The role of the PPSO has evolved over time from humble beginnings. At one time, it may have been that an organization had embarked on a major project and decided that the project required some administrative support. A number of staff may have been seconded to the project to assist. They would probably have been released at the end of the project back to their previous administrative duties. Their duties tended to be centred on the ‘donkey work’ – the mundane, day-to-day work that the project manager perhaps lacked the time to do. Typically this would involve tasks such as taking notes at meetings and updating project plans with information from timesheets