a form once a year.

Hope this gives you some ideas.

by ajayvee

To determine what to test, first review the original goals of establishing the PMO/SO. Sure you want projects completed under budget and on schedule. But has the consistency among project performances increased? Have report processes standardized? Has estimating, scheduling and forecasting accuracy increased? Is scope creep under control? Have all PMO personnel been trained on the established methodology? How about all PM's and project support staff?

Excellent customer support and service isan honorable goal. Look at and check on each of your project processes to find value. Work your PMO/SO like any other project.

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