PMI PMO of the Year Award

Purpose

The PMI PMO of the Year Award honors a PMO that has demonstrated superior organizational project management abilities by adding value to its organization through its support of successful strategic initiatives. The award recognizes a PMO that has established a vision for value delivery and has had a positive and clear impact on business results. 

Eligible

• All corporate and government PMOs.
• Enterprise PMOs as well as IT PMOs, New Product Development PMOs, or other Business Unit PMOs.
• More than one PMO from an organization may participate as the award is to the PMO, not the organization.
• The Lead Nominator does not require PMI affiliation. 

Not Eligible

• Nominations from third-parties on behalf of a PMO.
• Consulting, Training, or other third-party providers are not permitted to submit a nomination on behalf of an organization’s PMO.
• Current PMI staff, PMI contractors and/or PMI consultants are not eligible to apply for this award.
• A PMO which has previously won the PMI PMO of the Year Award. 

Number of Awards

• One winner and two finalists will be awarded annually.
• PMI reserves the right not to select any finalists or a winner for a particular year if the evaluations performed indicate that nominations do not meet the stated criteria.

Nomination

Overview

• One Lead Nominator must be designated with whom PMI will communicate regarding the nomination.  
• The Lead Nominator must be the PMO Director.
• The Lead Nominator does not require PMI affiliation.
• The Lead Nominator must submit the PMI PMO of the Year Award nomination addressing each of the criteria.
• The Lead Nominator must ensure that all information and documentation is accurately completed. 
• Review PMI General Nominations Guidelines.

Criteria

PMO Information

• Industry (Finance & Insurance, Information, Manufacturing, Professional Services, Healthcare, Education, Government, Other)
• Organization Size in number of full-time employees
• Organization Size in annual sales revenue in USD (small – less than $100 million, medium - $100 million to $1 billion, large (greater than $1 billion)
• PMO Name
• PMO Leader (Name & Title)
• PMO Size (full-time employees)
• PMO Annual Operating Budget (approximate USD)
• PMO Service Span (Enterprise, Business unit (LOB), IT, Product Development/Research & Development, Marketing, Engineering, Single Program, Single Project, Other)
• PMO Age
• PMO Organization Chart
• PMO Budget (in USD)
• Number of Projects Managed
• Average Value of Project (in USD)
• Number of Projects in/Value of Portfolio

Structure, Functions and Processes of the PMO 

• Written in a way that speaks to how the PMO is organized and operates in that these things support better performance and success.
• Things to consider:
  • Is the PMO aligned to key strategic directives of the organization? (E.g. To whom does the PMO head report? Does the PMO represent an entire business, business unit, department, other? Does the head of the PMO interact with the executive leadership team regarding key initiatives? How are the PMO’s operations funded? Does the PMO support project portfolio management function for the business/business unit? If so, please describe your PPM process for selection, balancing and management.)
  • Describe the process for continuous improvement of the PMO and the organizational project management capabilities of the organization. (e.g., What are the ongoing efforts to standardize, measure, control and improve project, program and portfolio capabilities?)
  • Describe PMO processes used for identifying, recording, and tracking the outcomes, focusing on how the benefits of the project/program are managed.
  • Explain how the PMO contributes to the operational effectiveness of the organization. This can be through efficiency gains by the PMO, or the value from the realization of benefits  (e.g. percentage improvement in key performance measures).

Talent Acquisition, Retention and Development 

• Describe existing programs for talent resourcing and career development for project/program related staff (e.g., Is there a formal career track for PMs; How is professional development encouraged through formal and informal methods?  Describe PMO roles: leadership roles, specialized roles (e.g. roles addressing change management, risk management, etc.).

PMO Accomplishment(s)

• This sections describes the main issue(s) or challenge(s) the organization has encountered in which the PMO played a significant role. 
  
  • Describe key strategic initiative(s) or challenge(s) that were critical to the business.
  • Include initial business goals and objectives in key performance indicator form where available.
  • Describe clearly and concisely the role of the PMO and how it contributed to a successful business outcome.
  • Briefly describe the PMO’s plans for the coming year and how those plans will potentially impact the organization; please provide details of one specific initiative planned for the immediate future.

Impact to the Business

• This section describes the benefits realized and impact to the business resulting from the above described initiative(s). 

• Executive sponsorship: This section should be written by or in conjunction with a representative from the business function/stakeholder impacted by described initiative. The business representative must, in their own words, attest to the value of the described initiative(s).
• Provide quantitative data to illustrate business impact in areas such as cycle time improvement, increase in customer satisfaction or retention, efficiency, income growth, cost cutting, increased profit, etc. 
• Provide information on any publications, awards, or external assessment results garnered by PMO.

General Nominations Guidelines

Permissions and Release Form

In the Event of a Successful Nomination

• The PMI Professional Awards Program Staff will send the nomination package to a designated panel of evaluators, who are subject matter experts, for evaluation.
• The nominations, evaluation process, and scores are proprietary to PMI and will not be disclosed to nominators or nominees.
• The Lead Nominator will be notified of the status of the nomination at the conclusion of the evaluation process.
• Selection and communication of nomination status must take place no later than the third quarter of the year.

In the Event of an Unsuccessful Nomination

• A new nomination package must be submitted in order for the PMO to be considered in subsequent years.