5/17/24, 5:11 PM Achieving strategic organization objectives through a PMO

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Achieving strategic organization objectives through a PMO
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CONFERENCE PAPER ǀ PMO, Strategy ǀ 11 May 2015
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Alkhuraissi,
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Explore Alkhuraissi, S. A. (2015). Achieving strategic organization objectives through a PMO. Paper
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Square, PA: Project Management Institute.
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Sultan A. Alkhuraissi, PMP, CPMM, AVSLog In
This article discusses a current case study of achieving strategic organization objectives by
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adopting a project management office (PMO) as a tool to manage and align projects within
different functions and units, link them to the strategic objectives and at the same time ensure
a systematic methodology and tools for execution. The case study focused on building a PMO,
selecting the PMO model and explaining the PMO role as per the literature of project
management standards and the practices of the organization. The PMO explained within this
case study is a unit that supports an operation and maintenance sector (O&M) that consists of
five departments in the Royal Commission for Jubail (RCJ) in Saudi Arabia. The overall
strategy of the RCJ O&M sector is to achieve the cities of excellence mandate. As the PMO
accomplished the intended purpose of aligning and achieving strategic objectives of the O&M
sector, it will continue to ensure alignment of the functional objectives with strategic objectives.
The following points are covered: (a) initiating and building the PMO; (b) selecting the PMO
model; and (c) explaining the PMO role. The status of the case study PMO will also be briefly
explained.

Keywords: Project management office (PMO), Royal Commission for Jubail (RCJ),
Operation and Maintenance (O&M).

Background
The Royal Commission for Jubail (RCJ) is the governmental authority in the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia responsible for the master planning and development of infrastructure, utilities, and
facilities in Jubail, the largest industrial city in the Middle East. The city supports the
petrochemical processing facilities in the region and provides approximately 8% of the
Kingdom's national gross domestic product (GDP). In 2009, the RCJ developed a refined
strategy including a vision and mission. One objective is the cities of excellence mandate and
to be recognized as one of the top industrial cities globally. The O&M function is one of the
supportive sectors within RCJ and is responsible for achieving this objective in conjunction
with other sectors in the RCJ (Exhibit 1). This sector consists of five departments, each with a
specific scope to deliver services within the city.

Therefore, to achieve the strategic objective through the O&M sector, a high-level roadmap
was developed to achieve the cities of excellence mandate. This roadmap consists of multiple
programs and projects within the five departments and the implementation challenge was their
alignment and integration using a standard methodology, performance measures and technical
as well as management support, as will be elaborated more in this article.
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Case Study
From a functional view to explain the role of the O&M sector within the RCJ, so as to
understand the complexity and challenges of objective alignment, the O&M maintains all
infrastructure, assets and facilities through five core departments: roads, buildings, sanitation,
irrigation and landscaping, and general utilities. All O&M services are delivered through 23
O&M contractors (over 5,000 employees) using operational O&M processes and procedures.
Each department has a set of processes, procedures, and improvement plans within a specific
scope and reports to the general manager, O&M. An example of the daily operational tasks

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5/17/24, 5:11 PM Achieving strategic organization objectives through a PMO
with different functions and deliverables is the preventive maintenance for roads and bridges,
which requires different resources, processes, and supervision from those requiredStore
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buildings; the same applies for sanitation and waste collection. The structure and scope of the
O&M sector within the city is illustrated in Exhibit 2.

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Exhibit 1: Link between the organization strategic and function objectives.

Exhibit 2: Structure of O&M scope within the city.

To evaluate O&M capabilities within the sector and to achieve the strategic objectives, RCJ
came up with a group of projects that are required to improve performance and achieve the
corporate objectives as shown in Exhibit 3.
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Exhibit 3: Example of projects within O&M departments.

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5/17/24, 5:11 PM Achieving strategic organization objectives through a PMO
To manage the projects in one layer (high level) to ensure alignment with strategic objectives,
sustain improvements and changes, share and manage knowledge and practices, Store and  Log in Register
systematize the methodology of management, the PMO was established to manage the
transformation. The business case was presented to the executive management to approve
building a PMO within the O&M sector.

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RCJ implemented the idea of the PMO at the beginning of the project in 1970 to build the city
Membership & Communitypracticed PMO building, management, and operation. However, the idea of
and successfully
Learningthe PMO within O&M wasn't mature, and there was no prior experience.
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Explore The first phase to initiate the PMO was to answer the following:
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What is the PMO structure and organization?
What is the PMO's role and services?
What is the PMO methodology? Log In
What PMO model should be adopted?
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Structure and organization
The PMO would act as the unit to manage projects within the transformation and coordinate,
communicate, and share knowledge, practices, and progress across five departments, as
explained in the following paragraphs. Exhibit 4 shows the reporting structure of the PMO
within the O&M sector.

Exhibit 4: Organization structure.

PMO role and services

Determining the role of the PMO and its services was important to:

make clear the communication channels and reporting;

define the roles and responsibilities for each function within the sector and the PMO;
differentiate between the operational and daily activities from strategic projects and goals.
The entire project must achieve the strategic objectives and these projects are the starters with
more in the pipeline. So after elaborating and developing the overall O&M plan, the main role
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of the PMO is the responsibility of managing all projects and programs within the O&M sector
and aligning them with the business strategic objectives. That will result in changes and
transformation from one way of doing things into another way of doing them. In this case study,
the PMO leads the transformation through different models, using the portfolio method as per
Project Management Institute (PMI) industry standards. This portfolio consists of programs and
projects for planning, scope management and execution of each project. Therefore, the PMO
is responsible for sharing knowledge and information during strategy implementation with
departments and reporting to executive management.

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5/17/24, 5:11 PM Achieving strategic organization objectives through a PMO
As part of initiating and building the PMO, it was important to identify the provided services and
communicate those services to executive management, users and departments, asStore these  Log in Register
stakeholders interact with and are influenced by the PMO. The services include the following:

1) Create a repository for project information.

2) Manage and share knowledge and experience throughout the five departments and their
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3) Manage consultant performance and measure compliance.
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Explore 4) Manage changes and support transformation through training, sharing best practices and
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PMO Model
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The PMO model was selected based on the transformation roadmap for the O&M, which
integrated the different phases of the roadmap (stabilize, transform,
Registerexcel and sustain). Each
phase has the required support from the PMO based on requirements and deliverables and on
the maturity of both the PMO and the departments responsible for preparing, managing, and
executing the projects. The PMO model in each phase shows how the PMO executes work
within its role. The three models for each phase of the PMO are shown in Exhibit 5.

Exhibit 5: PMO Models and integration with the transformation strategy.

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Support
The PMO provides departments with support in creating the scope, specification, and
deliverables for each project. This allows the PMO to share knowledge across departments
and provide on-demand expertise, templates, and best practices, and it serves as a means to
measure deliverables against objectives. This process also provides management with high-
level progress reports on each project using PMI methodology. In general, the support phase
has no execution other than planning and preparing the specifications and scope of each

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5/17/24, 5:11 PM Achieving strategic organization objectives through a PMO
project within the portfolio. The main purpose of this phase is to ensure all programs and
projects are aligned to the strategic objectives of the sector as requested by top management
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(i.e., the general manager of the O&M).

Managing
The transfer from support to managing starts with the phase of execution, which is the second
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wave&ofCommunity
Membership the strategic roadmap (transform). During this wave, all departments transform from
Learning the existing approach to a total asset management approach. This transformation includes the
Businessimplementation
Solutions of asset management and the computerized maintenance management
Explore system program within the portfolio. These two programs serve more than one department and
Store consist of projects assigned to each department. The role of the PMO includes centralized
reporting of the execution of programs and projects, strategizing processes, managing change,
providing training, and supporting departments in executing the portfolio project.
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Center of Excellence
The PMO manages the transformation of the O&M sector into Register
the sustain and excel wave.
This phase ends as soon as the asset management centre of excellence is completed. At that
time, the PMO will take on a more supportive role. Exhibit 6 shows the cycle of the three PMO
models.

Exhibit 6: Cycle of PMO models.

PMO Methodology
Portfolio management refers to a collection of programs or projects and other work grouped
together to facilitate effective management to meet strategic business objectives (Dow, 2012,
p. 139). The selection of the PMO methodology was based on the strategic objectives, as
presented by the roadmap, organization structure, business objectives, and recourse
available. Exhibit 7 shows the PMO methodology.
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5/17/24, 5:11 PM Achieving strategic organization objectives through a PMO

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Exhibit 7: PMO methodology, portfolio.

PMI Standards Compliance

To ensure that the PMO follows PMI standard industry methods, no deviation from PMI
standards will occur and the projects will adhere to the following:

1. Auditing: A consultant working on the asset management strategy performs auditing to

ensure no deviation from the PMI standard methods; the PMO closes any gaps based on the
audit report.

2. Compliance: A system is established to measure compliance with the PMI standard

processes; for example, planning processes, reporting, risk management, terminologies.

Summary
The existing PMO is to be expanded, adding project managers to manage projects and
programs. One of the challenges is the limitation of resources and utilizing outsourcing to close
the resources gap. That might create conflicts in communication and the quality of
deliverables.

Depending on the nature of the business case, organizations need to build PMOs and
determine their main objectives. The following are necessary to ensure the suitability and
effectiveness of PMOs:

organization maturity and experience;

organizational processes and procedures;
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role of PMO, model and methodology to manage projects;

approval from executive management and those affected by the PMO.
This case study identifies the PMO roles, services, models, and methodology that contribute to
the performance and achievement of the PMO in managing the transformation. The concept of
successfully managing transformation through a PMO can be summarized as follows:

selecting the PMO role, model, and methodology;

management approval, communication, and agreement on the scope and role;

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5/17/24, 5:11 PM Achieving strategic organization objectives through a PMO
building and staffing the PMO;
identifying the maturity level and supporting the required expertise; Store  Log in Register

PMI standard methods and process compliance.

References
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Dow, W. (2012). The tactical guide for building a PMO. Publisher: Author.
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material has been reproduced with the permission of the copyright owner. Unauthorized
Learningreproduction of this material is strictly prohibited. For permission to reproduce this material,
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contact PMI or any listed author.
Explore © 2015, Sultan Alkhuraissi
Store Originally published as a part of the 2015 PMI Global Congress Proceedings – London, UK

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