10 Books for the PMO Professional

At PMO Learning we love learning and developing our skills – whether that’s in the classroom (in person or virtually!) or outside of it. We’ve compiled a list of 10 fantastic books for the PMO Professional – no matter where you are in career.

If you’re looking for a great introduction to the starting point of the current thinking on PMO, the seminal work of Hobbs and Aubrey – The Project Management Office (PMO) – A Quest for Understanding, is the book for you! The book provides a look at how PMOs exist today, and some clues about how and why they’re changing.

Of particular interest to practitioners, the authors address the roles that PMOs play in organisations, which provides valuable insights for better creating, structuring and governing PMOs. When designing a PMO, an organisation has a variety of choices regarding the PMO’s structure and role assignment.

The authors discuss the many bases for the types of PMOs, including structural characteristics and functions, and how these types affect the PMO’s role in the organisation.

If you’re looking to, or are in the process of Setting Up a PMO, there are some great guides that will walk you through the process. You might want to try Business Driven PMO Set up by Mark Price Perry, or The Strategic Project Office by J Kent Crawford.

If you’re looking for an introduction to the design and services of the PMO, or are looking for some fantastic reference points, we recommend the P3O Manual, PMO Service Catalogue by Stuart Dixon, and PMO Principles (Roden, Joslin and Muller) – this pocket book provides a different perspective on PMOs by using a principle based ‘lens’ to view PMOs which will help to address questions of PMO design, implementation, operation and transformation or retirement.

For helpful advice for setting up and maintaining effective project reporting, take a look at A Project Manager’s Book of Forms from Cynthia Snyder, packed with ready-made forms for managing every stage in any project, covering all aspects of initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing.

Or perhaps try Project Management Metrics, KPIs, and Dashboards by Harold Kerzner, helps functional managers gain a thorough grasp of what metrics and KPIs are and how to use them. Plus, this edition includes new sections on processing dashboard information, portfolio management PMO and metrics, and BI tool flexibility.

If your PMO is set up and working well, why not take a look at where your PMO could improve? Try A Compendium of PMO Case Studies by Bolles and Hubbard, or Things your PMO is Doing Wrong by Michael Hatfield!

Comment your thoughts below – have you read any from our list? What did you think? What other PMO books would you recommend?

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