How important are standardized tools in a The Project Manage

How important are standardized tools in a The Project Manager Office (PMO) environment? Share your thoughts and/or experiences.

The Processes and tools used by a PMO range widely depending on their maturity and cover an array of related disciplines:

Metrics- i.e. Balanced Score Cards

Budgets- Estimation and variance management

Quality- i.e. Process Quality Audit reports

Quality- i.e. Configuration Management Reports

Quality- Control i.e. p-charts

Risk Management- i.e. FMEA

Engineering- i.e. Specification/ Requirements V&V. Verification and Validation

Continuous Improvement- i.e. Managing Lessons Learned for future projects

Solution

Project Management involves a set of activities which are aimed at managing a project from setting the objectives to achieving the objectives. The success of a project depends on three main elements which include Time/Schedule, Cost/Budget and Quality of the deliverables. To ensure the project is completed within time and allocated budget while ensuring the deliverables are of high quality, the PMO requires various tools to analyze, measure and control the factors impacting these elements. Below is how the standardized tools are critical to a project\'s success depending on the phase of the project -

1. Balanced Scorecard

2. Estimation and variance management - To compare the actual costs incurred with the planned budget to highlight the variance and plan the rest of the project accordingly.

3. Quality - Process quality audit reports highlight any quality issues in the project so that the team can course correct the issues. Control charts highlight any deviations from the process.

4. Risk management methodology - This helps in identifying defects or failures in design or process to correct them based on a Risk Priority Number.

5. Cointinuous improvement - This helps in assessing the project and continuously improve wherever required.