Strategic PMO Assessment for an Energy Leader

The Challenge

A large power generation company operating across four states sought to consolidate capital project oversight under a single PMO. With complex transmission and distribution portfolios—and processes differing by project size—the organization needed expert guidance to align project governance, reporting, and resource development under one scalable structure.

Launch’s deep experience in enterprise alignment while developing PMOs within the utility industry provided a unique perspective to support the client with a PMO assessment, industry best practices, benchmarking with industry peers, and next steps. Launch's deep experience in enterprise alignment while developing PMOs within the utility industry provided a unique perspective to support the client with a PMO assessment, industry best practices, benchmarking with industry peers, and next steps.

The PMO assessment primarily focused on segment 1 and 2 projects typically valued at $20M or less, but also included elements of the broader Project Development System (PDS) framework used by the client for higher value and complexity projects (segment 3 and 4) and programs. The objective was to provide a set of pragmatic recommendations to improve performance in these areas.

The Solution

For this PMO assessment, the Launch team utilized a multi-phase approach. The intent of this approach was to understand the current state and provide industry best practices, procedures, lessons learned, and recommendations for flexible solutions to increase operating efficiencies, clarity on roles and responsibilities, and governance to manage scope, cost, and schedule performance. The overall intent was to build upon existing client best practices wherever possible.

The main inputs utilized for this PMO assessment included the following:

• ‍Stakeholder Interviews: Captured diverse perspectives from program leaders and SMEs to surface key friction points and improvement themes.
• ‍Document Review: Audited client materials—templates, guides, reports, and training—against industry standards to validate gaps and strengths.
• ‍PMO Framework Recommendations: Tailored a governance model based on project segmentation (Segment 1-4), balancing rigor with flexibility.
• ‍Standardized Forecasting & Reporting: Recommended Power BI and SharePoint-driven solutions to streamline data collection, reduce manual work, and increase access to real-time insights.
• ‍Professional Development Plan: Defined job families and competencies to support workforce growth, upskilling, and long-term PMO maturity.