Formal project management got its start with the advent of the Polaris nuclear missile platform as well as plant turnarounds at Dupont. They are what gave us, respectively, PERT and CPM—tools we still recognize and use to this day. These efforts also were the genesis of what we would recognize as program management offices.

These undertakings weren't simply about process, although process is what was retained after the programs went away. The original intent was building a management structure to get complex, challenging work done. The organizational dimensions were as important as the practices being employed.

Fast forward several decades, and PMOs are being implemented for a myriad of reasons (and some enterprises have multiple PMOs playing a variety of roles at a range of organizational levels—as well as at differing levels of formality).

Depending upon mandate, the PMO might be the organizational home of all or a subset of project managers. They might advocate for process, or they might police standards. They might report progress and results, or coordinate the process of defining what those results should be. Some facilitate specific aspects of the process, whether chartering or lessons learned. A select but surprisingly effective few take the role of champion and storyteller, sharing the experience and accomplishments and promoting continued improvement.

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