The Project Work Site, aka the virtual Project Management Office (PMO), is used by the project team and key project stakeholders to manage the project--it holds the project management system and contains the project management processes, guides, templates and artifacts.
How long does it take to set-up a Project Work Site?
The Project Work Site illustrated on this page was implemented to support an enterprise-wide IT program and took 1 person about 3 weeks to build.Project Work Sites can be developed using SharePoint, or Google Sites, and might integrate with products like Blogspot, SkyDrive, Google Drive, Office365, and Google Docs.
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| Project Work Site - Home Page (click to enlarge) |
What kind of information gets published to a Project Work Site?
Project managers publish all sorts of information about projects—goals, objectives, requirements, status, key stakeholders, schedules and other important information.
Project Work Sites also contain project management plans, requirements, testing and user acceptance information.
The following image illustrates a Project Work Site for a sub-project.
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| Sub-Project Work Site - Home Page (click to enlarge) |
The following 3-images illustrate the issue management module implemented to handle exceptions.
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| Issue Management Tracking (click to enlarge) |
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| Issue Management Process (click to enlarge) |
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| Issue Management Form (click to enlarge) |
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| Executive Project Status Report (click to enlarge) |
User adoption is challenging. Getting project managers and team members to up-load project artifacts using a tool-set like SharePoint requires arm twisting.
Conclusion:
The start of a project is a busy time for everyone; leveraging the Project Work Site will greatly improve communications and enhance the exchange and delivery of information to all stakeholders.
Implementing a Project Work Site Template will significantly reduce the time and cost needed to setup the virtual PMO.
Consider using a Project Work Site to increase the likelihood of delivering a successful project and having happy customers.
Note: Be careful, if the work is rushed, or if corners are cut, the effect will be felt throughout the life of the project. However, the time and effort spent must be in proportion to the size and complexity of the project.
Related articles:
- Do you use a Virtual Project Management Office?
- How to Mobilize a Project Management Office in Six Steps
- Learn How to Set-up the Project Office [Workshop]
- SoftPMO Project Management Toolkit
- SoftPMO Project Management Templates
- Use Case: What Does the Distributed Team Manager Need?
- Use Case: What Does the New Project Manager Need?
