When it comes to PMO training, PMO practitioners need to look broader than just project management training.
PMO vs. Project Management Training
Working in a PMO is very different from working as a project manager. Project Managers are responsible for achieving project objectives. The environment they operate in is temporary: by definition, projects have a start, middle, and end.
But the PMO space is different. The Project Management Office constantly has one foot in the Project Management camp and one on the strategic and operational side of the business. This calls for a broader understanding of business processes and organizational perspective, rather than a narrow focus on the PMBoK, or specific Project Management Frameworks.
People working in project offices understand that there is more to project success than demonstrating skills learned studying for PRINCE2 Practitioner or PMP.
They need to know how to enable and accelerate projects while helping the business make effective decisions on which projects and initiatives to invest in.
From PMO Administrators to PMO Directors, a broad understanding of change, financial management, information management, risk management, and reporting/insight analysis is required. And while project managers may have a good understanding of these subject areas within the project context, PMO people need to understand these subject areas within the business context.
PMO Certifications Training
If you are looking for formal certifications, three paths to consider are P3O certification from AXELOS, The IPMO series from AIPMO, and the House Of PMO accreditations accredited by APMG International.
- P3O offers two levels, foundation and practitioner certifications.
- House of PMO offers four levels for PMO Administrators, PMO Analysts, PMO Managers, and PMO Directors.
- AIPMO offers foundation, practitioner, and expert levels.
All three PMO training certification routes can be delivered in different delivery formats: classroom training or live training online in virtual classrooms. In addition, all three are available at various training locations.
Is it essential to learn Project Management Frameworks?
When it comes to delivering projects, many different frameworks can be applied. Sometimes you will see this distilled down to two choices: Agile or Waterfall. But this is a false dichotomy. There is a rich tapestry of frameworks that support the delivery of value in organizations. Scrum and Kanban are popular choices in the Agile software delivery space.
Then there are methodologies such as Prince2 and groups of principles and techniques such as those encapsulated in PMIs Project Management Body of Knowledge. Software development organizations may consider applying elements of scaled agile frameworks such as SAFe and Scrum at Scale. And for large change initiatives, approaches such as Management of Successful Programmes may be relevant.
PMO leaders should have a broad understanding of the delivery frameworks landscape. Project managers may often be directed to follow a particular framework; it is often an Enterprise level PMO team who provides that framework.
Such in-house approaches are usually derived from more than one source, and PMO professionals need to understand how to pull together tools and techniques from different delivery approaches to create models that work within the unique environment of their organizations.
When it comes to PMO training, Project frameworks are important, but they should not be the only area of focus.
The Role of the PMO required a broad set of business skills
The capabilities required in the PMO are a mix of project management skills, business skills, business analysis, and specialist knowledge of some of the project management toolsets used to accelerate delivery within the organization.
What PMO Course should I do?
If you are looking to improve your PMO maturity, there are four areas to consider:
- PMO certification: Courses such as the House of PMO Essentials program, AIPMO, and P3O provide a good understanding of how PMOs function and allow you to build on your PMO competencies.
- Project Management and Agile Delivery: studying for certifications such as the Project Management Institute’s Project Management Professional (PMP)can give a broad understanding of project management principles and techniques that will help you define standards within your organization. Studying for PMI-ACP or an agile certification such as Scrum Master may also be beneficial in software organizations.
- Technical specialism: Given the unique space in which the PMO operates, there are several specialized areas that a PMO person may choose to focus on. This includes PPM tooling, projects planning, Agile Metrics for predictability, and automation using UiPath or PowerShell.
- Parallel disciplines: Business Analysis, Finance, Procurement, Corporate Risk Management, Procurement, and Strategic planning.
A well-rounded PMO professional will typically have competencies in all four of these areas to varying degrees. For example, analysts may have a PMO foundation-level certification, specialist tool knowledge, and an understanding of business analysis techniques. A PMO Director may focus less on a technical specialism and more on parallel disciplines, as they operate with senior leadership teams across the organization.
What PMO training does HotPMO offer?
HotPMO offers online training solutions through our secure Learning Management System and in-house training for various organizations and all types of PMOs.
Our online courses are designed to be concise guides that allow PMO Professionals to come up to speed with a specific knowledge area quickly. Our most popular course is our Agile Ceremonies Explained Course. This free course gives an overview of the agile manifesto and Scrum before exploring four key meetings: Sprint planning, the daily Scrum, sprint reviews, and retrospectives.
We also offer in-house training to organizations.
These courses tend to focus on the needs of the organization. For example, these courses can be focused on developing PMO capabilities or on broader training such as upskilling the delivery organization on skills required for agile transformation or providing training on frameworks such as Kanban or SAFe.
Why learn with us?
Our HotPMO team has been in the PMO and project delivery space for over 20 years. We’ve delivered projects and programs at the coal-face and have run PMO in multiple business sectors. So we have broad experience to draw from. Whether your PMO supports traditional projects or agile delivery, we understand, and we’ve got you covered.
When you train with HotPMO, all training is delivered by hands-on PMO Practitioners.
When we’re not training, we’re practicing what we preach – working alongside organizations to improve their project management office practices and helping them accelerate the delivery of the right projects. In our courses, you learn the techniques that we use when we consult with companies – at a fraction of the price!
