Project coordination is a pivotal role in any company. Whether it's worth considering external support, Kilian Vermeulen from Blue Advisory knows the answer.
“Is it worthwhile to bring in external support for project coordination or to establish an externally supported Project Management Office (PMO) within the company?”
Kilian Vermeulen, Manager at the consulting firm Blue Advisory GmbH, shares his insights.
Firstly, it’s important to clarify that the term “project management” isn’t just (or primarily) about the substantive handling of projects, but rather about planning, steering, and controlling projects. In practice, standardized methods and structures are often used for this purpose, such as a Project Management Office (PMO). A PMO is a central unit responsible, for example, within multi-project management for several projects or a project portfolio within a company or a business division. This allows for coordination of individual projects and tailored support for their project leadership.
However, there are several important considerations when setting up and implementing a PMO. This is a significant reason why companies often rely on the expertise and support of external partners. But does external support truly provide added value?
Advantages of external support
Generally, involving external, experienced project managers offers certain benefits:
For example, they can provide an impartial overview or assessment of projects from the outside and help establish professional project management structures (such as establishing meeting frameworks, method competencies, standard templates for project plans and status reports, etc.). A steering committee that involves an external consultant can usually offer a more objective view of the project or programme status than a purely internal perspective. Additionally, it can be particularly challenging for smaller companies to provide enough qualified resources for managing complex projects. Projects often pile on top of day-to-day business – making it easy to focus on the substance of tasks and neglect the actual “management” of the project. Hence, external support can be crucial to provide (temporary) capacity for project management and to help develop internal project managers and team members through focused coaching and mentorship. Thus, it can be very beneficial for companies to leverage the expertise and potential best practices of external consultants. Consider too that, especially in smaller and medium-sized enterprises, maintaining permanent project management entities may not be cost-effective, as even the most complex programme will eventually conclude. Here too, a temporary engagement of an external advisor can be advantageous.
Avoid dependencies and clarify responsibilities
Despite the aforementioned advantages of externally supported project management, companies should not rely solely on external partners, as this could lead to an overly strong dependency. We also strongly recommend clearly defining, before the project begins, the tasks of the PMO (such as controlling, regular reporting, etc.), the desired level of support (classic project management vs. partial operative work in projects), and the associated responsibilities to form a successful partnership between internal and external forces.
(Source: B4B-Schwaben)
