I just read Forrester's Margo Visitacion's latest paper: "The PMO in An Agile World: Can't We All Just Get Along?" http://bit.ly/rpw1R8 As usual, Margo is right on target with some great insights and recommendations.

Margo does a great job of breaking down the long-standing problem of project manager being stuck between developers seeking to meet the needs of their project stakeholders and customers and PMOs that must satisfy multiple sets of stakeholders. She notes how PMOs continue to favor the PMI PMBOK (Project Management Institute's Project Management Body of Knowledge) while questioning or not fully understanding Agile practices. Forrester recently conducted a survey showing that 76% of PMOs focused on PMBOK methodology development, while only 33% focused on scrum/Agile/Lean processes. (Even more surprising was that only 40% of PMOs focused on waterfall development methodology).

Margo goes on to recommend that PMOs update their industry practices (such as Agile) and listen to developers. These are great recommendations and thankfully, there is a wealth of information and solutions available to help PMOs do so. If your PMO needs to get up to speed on Agile, here are a couple of links that provide a great start:

• This is a link to a very short and simple Agile tutorial video my company produced: http://bit.ly/p7WSrC
• Here is another link to a very comprehensive overview of Agile. You will need to register, but it is free and worthwhile: http://bit.ly/r7Nk0w
• Agile for Dummies eBook (free copy sponsored by CA Technologies) http://bit.ly/pNqylV

Margo Visitacion goes on to discuss two more problems in her latest work: the lack of trust between the PMO and Project Managers; and PMOs are too busy to be strategic. Though I don't believe these problems are a result of the onset of Agile development, they are most certainly exacerbated by it. I have long contended PMOs need to transform themselves from ‘paper pushers' and ‘process police' to ‘participants in enterprise success.' Here is a link to a webcast recording of my PMO presentation. It is not my latest (which includes the need for PMOs to learn and support Agile methodology), but contains 99% of what I would deliver to your organization if I visited you today. http://bit.ly/iINata

I hope these resources help you and your PMO get up to speed. The Agile-train is racing down the tracks and you will need to get on board.

Steve Romero, IT Governance Evangelist