Earlier this June, we at had the pleasure of attending and exhibiting at the PMO Conference in London. As always, the event was full of insights, conversations, and those lightbulb moments that remind us why the PMO community is such a vibrant one.
One of the most thought-provoking sessions came from Libby Stockwell of AWE, with her talk “The PMO Ecosystem: Changing and Evolving to Deliver Your Business Needs.”
Libby’s session looked at how PMOs can futureproof themselves by tailoring services to fit changing business needs, identifying inflection points before they cause disruption, integrating portfolio management into the bigger picture, and, perhaps most importantly, building lasting competence within teams.
During the Q&A, Libby was asked a question that will feel very familiar to many PMO leaders:
“How do you get the adoption for portfolio management? We’ve been on the journey of getting people to understand project and programme management, and as we’re trying to evolve our ePMO, it’s the portfolio management that’s lacking from both our own team’s competency and from stakeholders across the business.”
You can watch Libby’s response to that question here:
It is the kind of question that really gets to the heart of the challenge. Unless you can show the value, people don’t buy into portfolio management. Yet without the skills and experience in the team, it is almost impossible to demonstrate that value in the first place. It feels circular, like a cycle you can’t quite break.
Breaking the Cycle
This is exactly the situation AWE found themselves in. Recruitment was proving difficult. Job adverts for portfolio managers often attracted project or programme managers who wanted to make the switch but lacked the portfolio mindset or any real experience of delivering it. Without people who had lived and breathed portfolio management before, it was hard to show others how it should work in practice.
To move forward, AWE took a two-pronged approach. First, they worked to bring in a handful of people with genuine portfolio management pedigree. Even one or two hires helped to set the tone and show what was possible.
The second step was recognising the need to build capability from within. That is where PMO Learning came in.
Bespoke Training to Make It Real
AWE partnered with our lead trainer, Eileen Roden, to create a bespoke PMO Fundamentals programme. This was not an off-the-shelf solution. It was designed specifically around AWE’s context and delivered through nine tailored workshops.
The training was offered on a sign-up basis, although certain colleagues were encouraged to attend because leaders knew they would really benefit. That combination of voluntary engagement and targeted participation meant the programme reached the right people.
The difference was clear. Before the workshops, portfolio management felt abstract, hard to explain, and even harder to gain commitment for. After the sessions, teams had a much clearer sense of what the PMO should be doing, how it was structured to support the business, and what portfolio management actually meant for them.
It may also have helped that it was someone external delivering the message. Alongside the workshops, Eileen also presented an Executive Briefing to AWE’s senior leadership teams.
Having Eileen, with her experience and credibility across many organisations, step in to explain the concepts carried real weight. Sometimes it takes an outside voice to bring the clarity that internal conversations alone can’t quite achieve.
Bespoke PMO Training with PMO Learning
At PMO Learning, we specialise in helping organisations like AWE build capability that fits their unique context. Off-the-shelf training can be useful, but often what makes the biggest impact is something more tailored. That might be a structured programme of workshops, like the one at AWE, or shorter sessions that align senior stakeholders around a shared vision.
Every organisation is different. Some need to build knowledge from the ground up, while others are ready for more advanced development pathways. What matters is finding the right approach for your maturity level and your culture.
If portfolio management adoption feels like a struggle, it is worth asking whether your people have both the skills and the shared understanding they need. If the answer is not quite yet, that is exactly where we can help.
The PMO Bespoke Training Approach from PMO Learning
Beyond Training: Building Capability with TNA
Training can make a big difference, but it is only one part of the puzzle. The bigger question for many organisations is deciding what the training should focus on in the first place.
That is why PMO Learning developed the Training Needs Analysis (TNA) service.
The TNA is designed specifically for PMO teams and built around a five-stage model aligned with the House of PMO Competency Framework. It helps PMOs assess their current capabilities, identify skill gaps that are holding them back, plan structured development pathways, and evaluate the impact over time.
It is a guided process that avoids the common pitfall of sending people on courses that seem useful but don’t actually address the real gaps. Instead, the TNA provides clarity on where to invest and the confidence that the training will deliver measurable impact.
For organisations wrestling with portfolio management adoption, this can be transformative. The combination of tailored training and a longer-term roadmap ensures you are not only building immediate understanding but also developing the competence to sustain change over time.
A Takeaway for Any Organisation
AWE’s story shows that adoption does not just happen by itself. You need both the right people and the right learning interventions. Recruiting experienced portfolio professionals can create momentum, but without broader understanding across teams, it won’t stick. On the other hand, training alone is not enough if you don’t have champions who can demonstrate what good looks like.
It is about doing both and accepting that the journey takes time. Perhaps longer than you would like.
The good news is you do not have to do it alone. With bespoke training and structured capability services like the TNA, you can break the cycle and give your people the clarity, confidence, and competence they need to truly adopt portfolio management.
Get in touch here to discuss your PMOs needs.
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