Big SIG news for PMO people

As Chair of the APM PMO SIG moving our industry forward has always been at the forefront of my mind. Since being involved in the committee the team have been involved in the refresh of the competence framework; bringing PMO into the frame for a recognised project management professional career path.

Since then it has been important to keep pushing for further changes to make PMO more than a sideline function to support project management, and more of an enabling business partner that project management cannot do without in one form or another!

To this end the APM PMO SIG changed our structure and our raison d’etre to be able to concentrate on some long term goals which are designed to bring PMO out of the shadows and into the forefront of our industry.

Our long term goals for the last three years have been:

To spread the word that there is no one size fits all, there is only the PMO that your organisation needs at this particular moment in time
To support a review of the Registered Project Professional accreditation to ensure that the next iteration focuses not just on delivery of projects but also on those areas that make the success of those projects more certain - like PMO
To lobby for a dedicated PMO of the Year award as part of the annual celebration of our industry
To bring focus and support for those new to the industry by creating events and knowledge that enable them and their organisations to grow to their next level of maturity (whatever that looks like)

Working towards these goals meant that we have not been able to stand still, run the same type of events for the same type of PMO people every year, we had to listen to you instead!

Following some research, we found two things:

That with the high number of corporate members joining the APM, along came a lot of new, sometimes young sometimes second career, but definitely passionate people into our midst,
And that there hasn’t been a UK specific non-salary survey for like, ever! All our industry research is focused on salary, or global, or EMEA data

So we worked with our long time friends at Wellingtone Project Management to devise and run a survey specifically looking at our UK market with a whole section relating to the inner workings of your PMO and what this means for your project management capability and maturity.

The first year told us that we don’t have the basics in place consistently enough.

So we targeted our APM PMO SIG 2016 calendar to focus on bringing PMO back to basics with lessons learned, what PMO means, how to handle difficult stakeholders and what value means for your PMOs.

Our second year of the survey has focused us on more advanced topics... I am pleased to say that the PMO SIG 2017 year will be the year that PMO gets Hands On! With a focus on the technical elements of PMO and how to make them work for you.

We start off the year with a unique event bringing the innovative PMO Value Ring to the UK with thanks to its founder Americo Pinto! Americo will teach the delegates how to work with this new method to build or develop your PMO maturity.

So what about those long term goals??

Well, we are about to review the second iteration of the Registered Project Professional to see if it works for PMO people this time around. Hopefully we can tick that one off the list!

Secondly, and this is the BIG news...

I am exceptionally pleased to announce that the APM Awards for 2017 will in fact include a PMO OF THE YEAR AWARD!

Everyone thank our friends at Wellingtone Project Management who will sponsor the award for the first two years!

So, get your party dresses/suits at the ready if your PMO is able and willing to tell us its story, how it is different and what it has brought to your organisation this last year. The award will be launched in April 2017, so from this year read the awards communications – there’s an award in there especially for you!

The project management industry is changing, and PMOs are in many ways leading the way, we just don’t shout it from the rooftops so much. Why not start right now?

I guess we need to come up with some more long term goals now... Want to play? Get involved with APM PMO SIG we are looking for volunteers and committee members this year.

Emma-Ruth Arnaz-Pemberton

Chair, APM PMO SIG