Abstract
Project management offices (PMOs) are established to support organisations in realising their strategic
objectives by aligning project initiatives with organisational goals. This is achieved through standardising their
project management (PM) practices, methodologies, tools and techniques. While PMOs can be beneficial,
indications are that many organisations struggle to set them up optimally. Consequently, this study investigated
the unique challenges encountered when setting up and managing PMOs at South African parastatals, and how
those challenges were prioritised and overcome.
The study followed an in-depth interview method were qualifying participants were identified and asked to
participate in the research. It was found that the people and organisation-related challenges contributed to the six
topmost challenges encountered when establishing and managing PMOs at the South African parastatals.
In general, the study contributed to the limited body of knowledge relating to the PMO topic in South Africa.
Moreover, the study provided an alternative and practical guideline for the PMO establishment and management
processes. This will benefit the parastatals with established PMOs as they can utilise the setup model as a
guideline to re-engineer their existing PMO processes. In addition, the PMO establishment guideline was
developed, especially, for those parastatals without a PMO, but wanting to establish one.