What is a PMO?

A PMO is a Project Management Office. It’s a function within an organization that defines the standards for project management. And it can do a whole lot more than that too.

The main purpose of a PMO is to make sure that projects and programs are run in a repeatable, standardized way. But how does a PMO actually do that? And what does the PMO team do all day?

What Are The Functions of a PMO?

A PMO is the backbone of a successful project management approach at an organization. It is a function that provides decision support information, although it doesn’t make any decisions itself.

A PMO underpins the project delivery mechanisms by ensuring that all business change in an organization is managed in a controlled way. PMOs have a range of functions, and the services they offer often depend on the maturity of the department and the skills of the people working in the PMO.

At a very basic level, the PMO supports the project management teams, and the people make decisions about funding, prioritization and resourcing.

The most mature PMOs provide:

• Governance. The PMO ensures that decisions are taken by the right people, based on the right information. The governance role can also include audits or peer reviews, developing project and program structures and ensuring accountability at all levels.
• Transparency. The PMO is responsible for providing information and being the single source of the truth. Information should be relevant and accurate to support effective decision-making, and provided to people in a way they can understand.
• Reusability. The PMO facilitates the sharing of knowledge. This stops project teams from reinventing the wheel and makes the PMO the central point for lessons learned, templates and best practice.
• Delivery support. The PMO makes it easy for project teams to do their jobs by reducing bureaucracy, providing training, coaching, mentoring and quality assurance.
• Traceability. The PMO provides the function for managing documentation, project history and organizational knowledge.

In reality, most PMOs will do a blend of activities, and provide a range of services tailored to the needs of the organization.

So what does that actually mean in practice? PMO teams fulfil a variety of functions on a day-to-day basis including:

• Gathering data about project progress and producing reports
• Developing standards and processes
• Encouraging (or enforcing where necessary) the use of those standards and processes
• Managing resources for projects
• Delivering training and mentoring project team members
• Managing dependencies across multiple projects
• Tracking and managing project benefits
• Reporting on financial information such as return on investment.

4 Basic type of training services we offer PMOs

1. Advanced Communication Skills

A big part of the PMO job is about communication. The PMO becomes the hub of program and project activity. They are working with so many different people within the business (and outside it if the PMO supports client activity too), people who interact with the PMO in so many different ways. The diversity of people the PMO works with means communication skills are crucial, yet many PMO people have not looked into how formal development could boost their skills and ultimately their career.

One of the key aspects of communication for the PMO is communicating upwards. As much as we don’t like the thought of the PMO being at the bottom of the hierarchy in a project organisation, the reality for many is that is exactly how they are perceived. We often hear from the mouths of PMO people, “We need to sell the PMO better to senior stakeholders….”. If that is the case, communicating upwards is going to be key when interacting with these stakeholders.

That’s why advanced training in something – anything – communication related takes the top slot in this article. We can be the best PMO in the world process wise but the reality is a lot of the day-to-day work is all about communication.

2. Coaching and/or Mentoring

The vast majority of PMO people, if they are performing ‘coaching & mentoring’ today, are generally just carrying out mentoring. Mentoring, in a simple definition, is a relationship where advice is given or a solution is suggested. The mentor is someone who has the experience and has ‘been there and done it.’ We see this mentoring in a PMO a lot when there is a new starter, perhaps a new project manager needs help and guidance around the organisation’s method and processes. The PMO is absolutely well placed to provide advice on the best practices and processes.

Coaching on the other hand is not about giving directed advice or solutions. It is about asking open questions with a coachee, helping them to find their own answers. Coaching helps build confidence through a series of conversations. It is generally said that the coach does not need to know about the details of a person’s role, or in this case, the details of how to manage a project.

The biggest objection to the PMO providing mentoring and coaching from those in the wider community is that they don’t believe the PMO has enough experience in project management to do so. That’s where PMO Advisory steps in.

3. Negotiating Skills

It stands to reason that boosting communication skills of any kind are going to stand anyone in good stead regardless of the role you perform. In project management, the key players are often seasoned professionals with many years of delivering projects and managing & leading people. Their behavioural skills are often much more advanced than the average worker in an organisation, after all they are used to conflicts, juggling priorities, getting people to do what they want them to do and so on.

For people working within a PMO it should also make sense that they need to develop their own professional behaviours too, after all, they are working with senior people in the business every day, the way they interact with these people are crucial.

Negotiation skills are just one of the many, often dubbed ‘softer skills’, that help to develop professional behaviours which in turn help to do the job more successfully. PMO people, by and large, do not invest in their professional behaviours development. Alongside negotiation I would also include influencing, problem-solving, managing people for non-managers, facilitation skills and building relationships.

4. Process Work

Another key area of work for the PMO is process development or process improvement. We see it a lot on a job description. It often means that a PMO should be able to change, adapt or start afresh with a project management process that is no longer delivering the right results or behaviours. This type of work in reality is often done in an ad-hoc way and again that is due to the lack of real training and development in carrying out this kind of work.  Again, this is where PMO Advisory steps in.

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Employee Training on Project, Program, and Portfolio Management and Strategy

Achieving success in business execution is the number one concern facing all organizations, regardless of their type, size, geography, or industry. The challenges are many, but the opportunities are also great.  PMO Advisory has spearheaded this field of strategic business execution (SBE) by providing a comprehensive series of courses that span across project management to organizational change. As a Project Management Institute Global Registered Education Provider (PMI R.E.P.), PMO Advisory enables organizations to attain superior execution with our high power course series and the associated PMI certification boot camps including the following:

1. Project Management (including boot camps for PMI’s CAPM® and PMP® certifications)
2. Agile Project Management (including boot camps for PMI-ACP® certification)
3. Program Management (including boot camps for PgMP® certification)
4. Portfolio Management (including boot camps for PfMP® certification)
5. Risk Management (including boot camps for PMI-RMP® certification)
6. Project Management Office (PMO)
7. Organizational Change Management (OCM)
8. Strategic Business Execution (SBE)

Plus many other related courses such as Strategic Planning, Leadership. Communication, Negotiation, Emotional Intelligence courses. Our courses are closely aligned with the PMI and International Standard Organization (our CEO, Dr. Te Wu, is a US Delegate with the ISO Technical Committee 258).  As a full-service firm, we provide the following services to our institutional customers:

1. Expert-led course offerings, including custom development targeting to address your specific needs
2. Condensed live-virtual series (such as our “Sixty Minutes Series”) on highly popular topics designed to promote learning and application
3. Tailored information sessions, not only about the course offerings but also making a compelling case of how project management will enhance individuals and teams
4. Multi-delivery methods and platform including onsite, real-time and live virtual, and hybrid learning with elearning components
5. World-class instructors, highly experienced, and certified in their respective area of focus
6. Free employee access to our monthly webinars (earning free PDUs for PMP certified employees)
7. Global reach, including offering courses in Spanish, French, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and other languages
8. Dedicated client management, including a dedicated client manager, organizational-specific webpage and email for easy communication.

Aligning Employees with Corporate Strategy

The 30,000 foot view on how we serve organizations is by training employees so a global workforce successfully establishes a  “strategy execution environment”.  Specifically, through education and training on the frameworks and principles of Project Management, we move all employees toward organizational goals and align all employees with the defined executive vision.

We serve clients with global projects and programs;  global teams, communication, organizations, that need collaborative training to achieve uniformed coherency across the organization.  All training emphasis is live, instructor led, LMS (learning management system) neutral, and designed to manage the challenges of cross-cultural communication, virtual organizations, skewed time zones, multiple languages, and collaboration across locations.

PMO Advisory can deliver a single course or an entire curriculum to your team or organization in a private format – at your location, at or at our training center in Cedar Grove, New Jersey, or online in a live virtual classroom format.    We enable you to enhance your team’s effectiveness and boost productivity with instructor-led training customized to suit a range of cultures and languages.  We know that integrating lessons learned from training into daily work flow can be a challenging process.  Because we understand that there can be a variety of barriers to implementation, we have dedicated trainers who can be onsite – or on call – to assist and coach your project/program managers on overcoming all obstacles – on-demand.

While research has documented the importance of strategy execution in creating corporate value, time and money spent on strategic planning is wasted unless the organization establishes an implementation process educating all employees on their role and responsibilities in the adoption of strategy.  A prerequisite for implementing strategy is that all employees understand the strategy and thus a consistent and continuing education and training program is the foundation for organizational alignment.

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Intelicamp

(Online Live Virtual Classroom)

Even though learning is a common experience shared by everyone, adults especially professionals learn differently. This article describes five key differences and its implications on training designs. To address these implications and to determine an optimal approach to maximize learning effectiveness, PMO Advisory created Intelicamp, a blended learning approach that includes a combination of real-time instructor led training, independent learning, eLearning, and multiple modes of practice tests that are delivered in a modular and agile way. Collectively, these innovative approaches maximize the learning experience and achieve the target objectives.

Conclusion

PMO Advisory designed the Intelicamp, especially for busy professionals. By limiting the real-time portion of the course to just twelve hours, four hours per week for three hours, even the busiest of professionals can find time to take the course.  The real-time courses are excellent mechanisms for professionals to ask questions, engage the expert instructors and network with others. Then, in their own time and space, learners can leverage the extensive elearning, books, and other learning materials (depending on the exact bootcamp) to further and deepen their learning.  Most importantly, all of our bootcamps come with extensive practice questions that enable the learners to have clear feedback on their progress. By utilizing this combination of best practices for professional and adult learning, PMO Advisory has achieved and maintained the near impossible – 100% pass rate on the first try – by following our simple rule of “passing at 85% in the exam mode twice in 7 days and the exam in 7 days”.

If you’re considering earning a PMI Certification while balancing full-time work, family obligations and other responsibilities, you’re probably wondering how you’ll find time to effectively prepare, mindful of the required logistics coupled with being pressed for time.  Blended (sometimes called hybrid) instruction has between 30 and 80 percent of the course content delivered online with face-to-face interaction – something achieved in our Intelicamp program virtually using Zoom (online video conferencing platform). With our intelicamp course format, busy working professionals don’t have to travel anywhere, they can simply log in to the virtual live classroom from the comfort of their own home or office.

If you’re considering our Intelicamp course, note in 2010, the U.S. Department of Education released a meta-analysis and review of empirical studies focused on online learning. Their findings revealed that “students in online conditions performed modestly better, on average, than those learning the same material through traditional face-to-face instruction” (p. xvi). In addition, they reported that blended instruction combining online and face-to-face elements had a larger advantage than purely online instruction (Means, Toyama, Murphy, Bakia & Jones, 2010).

Our Intelicamp course is an interactive, supportive, and collaborative learning environment that offers the potential for you to have an effective learning experience on par with our in-person bootcamp, and for some people, it can be superior especially when convenience is factored in.

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Certified Associate in Project Management, CAPM

Since its introduction in 2003, the Certified Associate in Project Management® has opened the door to an exciting career in project management for nearly 38,000 people. Attaining the entry-level CAPM certification shows your capability to work as part of a project team, with demonstrable knowledge of project management best practices.

CAPM certification is a valuable entry-level certification for project managers, established by the Project Management Institute, and displays a commitment to the profession of project management. It ensures that the certified individual has the fundamental knowledge of project management and its associated processes. CAPM certification is awarded to professionals who qualify in the CAPM certification exam that is based on PMBOK® Guide – Sixth Edition and demonstrate a professionals knowledge and experience in project management. This certification is valid across industries and is recognized worldwide.

Blended Online CAPM Bootcamp

PMO Advisory created a highly effective and cost-efficient solution for professionals wishing to pursue the CAPM certification. It combines our knowledge and expertise with one of the largest practice exam simulators. More importantly, the course also provides real-time guidance from our PMP certified instructors to address any questions. Key features include:
20+ hours of videos, across 70+ video clips
4-6 hours of access to PMP certified instructors, in real-time
2,400+ practice questions in our CAPM Exam Simulator
Email support for 60, 180, or 365 days (depending on the tier)

Course Objectives

• Prepare to pass the CAPM exam while completing the required 23 contact hours/PDUs
• Decipher PMBOK^® Guide – Sixth Edition  processes and knowledge areas
• Identify significant steps of the project life cycle
• Examine the PMBOK^® Guide – Sixth Edition  tools and techniques for exam success
• Become familiar with the concepts and methodologies outlined in the PMBOK^® Guide – Sixth Edition
• Gain confidence with CAPM exam sample questions and answers
• Understanding of the CAPM exam application process
• Develop an effective study plan to help you prepare for your CAPM exam
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Project Management Professional, PMP

Project Management Professional^® certification established by the Project Management Institute, is one of the most valued and respected credentials in project management.  In today’s intensely competitive workplace, the PMP certification sets the standard and quickly highlights your ability and experience. The PMP credential is specifically designed to be an unbiased endorsement of your experience, competence and ability in leading project teams.  If you’re a project manager with a minimum of 2-3 years of experience and you want to solidify your skills, stand out among your peers, as well as maximize your career security and earning potential, then attending our PMP Boot Camp is the right choice.  By earning the PMP Certification credential, you will demonstrate that you are dedicated to career excellence and are capable of performing at the highest level in the field of project management.

Benefits of PMP Certification

• Globally recognized and respected certification. With a 12% increase in PMP and CAPM^® certifications every year, this is the industry standard for Project Managers.
• PMP certification recognizes your expertise in Project Management. PMP certification shows current and potential employers that you have a solid foundation of project management knowledge.
• You will be a member of one of the most prestigious professional groups. By attaining the PMP certification, your name will be included in the largest and most prestigious group of certified project management professionals.
• Better salary. Project Managers with PMP certification earn a higher salary than those who do not have the certification.
• Better job opportunities. Requirements for qualified Project Managers expected to increase in the future. This means the job market for PMP Certified managers will get better.
• Globally recognized by leading companies: The PMP certification is endorsed by leading companies. In fact, they encourage their Project Managers to have the PMP certification.
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Risk Management Training, PMI-RMP

“Risk management is the discipline of managing known unknowns and unknown unknowns. This important function should be performed on all projects, but often professionals are unsure how to do so effectively. Risk Management is an essential component of planning and is vital to the execution of all projects, programs, and portfolios, whether small or large,” states Te Wu, CEO of PMO Advisory.  “The central question becomes how can project professionals manage risks effectively, complete projects successfully, and deliver intended goals?”  The prime directive for project risk management is to minimize unknowns, more commonly called surprises. This is true whether the surprises are positive or negative, known or unknown. In today’s large scale, complex projects, risks occur frequently. When managed poorly, risks can endanger projects, often silently, until the threats materialize. The differences between good and great project managers often lie in their abilities to exploit positive risks (or opportunities) while minimizing negative risks (or threats).

At its core the word risk within project management  refers to future conditions or circumstances that exist outside of the control of the project team that will have an adverse impact on the project if they occur.   A proactive Project Manager tries to resolve potential problems before they occur and risk management is a proactive process that is invoked to attempt to manage these potential problems before they occur, and therefore increase the likelihood of success on the project.  From the moment a project idea is conceived to the final steps of project closure, risk is an inherent characteristic of any project. This course takes participants through the risk management processes of planning for, identifying, analyzing, responding to, and monitoring risks throughout the life of the project.  This course is consistent with the risk management processes and techniques in PMI^® ’s A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK^® Guide).

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Program Management Professional PgMP

A program is a group of related projects managed in a coordinated manner to obtain benefits not available from managing them individually. Program management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to meet program requirements. Organizations with mature program management are far more successful than those without it, according to our research.

About Program Management Certification: 

The Program Management Professional (PgMP) certification recognizes demonstrated experience, skill, and performance in the oversight of multiple, related projects that are aligned with organizational objectives.  The PgMP certification is designed for those who manage programs that contain complex activities spanning functions, organizations, geographic regions and cultures, who build credibility, establish rapport and maintain communication with stakeholders at multiple levels (including those external to the organization), and who possess advanced skills in finance, cross-cultural awareness, leadership, communication, influence, negotiation and conflict resolution.

PgMP is the next logical step in the career progression of a project manager. As successful project managers tackle increasingly larger and more complex projects, it will be inevitable that they start to manage a collection of these projects in a program. We believe the PgMP certification can help project professionals not only be more secure in their jobs and vocations, but also a step toward the formal recognition of their skills, experiences, capabilities, and importance to their organizations.

The PgMP exam is significantly more challenging than the PMP exam. Here’s why:

• Program managers need to understand project management. For example, in the current standard for program management, the traditional project lifecycle is fully embedded.
• Program managers need to have more advanced understanding of business benefits, which taps into the realm of portfolio management.
• The exam itself is much more experienced based than PMP exam, and this simply memorizing inputs, outputs, tools, and techniques would not suffice.

If you want to join this rather exclusive club of about 3,000 professionals, then PgMP credential is the clear choice.

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Portfolio Management Professional (PfMP)

PMI’s 2015 report, Delivering on Strategy: The Power of Portfolio Management, found that organizations that have mature project portfolio management practices in place gain a significant advantage over competitors in that they “complete 35 percent more of their programs successfully, fail less often and waste less money.”  PfMPs are rare, having only been in existence since May 2014 and as of January 2019 there are 625 PfMP certification holders in the world.PMO Advisory is a leader in project portfolio management with offerings across training (for knowledge and application), boot camps (for passing the PfMP exam), and consulting services.  On PfMP exam preparation, we also offer the widest range of products and services, suitable for all budgets – free to platinum service.

Course Description: Studies have consistently shown organizations today fail to implement their strategies. The failure rate differs among studies, but even the most optimistic puts the failure rate at 50% with some studies showing as high as 90%. One of the primary reasons for strategy implementation failure is poor project investment selection and poor organizational focus. This results in significant waste and ineffective use of precious assets and resources. Confronting the issue of investment selection and prioritization as well as limited resources, organizations must work “smarter” by focusing their limited resources on the most important and highest priority endeavors. PMI created the PfMP credential in 2014 mainly focused on addressing this major gap in organizational project management. Portfolio management is commonly viewed as the apex of the project management professional ladder. Portfolio managers often plan mid- to upper-level leadership roles, working with business executives to influence and determine project investments. The PfMP certification provides the necessary credential and credibility to be at the same table with senior executives.

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