(well OK, mostly the “P” part…)

All over the web you will see people asking or debating what the “P” stands for in PMO. The “MO” stands for “Management Office”, but the “P” can stand for Project, Programme or Portfolio depending on the organisational context.

Axelos use the term P3O® to cover all three, but this is also confusing as the insertion of the “3” makes many people think that the final “O” is actually a “0” (zero) rather than the “O” of “Office”.

This can of course lead to confusion, so I suggest making a small alteration to remove the ambiguity. In my own writing I use:

• PjMO = Project Management Office
• PgMO = Programme Management Office
• PfMO = Portfolio Management Office

This makes it very clear which kind of PMO we are talking about. Simples!!

What do you think?