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PMO Trends for 2025
Each year at the House of PMO, we bring you the top ten trends to watch out for in PMO over the coming year. We have been writing about trends and predictions in PMO since 2016 and this year we thought why not take a look at some of the earlier trends and see where we are right now and what to watch out for in 2025.
If you are interested in the previous trends, why not have a [browse here.]
The Journey So Far
Back in 2016 we started tracking the trends in PMO so we’ve dived back in taking the trend reports from the House of PMO spanning 2017 to 2024, and highlight the key trends, challenges, and opportunities that have shaped the PMO’s role and capabilities.
The Journey From Support Function to Strategic Business Partner
In 2016 and 2017, PMOs were primarily perceived as support functions focused on establishing core services such as project planning, risk management, and governance. However, this perception has progressively shifted, and some PMOs are increasingly recognised as strategic (the PMO’s role is to align its activities and objectives with the overarching goals and priorities of the organisation). This evolution is driven by various interconnected trends, including:
1. The Data-Driven PMO Revolution
The trends reveal a consistent push toward a data-driven PMO, commencing with an initial emphasis on project data analytics in 2019. This focus rapidly progressed, recognising the need for a dedicated data strategy, clean, usable data, and the integration of data analysts into PMO teams. By 2024, the emphasis shifted towards leveraging advanced analytics and AI, including platforms like ChatGPT and machine learning, to enhance reporting capabilities and support strategic decision-making.
2. Embracing Agile and Hybrid Methodologies
The trend reports show a growing awareness and adoption of Agile methodologies, starting with discussions around the “Agile PMO” in 2016. This trend transitioned from theory to practical application, with PMOs supporting an expanding range of delivery approaches, encompassing Agile at Scale, DevOps, and hybrid methodologies. By 2024, the call for adaptability and seamless integration of diverse delivery frameworks within the PMO’s operations became prominent.
3. Elevating the PMO’s Strategic Role
From 2017 onwards, a noticeable shift in perception emerged, urging the recognition of the PMO as a strategic asset owned by the business rather than a self-governing entity. This shift gained momentum with the inclusion of individuals with strong business backgrounds in senior PMO roles and the increasing recognition of the PMO as a Business Function pivotal to company-wide portfolio management and strategy execution. This trajectory culminated in a focus on formalising the PMO’s role and contributions, encompassing clear vision and mission statements, tailored service catalogues, and defined PMO playbooks.
4. External Forces Shaping PMO Evolution
The trends also demonstrate the influence of external forces, notably the COVID-19 pandemic, in shaping PMO priorities. The pandemic-induced shift to virtual work environments in 2020 and 2021 led to a heightened focus on:
- Optimising remote collaboration.
- Addressing employee well-being.
- Maintaining productivity
This adaptation showcased the PMO’s resilience and its ability to support organisational continuity during unprecedented challenges.
So that’s the last ten years, what about 2025? Take a look at our latest trends:
PMO Trends for 2025
Here are the new predictions for 2025: what will it have in store for us?
- The move to integrated PMOs continues – focus on integration and service excellence
- Human-centric delivery frameworks
- Regulatory reporting – prioritising ESG and regulatory compliance
- Using data analytics and AI to drive evidence-based, data-driven decision-making
- Formal PMO individuals and team capability development
- Upskilling and reskilling – the requirements for PMO and delivery teams
- Power skills, soft skills, behaviours and psychology
- Micropractices – self-development for the time-poor
- Practical goal setting for the PMO
- Providing unintentional Project Manager support and guidance
Integrated PMOs: Driving Service Excellence
The Move to Integrated PMOs Continues – Focus on Integration and Service Excellence
The Integrated PMO acts as the glue that connects portfolio, programme, and project management across an organisation. It’s more than a support function—it can act as a business catalyst in many different ways, such as helping to bridge the gap between strategy formation and the execution of strategy through projects, programmes and portfolios. By integrating people, processes, and technology, the Integrated PMO ensures that all levels of change are aligned with the organisation’s overarching goals. This model brings together the different PMOs across an organisation ensuring alignment and all getting behind those business goals.
Integration takes time and coordinated effort across different dimensions – such as strategic, operational and cultural – and covers governance, processes, technology and people. Not an easy task which requires exceptional leadership.
At the heart of this trend is service excellence—consistently delivering services that not only meet but exceed the expectations of stakeholders. For a PMO, this means providing tailored, high-quality support across the entire lifecycle of portfolios, programmes, and projects. As the service-based PMO model gains traction, the focus has shifted to refining high-demand services and introducing new ones that underpin the integrated approach. The goal? To make the PMO a trusted, indispensable partner for all levels of the organisation. By 2025, the evolution of PMO services will hinge on perfecting this balance of maturity and forward thinking.
What does this all mean for you?
As PMOs integrate, PMO Analysts will need to expand their understanding beyond individual projects or programmes to the broader organisational strategy. Analysts will play a role in connecting dots across portfolios, ensuring their work supports the alignment of projects and programmes with overarching business goals.
Human-Centric Delivery Frameworks
The Principles of Human Centricity in Projects
Delivery frameworks will continue to evolve in 2025, emphasising adaptability and human-centric principles. In the last few years, the focus on Waterfall versus Agile has dominated the scene, yet other approaches are being sought out—especially those that promise more in terms of customer-centricity and empathy for the needs of stakeholders and delivery teams.
Drawing on the principles of John Adair’s Action-Centred Leadership—balancing Task, Team, and Individual—delivery frameworks are increasingly designed to address these interconnected aspects. They aim to align project objectives with team cohesion and individual well-being, creating environments where both projects and people can do their best work.
The Half Double Institute provides a practical example of this transformation, focusing on impact, flow, and leadership. This methodology underscores the importance of shorter feedback loops, end-user engagement, and adaptive leadership, ensuring that delivery frameworks stay relevant and impactful. [More information]
A standout concept in this movement is HotPMO’s Biomes of Delivery. We heard John McIntyre talking at the PMO Conference in Edinburgh, inspired by natural ecosystems, the Biome model recognises that different types of work require distinct conditions to succeed. Whether it’s a High Innovation Biome prioritising agility and experimentation or a Compliance Biome with meticulous governance, the approach tailors delivery environments to specific needs. This dynamic, context-aware model ensures that outdated, rigid frameworks no longer constrain organisations. Instead, they create ecosystems that adapt to complexity and deliver value without compromise. [Find out more] This model in our minds is almost like the world of ‘precision medicine’, both are tailoring approaches to meet the unique needs of their context—whether it’s a project delivery environment or an individual’s healthcare.
For PMOs, these trends underline the increasing need to adopt flexible and tailored approaches. It may mean more knowledge needed on some of the emerging frameworks and methods; thinking more about the well-being of people delivering change in the organisation (including the PMO!); understanding how approaches can be adapted based on the objectives of the project or programme; even offering up advice and alternatives when projects are going off track.
Regulatory Reporting – Prioritising ESG and Regulatory Compliance
The Practicalities of Sustainability Reporting
Sustainability is emerging as a defining trend for PMOs as organisations face mounting pressure to meet Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting requirements by 2025. Regulatory frameworks globally are becoming stricter, with mandates for transparency in areas like carbon emissions, diversity metrics, and ethical governance. Investors, stakeholders, and regulatory bodies are holding organisations accountable for demonstrating tangible progress on sustainability goals.
For PMOs, this means not just adapting to these demands but taking a proactive role in embedding sustainability into every layer of portfolio, programme, and project management. From selecting green initiatives to overseeing data collection for ESG reporting, the PMO must act as a strategic enabler of sustainable practices.
Practically, this translates to integrating sustainability metrics into project KPIs and ensuring that ESG considerations are a part of decision-making from the outset. PMOs can utilise frameworks like the GPM P5 Standard to guide sustainable project planning and execution, aligning with international benchmarks like the UN SDGs. They also play a critical role in streamlining data collection for ESG disclosures, ensuring that projects contribute to compliance requirements while delivering value.
This dual focus on compliance and sustainability ensures that PMOs remain not just relevant but indispensable in an era where sustainability is synonymous with long-term business viability. It is an excellent opportunity for the PMO to position themselves at the forefront of this transformative shift.
You can start right now with the free download available – The Global Standard for Sustainable Project Management (Download) plus we will be bringing sustainability themed sessions to you throughout 2025 here at the House of PMO.
AI and Data-Driven Decision-Making
Using data analytics and AI to drive evidence-based, data-driven decision-making
By the end of 2025, PMOs that are leading the pack will be fundamentally reshaped by data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI). What started as tentative exploration back in 2019/2020 has now matured into real-world applications with tangible impacts. [Check out this great example]
More PMOs are making the leap from dipping a toe into AI to fully integrating it into their operations. Generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Co-Pilot are taking on routine tasks such as report drafting and providing predictive insights, freeing up PMOs to focus on strategic priorities. Advanced AI, including prescriptive analytics, is enabling PMOs to proactively allocate resources, manage risks, and track performance in real-time, helping organisations consistently deliver successful outcomes.
The key to this transformation lies in having robust data strategies. Clean, accessible data is the fuel that powers AI, and this requires solid data governance, advanced analytics capabilities, and skilled analysts embedded within PMO teams. [The Inside PMO Report gives a good overview] Coupled with improved data visualisation and storytelling, these elements will enable PMOs to present complex insights clearly, bolstering their role as strategic advisors. However, challenges like outdated systems, ethical considerations around AI, and the need to upskill or reskill staff remain potential barriers to adoption, especially for organisations less prepared for this shift.
For those PMOs ready and able to embrace AI and data analytics, the rewards will be significant. In this new era of evidence-based decision-making, PMOs won’t just keep up with change—they’ll be shaping the future of project management within their organisations.
It presents an exciting opportunity for PMOs, to be able to automate, make the routine easier and provide more space to do the things that really ‘move the dial’.
Formal PMO Individuals and Team Capability Development
Building PMO Career Paths and Skills Development
The release of the PMO Competency Framework in 2021 sparked essential conversations about advancing PMO team development within organisations. This framework created opportunities for PMO professionals to evaluate their skills and discuss their development paths with their managers more effectively. It also uncovered unexpected behaviours, insights, and challenges when addressing skills gaps through self-assessment.
One of the standout takeaways has been the realisation that structured career paths are no longer optional for PMO professionals—they’re essential. By combining self-assessment tools with transparent career progression opportunities, many organisations have started to focus more seriously on career planning and the professional growth of their PMO teams.
Yet, too many organisations still see the PMO as little more than “admin support.” This narrow perspective has held back the career growth of PMO professionals and limited organisations from tapping into the full potential of a genuinely multidisciplinary PMO. A mature PMO has the capability to deliver transformative benefits to projects, programmes and portfolios—but only if it’s empowered to go beyond a support function.
For these organisations, it’s a classic “chicken or egg” dilemma: do you invest in developing the PMO team to unlock greater strategic impact, or wait until the PMO is recognised as a strategic asset before making that investment? Unfortunately, this hesitation often leads to talented PMO professionals voting with their feet, seeking opportunities in organisations that already value PMO as a vital function. After all, other roles in change delivery, like Project Managers, enjoy well-defined career paths—so why not PMO professionals? It’s time for organisations to recognise this gap and take action before they lose their best talent.
If there is one thing you can be doing right now, it’s taking the self-assessment!
Upskilling and Reskilling – the Requirements for PMO and Delivery Teams
Planning for Both Upskilling and Reskilling
Take a look at the broader business trends that many of our senior leaders are concerned with – digital transformation with hot topics like AI, automation and blockchain, business resilience, cybersecurity, sustainability, geopolitics, supply chains and regulatory pressures – it’s easy to see what kinds of projects the PMO will be supporting, if not now, certainly in the near future.
As our businesses evolve, so must we. For those of us who thrive on learning and change, the idea of picking up new skills can be thrilling. But let’s be honest—not everyone is as enthusiastic. Whether we embrace it or not, upskilling and reskilling will be part of our professional journeys, and understanding the difference is critical for PMO professionals.
Upskilling is all about improving on the current skills and knowledge you already have and ensures you’re able to carry out the job you’re currently doing. For PMOs right now that can mean getting better at planning or learning about a new method such as SCRUM because more projects are being delivered in that way.
Reskilling on the other hand is about learning something completely new – it may be because you’re changing jobs within the business or that your role is starting to change in response to those organisational changes we’ve just mentioned.
Reskilling is the one that can feel the most uncomfortable – especially if you’re not really looking to change what it is you do. For PMO professionals, recent examples include embracing AI and advanced data analytics. It’s not just about understanding the tools; it’s about adopting an entirely new way of working and thinking. It sounds like Agile all over again!
Your development plan needs to account for both upskilling and reskilling. If reskilling doesn’t seem relevant right now, let it serve as a gentle nudge to consider how your role might change down the line. Planning ahead is half the battle!
Power Skills+
Power Skills: The Growing Importance of Soft Skills, Behaviours, and Psychology
We first heard of the term ‘power skills’ from PMI in 2023. It’s a new term for ‘soft skills, ‘ which definitely needed a rebrand. Slowly but surely, the term is being picked up and adopted by project professionals across the globe. The trend here for PMO professionals is to think about not just the soft or power skills but to go further and recognise that our behaviours are just as important as our skills. Going further, we can also think about skills and behaviours and how learning from psychology can also help, especially in our interactions with others.
A few examples this year have highlighted how some PMO professionals are really thinking about behaviour and some of the principles of psychology—both social and occupational.
In the PMO Conference session in Edinburgh, Natalie Rickards – One Woman and Her Dog: The Secrets to a PMO Implementation demonstrated how power skills (active listening, EI, persuasion, conflict resolution), behaviours (Tailoring her communication style, persistence, and focus in driving change, et and maintained firm personal boundaries) and psychology (Change management, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, even Cognitive Dissonance) had helped her build the PMO from the bottom up.
In another example from the London PMO Conference, Dr Noel Burkett talked about organisational recovery within the NHS, a specific case of a £70 million budget deficit within the Trust. As part of the implementation of the PMO, power skills needed to be part of the improvement plan in the skills and capabilities of everyone.
We’ve seen sessions throughout 2024, all focused on improving these tough skills, power skills, the ones which often push us out of our comfort zones and the ones we most crucially need when working with a wide variety of executives, stakeholders and customers.
Check out the skills and behaviours part of the PMO Competency Framework to start drawing up your plan of action for 2025.
Micropractices – self-development for the time-poor
Bite-sized Learning and Incremental Improvements
In 2025, micropractices—small, actionable steps combining bite-sized learning with incremental improvements—will be a defining trend for busy PMO professionals. While concepts like growth mindset, embedding continuous improvement, and dedicating time for professional development are often discussed, many of us still struggle to make them a reality due to time constraints.
We’ve become familiar with microlearning—short bursts of content like videos, articles, or social media posts that allow quick, convenient learning. Micropractices take this further by focusing on application: translating knowledge into small, meaningful changes in how we work and grow professionally.
The term ‘micropractices’ gained traction during the COVID-19 pandemic, when stress, anxiety, and burnout were widespread. Micropractices initially focused on mindfulness and well-being, such as deep breathing exercises, gratitude journalling, and meditation. These small interventions proved invaluable for building resilience without requiring substantial time commitments.
Micropractices in the PMO context extend beyond well-being to include targetted ways to learn, reflect, and improve daily. At this year’s PMOLearn! event in Edinburgh, self-reflection emerged as a standout micropractice. This simple yet effective tool involves dedicating just 5–10 minutes each day to reviewing experiences, identifying lessons learned, and spotting opportunities for growth. Over time, it transforms everyday activities into a steady stream of insights and personal development.
For example, after a challenging meeting, a PMO professional might reflect: “What went well? What could I have done differently? What will I try next time?”
Other examples of micropractices include daily knowledge shares (with the team), skills refresh (quick revision), micro goal setting, peer chats, success sharing and 5-minute weekly wrap-ups.
The trick is to keep it short, regular and impactful.
Practical Goal Setting for the PMO
How to Really Highlight the Value the PMO Adds
Practical goal setting is becoming essential for PMOs, focusing on delivering measurable outcomes that align with strategic priorities. The trend reflects a shift from vague objectives to well-defined targets supported by KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and OKRs (Objectives and Key Results). PMOs are leveraging these tools to set specific, achievable goals that clearly link to business benefits, such as improved delivery, resource efficiency, and alignment with organisational strategy. This is seen as the most effective approach to showing how the PMO ‘adds value’ to the business.
Using SMART criteria for example—Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound—alongside KPIs and OKRs, PMOs can measure progress. Project-based KPIs can be utilised to inform PMO-specific KPIs, for example, project schedule adherence and optimal allocation of team capacity, while PMO-focused OKRs can focus on ambitious outcomes such as increasing benefits realisation rates by 20% or reducing average project delivery times by 15%.
OKRs can also be used on the PMO and its performance too, for example, setting objectives such as “Improve stakeholder satisfaction with PMO services by 25%” or “Increase the adoption rate of PMO tools and processes across all business units by 30%.” These objectives can be supported by key results like “Conduct quarterly stakeholder feedback surveys” or “Train 100% of project teams on new PMO processes within six months.”
Together, KPIs and OKRs help create a framework for actionable and adaptable goals that demonstrate clear value to the PMO’s stakeholders.
For PMO professionals, the ability to align goals, manage performance, and communicate progress effectively is becoming a crucial skill set especially where there are still doubters on what the PMO can do.
Results of the end of year poll for the House of PMO community
Providing Unintentional Project Manager Support and Guidance
Putting the Spotlight on Delivery Leads
A rising trend for PMOs is addressing the challenges posed by accidental project managers—those individuals who find themselves managing projects not by design, but as a result of their role or circumstances. These individuals, often subject matter experts or operational leaders, play a vital role in delivering projects but may lack formal training or the necessary tools to succeed. By putting a spotlight on this group, PMOs have a unique opportunity to help improve project success rates and improve organisational capability.
We hosted a session earlier in the year [you can take a look here] and it quickly became apparent that the PMO community was split between already providing ‘special measures’ support and those that hadn’t offered any extra provision.
PMOs can make a real difference by providing tailored support for accidental project managers. This might include creating simplified frameworks, delivering targeted training, and offering tools that are easy to adopt, such as pre-built templates, checklists, and mentoring programs. For example, the PMO could focus on essential skills like stakeholder communication, project planning, and risk management—key areas where accidental project managers often need support. Introducing lightweight KPIs like project milestone achievement rates or stakeholder satisfaction scores can help measure their progress while building confidence.
The PMO can bridge the gap between informal project delivery and structured project management by recognising and supporting accidental project managers. This focus not only improves project outcomes but encourages a culture of collaboration and capability-building across the organisation.
It’s a practical, high-impact area where PMOs can demonstrate value quickly while enabling individuals to deliver better results with confidence.
What do you think?
Why not share with us your thoughts as you move into 2025, what is your PMO thinking about for the year ahead? Leave a comment below!
