What do you think?
Rate this book
PMO Governance: Practical Strategies to Govern Portfolio, Program, and Project Delivery
A practical guide to maximize your benefits, and improve delivery of your corporate strategy!
To stay competitive, companies need not only forward-thinking vision, but to effectively execute that vision.
In this book, Eugen Spivak focuses on excellence in execution of corporate initiatives and serves as a strategic partner for establishing, improving, and running world-class PMO.
The book is written from a business-transformation perspective, offering an abundance of specific recommendations, extraordinarily practical tips, and effective advice on establishing and improving Project Management Office. In addition to counsel on the setup of PMO, the book features real-world examples extracted from the more than a hundred initiatives Eugen has carried out. Further, the book highlights the practical tips on how to improve delivery of portfolios, programs, and projects, and thus offers a range of time-tested best practices for managing portfolios, programs, and projects.
Using PMO Governance as a guide, you will receive:
• Proven techniques to improve execution of your corporate strategy.
• An effective approach for streamlining decision-making, transparency, and oversight.
• Proactive insights about all the areas that make PMO successful.
• Handy tips for how to spot delivery problems and what to do about them.
• Efficient techniques for better running your portfolios, programs, and projects.
• Guidelines to managing different types of programs and projects, including megaprojects.
• Practical recommendations for making you a more effective leader.
By applying principles in this book, your organization will improve maturity of its governance and achieve more desired performance results for the portfolio of program and projects it runs.
To stay competitive, companies need not only forward-thinking vision, but to effectively execute that vision.
In this book, Eugen Spivak focuses on excellence in execution of corporate initiatives and serves as a strategic partner for establishing, improving, and running world-class PMO.
The book is written from a business-transformation perspective, offering an abundance of specific recommendations, extraordinarily practical tips, and effective advice on establishing and improving Project Management Office. In addition to counsel on the setup of PMO, the book features real-world examples extracted from the more than a hundred initiatives Eugen has carried out. Further, the book highlights the practical tips on how to improve delivery of portfolios, programs, and projects, and thus offers a range of time-tested best practices for managing portfolios, programs, and projects.
Using PMO Governance as a guide, you will receive:
• Proven techniques to improve execution of your corporate strategy.
• An effective approach for streamlining decision-making, transparency, and oversight.
• Proactive insights about all the areas that make PMO successful.
• Handy tips for how to spot delivery problems and what to do about them.
• Efficient techniques for better running your portfolios, programs, and projects.
• Guidelines to managing different types of programs and projects, including megaprojects.
• Practical recommendations for making you a more effective leader.
By applying principles in this book, your organization will improve maturity of its governance and achieve more desired performance results for the portfolio of program and projects it runs.
- GenresBusinessNonfiction
270 pages, Hardcover
Published July 30, 2019
9 people are currently reading
841 people want to read
About the author
Eugen Spivak
1 book3 followersEugen Spivak is a multi-award-winning author, and a recognized expert in corporate governance, management consulting, and executive coaching.
During his career, Eugen has managed more than a hundred portfolios, programs, and projects and recovered stalled programs for clients in more than a dozen industries. He has successfully delivered large-scale digital transformation, business transformation, corporate governance, regulatory, compliance, audit remediation, and cybersecurity initiatives with global impacts.
Eugen is a fellow of the Association of Management Experts. He has an MBA, and a number of leading industry designations covering corporate governance, IT governance, program and project management, audit, risk management and change management.
To find out more about Eugen, visit www.eugenspivak.com
During his career, Eugen has managed more than a hundred portfolios, programs, and projects and recovered stalled programs for clients in more than a dozen industries. He has successfully delivered large-scale digital transformation, business transformation, corporate governance, regulatory, compliance, audit remediation, and cybersecurity initiatives with global impacts.
Eugen is a fellow of the Association of Management Experts. He has an MBA, and a number of leading industry designations covering corporate governance, IT governance, program and project management, audit, risk management and change management.
To find out more about Eugen, visit www.eugenspivak.com
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 16, 2020
Reviewed by Sheri Hoyte for Reader Views (02/2020)
“PMO Governance” by Eugen Spivak is a practical guide for creating, improving and running an effective Project Management Office (PMO). It’s an across-the-board strategic guide with specific methods and recommendations to help you succeed. From those who’ve never heard of PMO to those looking to optimize their current strategies, this book provides techniques you can actually use!
The author does an excellent job breaking the subject down into an informative, well-written guide with tips that are easy to understand and follow. A novice will effortlessly comprehend the material, and this actually one of the most valuable aspects of this book – sure to differentiate it from other books on the subject. I found it refreshing that Spivak does not assume the reader already knows everything (or even anything in some cases). Instead of diving right into the action items, he devotes the entire first chapter to a discussion about what a PMO is, why you need it, and the differences in what a small business might implement compared to a medium or large business. In other words, he starts at the beginning! And, while this may sound like a common sense approach, many books of this nature assume the reader is already an expert, which is not often the case.
From there Spivak dives into the specifics, and the amount of information packed into this modest volume is substantial. But not to worry, in addition to providing thorough and precise detail throughout, Spivak includes Keynotes at the end of each chapter for easy reference and application. Clear, practical advice is found on every page and it’s a book full of golden nuggets. Pay close attention to the bold text – Spivak uses this simple font characteristic to bring items to the forefront that you don’t want to, and can’t afford to, miss. It’s the attention to little details like this that demonstrate the author’s intense passion for his work and his commitment to helping the reader succeed.
It's also important to note that the information provided is not speculative, but actual real-life examples of what works, based on the author’s experience and expertise in working with hundreds of clients over the course of several decades. Readers can take what they learn even deeper by obtaining an assessment of their management processes on the author’s website. “PMO Governance” by Eugen Spivak is highly recommended reading.
“PMO Governance” by Eugen Spivak is a practical guide for creating, improving and running an effective Project Management Office (PMO). It’s an across-the-board strategic guide with specific methods and recommendations to help you succeed. From those who’ve never heard of PMO to those looking to optimize their current strategies, this book provides techniques you can actually use!
The author does an excellent job breaking the subject down into an informative, well-written guide with tips that are easy to understand and follow. A novice will effortlessly comprehend the material, and this actually one of the most valuable aspects of this book – sure to differentiate it from other books on the subject. I found it refreshing that Spivak does not assume the reader already knows everything (or even anything in some cases). Instead of diving right into the action items, he devotes the entire first chapter to a discussion about what a PMO is, why you need it, and the differences in what a small business might implement compared to a medium or large business. In other words, he starts at the beginning! And, while this may sound like a common sense approach, many books of this nature assume the reader is already an expert, which is not often the case.
From there Spivak dives into the specifics, and the amount of information packed into this modest volume is substantial. But not to worry, in addition to providing thorough and precise detail throughout, Spivak includes Keynotes at the end of each chapter for easy reference and application. Clear, practical advice is found on every page and it’s a book full of golden nuggets. Pay close attention to the bold text – Spivak uses this simple font characteristic to bring items to the forefront that you don’t want to, and can’t afford to, miss. It’s the attention to little details like this that demonstrate the author’s intense passion for his work and his commitment to helping the reader succeed.
It's also important to note that the information provided is not speculative, but actual real-life examples of what works, based on the author’s experience and expertise in working with hundreds of clients over the course of several decades. Readers can take what they learn even deeper by obtaining an assessment of their management processes on the author’s website. “PMO Governance” by Eugen Spivak is highly recommended reading.
December 1, 2022
nice book
or better I should say, insightful book
i had no idea what PMO even mean, I picked it up thinking it was about product management...
anyways learned a thing or two although definitely this is not a 5 stars book
quite a dry read, took me multiple weeks to finish
i still do not understand why throughout the book the term "PMO", by definition an "office" of people containing a "portfolio manager" is used interchangeably as a synonym for "portfolio manager"
I also still don't understand what the heck is the difference between "project" and "program" or between "program " and "portfolio " and what are the differences in managing them
but anyways maybe that's just me being too picky 🧐
but I definitely feel a bit betrayed by the crazy high score. I guess lots of people are bamboozled by the book and can't really judge what they have read (I challenge you to summarize the content in a few sentences really) and so let's just go with a 5 star!
meh, stil recommended to anyone that has to manage projects, although don't expect to understand much about the real world implications and examples
there will be lots of usel Project and people management insight so that's why it is still worth 4 stars
or better I should say, insightful book
i had no idea what PMO even mean, I picked it up thinking it was about product management...
anyways learned a thing or two although definitely this is not a 5 stars book
quite a dry read, took me multiple weeks to finish
i still do not understand why throughout the book the term "PMO", by definition an "office" of people containing a "portfolio manager" is used interchangeably as a synonym for "portfolio manager"
I also still don't understand what the heck is the difference between "project" and "program" or between "program " and "portfolio " and what are the differences in managing them
but anyways maybe that's just me being too picky 🧐
but I definitely feel a bit betrayed by the crazy high score. I guess lots of people are bamboozled by the book and can't really judge what they have read (I challenge you to summarize the content in a few sentences really) and so let's just go with a 5 star!
meh, stil recommended to anyone that has to manage projects, although don't expect to understand much about the real world implications and examples
there will be lots of usel Project and people management insight so that's why it is still worth 4 stars
October 2, 2019
The book PMO Governance "Practical Strategies to Govern Portfolio, Program, and Project Delivery" by author Eugen Spivak introduces you to the principles of effective project governance, and the roles and responsibilities of the project board, the project sponsor, the project manager and the Project Management Office.
A PMO may provide a range of services, and these need to be agreed and understood by all the project stakeholders. As for all governance within organisations, effective communication is very important and is a key skills for all project managers. This book topics, such as the different types of PMO and the types and variety of services that they may provide, will enable you to reflect on your own experience of project management administration and support, and identify possible improvements.
In this book the author Eugen Spivak provides a vehicle for information gathering and reporting to all stakeholders. It also facilitates consistent, standardized and transparent reporting.
This promotes nibble status updates on productivity as well as communicates and addresses stakeholder expectations.
To encourage the sharing of good practice between the PMO and project managers the author Eugen Spivak is investing in the creation of the project governance
The author Eugen Spivak defines and clearly articulates the following four key benefits of project governance:
• Single point of accountability;
• Outlines roles, responsibility and relationships among project stakeholders;
• Issue management and resolution; and
• Information dissemination and transparent communication.
This mandates clarity and fosters consistency to focus on more strategic areas of your business.
Starting a PMO can drastically change your project landscape for the better. By applying author's Eugen Spivak PMO Guidelines and Best Practices (Chapter 9, pages:161-208) with your PMO, projects are much more likely to be implemented on time, and within budget. This means that the cost per project decreases and fewer projects fail in your organization. And you get a successful PMO within your business.
A PMO may provide a range of services, and these need to be agreed and understood by all the project stakeholders. As for all governance within organisations, effective communication is very important and is a key skills for all project managers. This book topics, such as the different types of PMO and the types and variety of services that they may provide, will enable you to reflect on your own experience of project management administration and support, and identify possible improvements.
In this book the author Eugen Spivak provides a vehicle for information gathering and reporting to all stakeholders. It also facilitates consistent, standardized and transparent reporting.
This promotes nibble status updates on productivity as well as communicates and addresses stakeholder expectations.
To encourage the sharing of good practice between the PMO and project managers the author Eugen Spivak is investing in the creation of the project governance
The author Eugen Spivak defines and clearly articulates the following four key benefits of project governance:
• Single point of accountability;
• Outlines roles, responsibility and relationships among project stakeholders;
• Issue management and resolution; and
• Information dissemination and transparent communication.
This mandates clarity and fosters consistency to focus on more strategic areas of your business.
Starting a PMO can drastically change your project landscape for the better. By applying author's Eugen Spivak PMO Guidelines and Best Practices (Chapter 9, pages:161-208) with your PMO, projects are much more likely to be implemented on time, and within budget. This means that the cost per project decreases and fewer projects fail in your organization. And you get a successful PMO within your business.
August 28, 2019
Excellent book!
September 2, 2019
Must read for any corporate executive!
October 2, 2019
Five stars - to the point. No BS. Actionable and extremely practical insights that I will apply right away.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews