Project management office is the process by which a project manager and project resources share project information and communicate on project issues. A project management office organization is a group of project resources that are responsible for working on a project. Project management office may be broken down in any number of ways, depending on the type of project.
When planning to setup project management office one should cater to several key points:
- The nature of the project. Is this for construction project management? Engineering project management?
- What staffing is available for the project?
- What budget does the project manager have available for administration, project records, and overhead?
- Who must have access to project management records?
- Who will the project manager submit project management data to?
- How will project resources submit project data such as time, costs, budget requests, change order requests, and change order approvals?
Although a project manager may not have considered this information in detail, these questions can significantly simply the project management process and reduce project management overhead costs for the life of a project by utilizing a project management office.
That's why A1 Enterprise now offers customers a cost effective project management office organization that records and audits project data and provides project reports when required. This new project management service prevents a project manager from having to staff for and manage project administrative resources. A1 Enterprise organizes and maintains your project records including budget requests and approvals, payment requests, change order requests, change order approvals, and contract documents. A1 Enterprise uses the A1 Tracker online project management software to make project data available online for those the project manager decides should have access.
A key benefit that the project manager will recognize is not having to reallocate administrative resources in between projects or when transitioning into the next project. Another benefit is the project manager does not need to learn any new system, and can in fact spend more time managing the project work than working at the computer managing project data. This service reduces software training costs, software implementation costs, software licensing costs, and project overhead costs.