Is London the best city in the world for PMO Professionals?
There are many good reasons for living in London. There is history, music, and culture. There are frequent train connections to other European hubs. And, of course, there is the shopping and nightlife. All of these are excellent benefits. But for PMO Professionals, London is more than that. London is one of the best cities in the world to develop your PMO career.
PMO training in London
London attracts some of the best PMO trainers. Whatever skills you are currently seeking, you will find regular PMO courses are running throughout the year. There are several professional certifications available that focus squarely on the development of people working in the PMO space. You will find courses in all of them running in London:
AXELOS – P3O
P3O® stands for Portfolio, Program, and Projects Offices. P3O® is a set of guidance initially published by the Office of Government Commerce, a department in the UK Government. The government created the OGC to help organizations build PMOs to support Projects, Programs, and Portfolios, respectively. AXELOS now owns the P3O® standard. AXELOS is a company owned jointly by the UK Government and Capita PLC. They also run a P3O® certification scheme at two levels: Foundation and Practitioner. You can find out more about the certification program on their site: https://www.axelos.com/certifications/p3o-certifications
BCS – PPSO
BCS is the British Computer Society. They are a chartered body that has been around for over 60 years. They offer two certifications: PPSO Essentials and PPSO Advanced Practitioner. PPSO stands for Program and Project Support Office Essentials, in case you were wondering! The Essentials certification targets entry-level candidates. The Advanced certification is aimed at the PMO Lead and experienced PMO Managers. The PPSO courses tend to focus more on setting up and managing PMOs at all levels. You can find out more about their certification program on their site: https://certifications.bcs.org/category/17909
AIPMO – IPMO
The AIPMO is a professional association for PMO leaders, managers, and staff. They offer three levels of certification and have partnered with the SBS Swiss Business School to provide academic courses both a Masters and a Doctorate. The certifications are Foundation, Practitioner, and Expert. I took the Expert course and gained the certification last Summer, so I can vouch for it being a demanding curriculum targeted at senior level PMO professionals. The session focused on the latest academic research and the tools needed to evaluate PMOs and put appropriate typologies in place. You can find out more about their certification program on their site: https://aipmo.org/certifications/
PMO training providers in London
There are a large number of PMO training providers who offer training in London. PMO Learning is a dedicated training company that is 100% focused on PMO training. They offer all of the certifications outlined above as well as specialist courses such as the Lean-Agile PMO course. Wellingtone regularly runs its proprietary courses in London, ranging from a 1-day introduction to a three-day course for PMO leaders. Axelos P3O training is widely available in London from several training providers.
London PMO Meet-ups
Are you looking to develop your PMO Network? London has you covered. The PMOFlashmob is a meet-up group that has been running London meet-ups for over seven years. Meet-ups come in a variety of formats. They publish them in advance on their website. They range from master-classes, which offer deep learning on a specific PMO topic to discussion groups. They also run pure networking events such as PMO Karaoke! While you are not required to join in the singing, PMOFlashmob is always looking for new people to join their team.
More London meet-ups for PMO managers, PMO analysts, and PMO advisors
If your PMO has a more specialist focus, there are meet-ups where you can deepen your knowledge and expand your network. London boasts regular meet-ups for project management, agile, dashboard development, project analytics, robotic process automation (RPA), and many more. Here are some of our favorites
London Project Data Analytics Meetup – a community that meets monthly to share the hottest new takes and the latest thinking on leveraging project data to improve the way we deliver the projects of the future.
Kanban Coaching Exchange – if your PMO is supporting delivery teams who have embraced Kanban, then this is a great group that regularly attracts high-caliber presenters and speakers. Sessions are usually presenter-led, with breakout groups to explore topics and meet like-minded professionals.
Digital Project Managers London – I’ve found meet-ups to be a little sporadic with this group – none for a while and then several in quick succession. But when they do get together, the conversation is excellent, and the speakers are engaging. There are many agile meet-up groups in London. Still, this one is specifically focused on project management in the digital space and maintains an agnostic outlook when it comes to agile methods and frameworks.
Developing your technical skills
Where else in the world can you deepen your technical knowledge at a Project Data hackathon? Another of the excellent benefits of being based in the city of London is that it is the home to Project Hack. Project Hack is a full-weekend hackathon suitable for anyone with an interest in exploring project data and exploring how they can utilize it to improve the future of project management. The hackathons are usually well attended by people in PMO analyst jobs, learning the latest techniques and technologies.
Hack events run quarterly and set out to achieve the following objectives:
- Explore methods and tools to transform how insights are extracted from project data.
- Enable delivery professionals to understand the predisposition of projects to specific challenges, to predict them arising, and take action to avoid the avoidable.
- Ignite the professional imagination to what can be achieved, and shape the future of project delivery.
The PMO Conference
London is the host city for the annual PMO Conference. This yearly event brings the best PMO speakers from around the world together in central London for a day that is jam-packed with actionable insight, learning, and inspiration. If you are looking for inspiration and an opportunity to mingle with some of the best PMO managers in the business, then this conference should be blocked out in your calendar before it sells out.
PMO jobs in London
Whether you are in Programme Management, or you are looking for PMO analyst jobs in London, then you are in the right place. Analyses on itjobswatch.co.uk show a buoyant market for PMO jobs, including PMO analysts, Programme Management, project management officer, project administrator, and other PMO roles in program and project offices.
While I was writing this article, specialist Project Management recruitment solutions provider Arras People had London job vacancies for permanent and contract positions for PMO Practitioners, PMO managers, and PMO advisors.
It doesn’t seem to matter which part of London you call home. PMO jobs are available in central London and the West End of London as well as further afield. When we checked, itjobswatch.co.uk was showing an increase in PMO roles in all regions of London, except for the South. While there are lots of PMO jobs in London, be warned – Londoners move fast. For every PMO analyst job in London advertised, there may be hundreds of candidates who are all fighting for that same job. You will need to move fast, network hard, and ensure your CV is in tip-top condition.
HotPMO are in London!
While our registered company address is the office of our accountancy firm up in Derby, HotPMO is based in the heart of London and offers PMO consultancy, coaching, and training services to a variety of clients across London. Whether you are in Canary Wharf, the City of London, or further afield, HotPMO is standing by and ready to help you and your PMO achieve your objectives. Book a call today and find out how we can help.
