Raw Deal for PMO Practitioners?

I think that PMO Practitioners are still getting a pretty raw deal when it comes to focus on their development. Project managers and programme managers have an abundance of books, training courses, online resources and communities that can be easily tapped into when the time is right to focus on career development activities. Unfortunately PMO practitioners are still left out in the cold. And why is this? Prehaps it is because of the fact that all PMOs are different – tailored to the individual organisation’s business or maybe it’s because we’re still navel gazing and trying to come up with a clear definition of what a PMO is or does (we’ve shot ourselves in the foot with letting PMO stand for not one thing but three – project, programme, portfolio)

Whatever the reason – there are a whole host of practitioners within the project management community – who don’t have much choice when it comes to bettering themselves or indeed getting better for the sake of their organisations.

Those of you who know me are probably aware that PMO is something I’ve been really interested in for a number of years – 11 years working for the voluntary group PPSOSIG which in turn has now become one of the Specific Interest Groups for the Association for Project Management – the PMOSIG. That’s just one of the resources available to PMO practitioners (lots of information, past presentations and newsletter) and if you’re not a member (it’s free) you should be. There’s also a LinkedIn group which is like one of those little clubs you used to set up in the summer holidays, underneath the makeshift den you made. Swapping and sharing stories and links, it’s a great little community within the vast population of project management.

There’s also resources further afield with the PMO Podcast, Gantthead do a good line in PMO content, and a handful of decent texts like the PMOSIG handbook, the Business Driven PMO and the P3O guidance

In October this year, the PMOSIG is putting together something new – PMO Masterclasses – which is an opportunity for any PMO practitioner to get down in the details of the role they perform. PMO Masterclasses is part conference, part learning and in keeping with the LinkedIn group ethos, part swapping and sharing. It will be intense but that’s the great thing about PMO practitioners, they’re really enthusiastic and passionate about what they do and even more so when they’re in packs (I like that, a pack of PMO practitioners!). If you’re interested you should come along, it’ll be great to see you there!