The project management office: governing at the interface of temporary and permanent

Project management offices (PMOs) are often encountered in a variety of sectors and organizations. Their legitimacy seems to have been accepted over the last decade and is no longer debated. However, questions related to the integration of such an entity within organizational governance are still discussed. Current knowledge of PMOs and governance suggests that there is no one way of enabling this integration. In this chapter, we aim to provide some answers to guide reflections on the integration of PMOs within the broader organizational governance. This chapter emphasizes the position of the PMO at the interface of the temporary and the permanent organizations. We first provide definitions and differentiate among governance, governmentality, and organizational design. These three components are essential and complementary for a PMO to take its place within the organizational governance. PMO fundamentals will then be introduced to give decision-makers the opportunity to build a PMO that responds to their specific situation. The mapping of governance, governmentality, and organizational design with the fundamentals allows for a rich analysis that can help shape PMO governance. This chapter also discusses the implications of the agile approach for PMO governance.