Naming the Project Support Office

So far I have casually used the label PSO. In my experience, many different names have been used to identify the organizational unit that provides the functions just described, and you may have encountered some of these alternative terms for what I am calling the PSO. Some of these alternative names for a PSO used by my clients are as follows:

• Project Office
• Program Office
• Project Management Office (PMO)
• Project Control Office
• Project Management Community of Practice (PMCoP)
• Project Management Group
• Project Management Center of Excellence (PMCoE)
• Enterprise PMO
• Directorate of Project Management (commonly used in Europe)
• Development Management Office
• IT Project Support
• Mission Central (probably only one occurrence)

Some of these names are clearly attached to an enterprise-level unit, whereas others are more specific to the group they serve. An interesting one is the last one — Mission Central. A recent client for whom I designed and implemented a project management methodology and the accompanying PSO was troubled by the word management and, in fact, wasn't too happy with the term project either. To that client, the term “management” suggested a kind of oversight or control function that wasn't intended. In addition, the term “project” had been overused in the company and carried a lot of baggage that needed to be left behind. They needed a name for this new entity they were commissioning. A naming contest was initiated by the chairman, who also selected the winning entry: Mission Central.

Despite the misgivings of the client just described, I have nevertheless chosen to use the name PSO for a reason. In my experience, the most successful project support units are those that are characterized as providing both proactive and reactive support services. They are ready to respond to requests for help in any way that the project manager or team members may need. These PSOs also have a responsibility to see that the organization practices effective project management. That happens through the provision of a standard methodology, training and documentation to support its widespread use, and a formal review function to monitor compliance.

However, I have had experience with PSOs that send a very different message. These are the units that have more of a monitoring-and-enforcement mission. They are seldom called a PSO and are more likely to be named PMO, Project Control Office, or simply Project Office. Such units have a spy-like air about them and are unlikely to produce the usage that the organization expects.