PMO Learning and Development

The four levels are:

• Level 1 – New to Working in PMO
  • These roles are entry level
  • Mainly working in programme or project support
  • Job titles include; Project Administrator, Project Co-ordinator, Project Support Officer
  • Assumes that knowledge is needed in both project management AND PMO.
• Level 2 – Supporting Portfolio, Programmes and Projects
  • These are the various roles found that support portfolio, programme and project delivery
  • Can include those working in a PMO – or supporting singular projects and programmes
  • Tends to be practitioners who have been working in the role for 2 years+
  • Job titles include; PMO Analyst, Programme Co-ordinator, Project Co-ordinator, Project Support Officer
  • Assumes that more advanced knowledge is needed in portfolio, programme and project management AND advanced topics in PMO.
• Level 3 – Leading and Managing PMOs
  • For PMO practitioners at the management level of PMO
  • Assumes practitioners are setting up and/or ongoing management of PMOs. Tends to be singular PMOs – a portfolio office, programme office or project office
  • Experienced practitioners who have worked within the project management field for a number of years
  • Job titles include; PMO Manager, PMO Lead, Head of PMO, Portfolio Office Manager, Programme Office Manager, Project Office Manager.
  • Assumes that advanced knowledge is needed in PMO design, set up, management and improvement
• Level 4 – Managing and Directing PMOs
  • For PMO practitioners at the director / enterprise level of PMO
  • Practitioners are designing, setting up and managing enterprise level PMOs across the organisation. Likely to be responsible for multiple PMOs.
  • Assumes practitioners have advanced experience and knowledge in portfolio, programme and project management AND PMO organisational design.
  • Job titles include; Head of PMO, PMO Director, Director of PMO, ePMO Manager
  • Practitioners will be working at a senior/board level within the organisation.

Alongside the core certification courses are our specialist courses. These are shorter courses that go deeper into certain topic areas. PMO practitioners are advised to think about their development in specific skills gap areas and consider short courses alongside other self-development activities.

Find out more about the two areas for learning & development for PMO practitioners below.

The three PMO certifications are:

British Computer Society (BCS) – The Chartered Institute for IT

PPSO Essentials is the entry-level certification for anyone entering into a project support role for the first time or has less than two years experience in the role. It’s a perfect certification for people looking for both project management fundamentals AND how the project support role works in that environment. It’s a 4-day course.

PPSO Practitioner is for the experienced PMO practitioner looking to get into PMO Management (managing Project or Programme Offices only). In lots of the ways, the P3O certification has superceded this one. It’s a 4-day course.

AXELOS – Portfolio, Programme and Project Offices (P3O)

P3O Foundation is suitable for those having worked in a support role for over two years or more. It’s a great certification to do if you’re wanting to learn more about the different types of PMOs that exist and the services they provide. It’s a 3-day course.

P3O Practitioner is aimed at those who are managing or looking to moving into a management role in PMO and specifically looking to implement a PMO. This is a 2-day course and you must already have the P3O Foundation. Lots of people opt to do both the Foundation and Practitioner together in 5 days.

AIPMO – IPMO Foundation, Practitioner and Expert (IPMO-F, IPMO-P, IPMO-E)

IPMO-Foundation is aimed at the experienced PMO Analyst – its main focus is around the services offered by the PMO and how these are designed and implemented. It’s the first course of its kind that gets into how parts of the PMO Analyst role is performed rather than just the what.

IPMO-Practitioner is aimed at experienced PMO Analysts looking to move into PMO Management or for PMO Managers who are currently working in singular PMO environments (portfolio offices, programme office or project office). The focus in this course is on how to design, set up, manage and improve the PMO service offerings. It’s recommended after the P3O Practitioner has it goes into more detail on how to perform the role.

IPMO-Expert is aimed at senior PMO practitioners, those responsible for PMOs across the organisation – the enterprise level. The course focuses not only on the latest thinking; frameworks; models, techniques and tools – also the topology and structure of multiple PMOs across an entire business. It’s aimed at those in a senior management role.

You can find out more about each one of these three certifications in more detail on our website:

[BCS] [P3O] [AIPMO]

Current specialist courses include:

• Lean-Agile PMO – for PMO professionals learning to support both traditional and Agile projects in their organisation
• Agile Frameworks and the PMO – for PMO practitioners looking to learn about enterprise level Agile frameworks such as SAFe.
• Setting Up a PMO – setting up a Project Management Office is available for anyone tasked with this business requirement.
• Coaching Skills for the PMO – coaching techniques for PMO professionals looking to improve problem-solving and team collaboration
• Facilitation for the PMO – the APMG Foundation certification in Facilitation for PMO professionals looking to improve their facilitation skills
• Understanding Benefits Management – a key challenge area for many PMO professionals, this course provides the fundamentals.

For further details on the specialist PMO courses [take a look at the PMO specialist courses here]