The House of PMO and APMG International hosted a launch party for the new qualifications designed for PMO professionals in Mayfair, London, at the Royal Institute of Great Britain.
Corporate and individual members of the House of PMO were invited to share in the celebration – the first time a PMO-based certification has been created and launched in the UK since P3O was released 15 years ago.
Since then, PMO as a profession within project management has gone from strength to strength – with an increase in the number of PMOs in organisations today and the number of people who opt for PMO roles as a career of choice.
The New House of PMO Qualifications
The new qualifications were created by the House of PMO and are based on the PMO Competency Framework four role profiles, which were released in February 2021.
Since then, the Essentials suite of qualifications – Essentials for PMO Administrators, PMO Analysts, PMO Managers and PMO Directors – have been released into the training and development marketplace over the last 18 months.
With the completion of the final qualification – the Director level certification – in late 2022, it was felt that the time was right to celebrate this achievement and the support from the PMO community, which has actively encouraged this development since the conception of the competency framework.
“It’s been quite the journey since we started out with a community-based project to create the PMO Competency Framework in 2017. PMO practitioners from around the globe got involved and, over the course of the next four years, created something that PMO professionals have really utilised to help drive forward their growth and development.”
The next step was to use the PMO Competency Framework as a foundation on which a suite of certifications could be developed to enable people to learn what is essential to be competent in their PMO role – whether that is at an entry-level role such as the PMO Administrator – or at the senior level, PMO Director role.
The House of PMO – as a professional membership organisation for PMO professionals – recognised that creating a suite of training courses which focus on developing the knowledge of people working within the PMO – rather than the set up of a PMO, was a significant gap in the marketplace. Today the House of PMO Essential courses plug that gap.
Quality and Credibility with APMG International
The credibility, quality and robustness of the new qualifications could not have been achieved without the partnership of the leading accreditation and examination body – APMG International. Furthermore, APMG International’s network of accredited training organisations have seen the Essentials qualifications being delivered in Europe, South Africa, Australia and Canada to date.
Accredited Training Organisations Deliver
QA, the leading training organisation in the UK, is an accredited training provider for the House of PMO qualifications. On the evening of the launch there was an interactive element which asked the audience the question, “What are the key skills or competences that a PMO practitioner needs?” Needless to say, almost every answer (apart from ‘wizard’!) can be found within the PMO Competency Framework, which forms the basis for the qualifications.
Developing PMO Talent at Parliament UK
We were delighted to have Parliament UK join us for the celebration and gave a great overview of how the PMO Competency Framework and the qualifications work in their approach to developing PMO practitioners across their integrated PMO structure.
The Launch Event
“A fantastic and engaging event – thank you. We had a blast and are looking forward to watching these quality, specialised certifications prosper.”
For more information about the qualifications including the detailed syllabus for each level of certification, House of PMO Essentials
