As the business world focuses on getting the most out of every dollar, departments are forced to focus on project delivery. Project Management Offices (PMOs) help provide management with the discipline needed to accomplish projects with fast and efficient turn-around. Some companies stray from PMOs, worried they will slow the process down, but here are seven ways that they can really help.

Pairing Talent and Time Management

If you have employees that are excellent at time management, then it is unlikely you would even be reading this article. The truth is, those who are really insightful and innovative are not usually as concerned about time constraints and productivity levels. Some may acknowledge that they want a lot of time to brainstorm and perfect their ideas, but others are delusional about how slowly they really go.

A great way for a small company to have its cake and eat it too, is to hire someone to watch the clock and set the deadlines. Having a PMO in charge means that you can hire talent for talent’s sake and not worry as much about an employee’s ability to self-manage at the same time.

Offering External Consulting and Mentoring

A PMO will provide the outside expertise that is invaluable to a small company. Small businesses can sometimes struggle with a narrow perspective due to the small number of employees bringing knowledge and ideas to the table. A PMO offers a different perspective that can help a business grow and establish better practices.

Providing Your Company With Accuracy and Insight

The point of a PMO is not to reduce costs and projects, though this may very well happen, but to give you a realistic picture of what is happening within your business. A PMO will help bridge the gap between employee ability and management expectations. The first step toward improving your process is understanding it realistically and objectively.

Giving Direction and Focus to Your Employees

PMOs will help your company look at projects and personnel to see where attention should be focused to boost productivity. Employees should not bounce around from project to project, yet this often happens in small companies with no clear priority list. A PMO will help a company focus on specific projects, avoiding the multitasking problem that often plagues small businesses and undercuts productivity levels.

Reducing the Small Tasks

Within any company, there are often unnecessary tasks and redundancies that get overlooked. While these tasks might seem like a drop in the bucket, reducing them can have a huge impact on company productivity. A PMO will look at every task for each employee and then narrow the focus to a manageable level. Not only does this help improve productivity, but it helps boost morale by reducing the stress caused by unnecessary busy work.

Improving Customer Satisfaction

Of course, if a company is better at getting projects done quickly and focusing fully on the client needs, then the customers are going to be happier. Project Management Offices such as Ruota Consulting help shift the focus toward clients and away from small, distracting tasks.

Working Outside the Box

One of the best aspects of a PMO is that it is not bound by “the way things are done.” A PMO looks for innovative ways to solve the problems your company faces. If your company needs better communication, improved agility, better deadline responsibility, or anything else, a PMO will help find the solution to each problem. This method can face resistance from project stakeholders who want to approach business in a prescribed way, but the external perspective is helpful for companies who can’t afford to stay trapped in a rut of habit.

At the end of the day, a business needs to decide if it is willing to do what it takes to get ahead in its industry. Hiring a consultant or Project Management Office that really helps the company requires finding one that is a good fit, offering direction that isn’t too strict or bureaucratic.