PMO Masterclasses

A couple of weeks ago in the West Midlands a posse of PMO professionals got together for a 2 day, well let’s call it a binge, of PMO-ness. The APM PMOSIG autumn conferences tend to be very unconference like and this October was no different. The theme first of all, was centred around the latest Body of Knowledge release from the APM. In essence, this guide is used as a signpost for other reading materials on anything and everything project management – and in the new release a focus on programme management and portfolio management too. The release of the new BoK was met both positively and negatively by those working within the PMO space (you can read through exactly what they thought through their newsletter) but realistically the PMO crew are not one to stand around navel gazing and procrastinating too much. Bottom line is, the PMO and the concept, the structure, the services it should and shouldn’t do etc are all still in its infancy in the project management world so if the PMO professionals really want to make an impact it’s time to knuckle down.

The conference specifically focused on key areas of the BoK; budgeting / cost control; risk management; stakeholder management; benefits management; resource scheduling; communities of practice; life cycle; and knowledge management. In other words, the PMO professionals wanted to take each area in turn and start to create their own BoK specifically from a PMO point of view. So for example a project manager or programme manager may have their own take on stakeholder management but the question for the PMO is – what do WE need to do in this area? That could be anything – a process, a template, tools, training support, facilitation etc etc.For each session, focus was given on what skills do the PMO need?; what knowledge is required? and what behaviours do they need to exhibit? There was also attention given to the challenges not only the PMO would face but also other stakeholders.

To give you an idea about what some of the outcomes were, I particularly liked the idea of how can we help project managers get better at stakeholder management – what could the PMO do to help get stakeholder management ingrained in the project lifecycle rather than something which is deemed as a once off activity at the beginning of the project or something we do when someone is not happy! One idea was to look at the project lifecycle – each organisation’s lifecycle may differ but essentially we’re talking about initiation-planning-delivery-close. The PMO could then look at all the lifecycle in relation to stakeholder touch points – and for each touchpoint it could provide for example some support or materials to assist the project manager. Materials could be provided specifically in relation to ‘stakeholder management’ techniques as well as signposts to additional training in say conflict management.

The outcomes from each session – which was run multiple times through the two days – will eventually help to create a Body of Knowledge Plus. In other words, tangible assets that can be used by others. And this is what the PMO world is specifically crying out for. The APM PMOSIG conferences are not just about presenting to a bunch of people – it’s about harnessing the power of the collective group to help bring about change in the position of the PMO professionals within project management. For a long time they’ve been called the project police, poking their noses where they’re not wanted but really these people want to help their organisations do projects better and in a lot of cases they’re ideally placed to do that. The vibe at this autumn’s conference was definitely, “PMO professionals are doing it for themselves…”

You can also read through the tweets from throughout the two days at the conference – here and here

To find out more about the APM PMO SIG and the events they have running up to Christmas, take a look at the website