The PMO Service Catalogue – much talked about and used, but surprisingly very little available for PMO practitioners to read about or learn.

In the last post, we looked at what the service catalogue is and how PMO practitioners use it. Now we take a look at some of the individual services.

During the PMO Flashmob session, groups of PMO Flashmobbers were asked to work on a particular service area together, choosing from either:

• A highly valued service in your organisation
• A service you wished your PMO offered
• A service you will be offering in ten years’ time.

In this post, we look at the skills, capability and capacity management function area and specifically the resource allocation service.

Resource Allocation

Resource allocation has long been one of those services that is tricky to get right but it absolutely is one of the most highly valued services a PMO can offer. I like this definition from TechTarget:

Resource allocation is the process of assigning and managing assets in a manner that supports an organization’s strategic goals.

Resource allocation includes managing tangible assets such as hardware to make the best use of softer assets such as human capital. Resource allocation involves balancing competing needs and priorities and determining the most effective course of action in order to maximize the effective use of limited resources and gain the best return on investment.

The task for the evening was to chat, exchange ideas, and have a crack at completing the PMO service template.

Here’s how they got on:

Service Description

A multi-horizon resource matching and planning service to align with known demand.

Why is the Service Offered to the Customer

Projects need resources – they need resources when they need them and they need the right resources in place. It is the Project Manager who is the clear customer for this service.

What the Service Provides for the Customer

The ability to request and receive resources when required. From a bigger perspective – the organisation as a customer – the need to have resource optimisation across the portfolio.

Criteria for When the Service Should be Offered

It’s a heartbeat service – it’s a regular weekly service. A project manager requests resources by what kind of skill is required; when they are required and for how long.

How the PMO Will Measure the Value of This Service

• The correct resource at the correct time – driven by feedback
• Resource utilisation figures
• Resource escalations

Note – the group found this part the most difficult to determine.

Skills/Knowledge Required

In terms of knowledge, you need to know who your people are and what they can do – understanding competency profiles by individuals.

You also need to understand future demand for resources and future trends – so the PMO can get people on board earlier rather than too late.

Skills required include planning, analysis and negotiation. Negotiation being the biggest one.

The clear outcome for this particular team was the difficulty in choosing ways to measure the value of the service. If you’ve not already seen the Inside PMO Report about KPIs, Metrics and Measures, [you might find it useful to download and have a read.]

The one-pager below also gives some examples of metrics and measures around PMO services.