I held a careers coaching session the other day for someone looking to get into a project co-ordination role for the first time. I'm conscious that a lot of the PMO Flashmob topics and themes at events might not be newbie friendly and perhaps we should look into doing something like this in the future.
What made me write this article was that some of the things that came up in the career session would be beneficial for other people too.
You might be reading this as an experienced PMO practitioner, in which case, great! Make sure you add any other tips to the comments at the bottom - plus also point any newbies you meet to this article so you can help them out too. So this article is for someone looking to get into project co-ordination for the first time. It assumes two things; they've got some experience working within an office or business environment of some sort already. Not project related, just any office experience. Two; this is about getting into supporting a project for the first time, not a PMO role (that will come later)
I'm also going to share some resources to other places too.
PMO Learning’s Eileen Roden presented a session at the British Computer Society (BCS) The Chartered Institute of IT’s offices in Covent Garden, London. We've added this session to the PMO Flashmob website because we think you might like the content.
There are two parts to this session:
First the role an effective PMO can play in driving and supporting successful delivery, from setting up the organisation’s delivery infrastructure and ecosystem to pure administrative support (and everything in-between). It also covered how project managers engage with the PMO and identified how best the PMO can help, within the context of their other roles across the organisation.
Second, the session also looked at some of the challenges when dealing with PMOs (particularly an ineffective PMO) and explored strategies and tactics to get the best from them.
The BCS PROMS-G event is the meetup for project management practitioners working in IT [ you can take a look at other events they run here]
The event saw attendance fom both project managers and PMO practitioners and Eileen’s session focused on a couple of things. First the role an effective PMO can play in driving and supporting successful delivery, from setting up the organisation’s delivery infrastructure and ecosystem to pure administrative support (and everything in-between). It also covered how project managers engage with the PMO and identified how best the PMO can help, within the context of their other roles across the organisation. Second the session also looked at some of the challenges when dealing with PMOs (particularly an ineffective PMO) and explored strategies and tactics to get the best from them.
Agile PMO – Is the PMO Equipped to Support Traditional and Agile Projects?
The question for the PMO community is, “do you understand what additional skills and competencies you need to be equipped with?”
Many of the skills you have are still required, but some will need further honing or developed from scratch.
Check out the article where PMO Flashmob gets a mentioned amongst all the project management stuff in the latest Project Management campaign from Media Planet which went out in the Sunday Telegraph on the 9th September.
Take a look at There's Never Been a Better Time to Work in a PMO and Building a PMO Career.
January PMO Flashmob in London was like playgroup for grown-ups! We had Parag Gogate with us (Change Innovation Lab) and he ran a Serious Games session for us at the Ticketmaster UK bar in London. Although that might sound like we were just messing around, playing with Lego for a few hours - the reality was very different. Yes it was fun, it was also very fascinating to see how people were working together, using Lego for metaphors and literally seeing people thinking whilst building.
The LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® methodology is an innovative, experimental process designed to enhance innovation and business performance. It is based on research which shows that this kind of hands-on, minds-on learning produces a deeper, more meaningful understanding of the world and its possibilities.
Have you ever experienced a tipping point with your PMO? Has there been a single event, a point where you can look back and say, “Yes, it was here when things really started to change”
It’s the APM awards soon and another of the finalists for the newly formed PMO of the Year Award is the Portfolio Office at the Open University. Susie Palmer-Trew is the Portfolio Office Manager and we caught up for a chat about what’s been happening for her and the PMO team of five, who sit within the Strategy and Information Office, supporting major change.
The tipping point for the Portfolio Office here took place in October of 2016, but it took almost seven years to get to this point. Was it the seven-year itch that tipped the balance? More an accumulation of experience and determination to do the best work they can for the 170,000 customers they have across the University.
Are you proud about what your PMO has achieved?
That’s the first step in taking part in something like APM’s PMO of the Year Award – you need to proud of your achievements and be ready to share the story with the wider industry and community.
Justin Byrd - Head of EPO at Fujitsu
I caught up with Justin Byrd who has done just that. Justin is a great PMO Flashmob supporter – he’s also the Head of the EMEIA Portfolio Office (EPO) at Fujitsu, the IT Technology and Services organisation.
The EPO has a story to tell and one which highlights not only why they could be worthy winners of the Award in November, also what can be achieved in four years.
The EPO has journeyed from an administrative support function into a PMO which consistently adds real tangible value to the PPM function and to the wider business. The drive towards becoming a finalist for the Award has stemmed from taking that time to recognise the achievements of all 211 PMO professionals that make up Fujitsu’s PMO service and as a way to benchmark the PMO externally.
