A Performance Evaluation Model for Project Management Office Based on a Multicriteria Approach

Abstract

The justification for implementing a Project Management Office (PMO) is a recurring problem in organizations, and its existence is often questioned by stakeholders. Under the organizational project management, the PMO presents a variety of roles and functions, whose performance is related to strategic objectives achievement. The literature shows that the PMO can be the battlefield between power and control, between people and processes, and between political factions. Given this situation, the definition of a performance evaluation mechanism allows the verification of how the PMO can serve the interests of project managers and stakeholders, and at the same time serve as a strategic framework within the company. This paper proposes a performance evaluation model for PMO from the software industry based on a multicriteria approach as a way to engage all the stakeholders in such process. Based on a list of 79 performance indicators divided into 17 criteria defined by the Competing Values Framework, a process for evaluating PMOs was defined using the MACBETH technique. The results showed a clear picture of the strengths and weaknesses of the performance of the PMO as well as the priority for improving each of them according to a shared vision of all the stakeholders.