The Difference Between MoP® Foundation and Practitioner

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We receive many questions regarding our practitioner courses and the word practitioner itself. What does the word Practitioner mean? What’s the difference between Foundation and Practitioner? Do I need to do the Practitioner course?    What Does ‘Practitioner’ Mean?  The dictionary definition of a Practitioner means someone whose regular work has involved a lot of …

Business Agility and Portfolio Management

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A few years ago, I contributed to a report entitled ‘Moving from Portfolio Reporting to Portfolio Management’.  The report was written to highlight the fact that having a rolled-up report of all the projects and programmes in an organisation, doesn’t constitute portfolio management.  Don’t get me wrong, there are huge benefits for an organisation to …

PMO Manager Career Path

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I’ve been working as a PMO Manager for a number of years now and I want to progress further into portfolio level PMOs, getting involved in strategy execution and generally working at a more senior level. What do I need to consider to make this transition? As well you know, there are many different types …

Unlocking Business Agility through Portfolio Management Taster Session

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On the 8th July, we hosted our Unlocking Business Agility through Portfolio Management Taster Session! In this session from PMO Learning, we take a look at the Unlocking Business Agility through Portfolio Management course. It’s a taster session to help you discover the course and take the next steps to signing up. Unlocking Business Agility …

Moving to a Portfolio PMO

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I’m currently working in a PMO, supporting a large programme. I’d like to move into a portfolio PMO in the next few years and want advice on what I should be doing to make this a reality. The link between an organisation’s strategy and how that strategy is delivered is commonly referred to as portfolio …

Why is Portfolio Prioritisation so important for the PMO?

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During the last delivery of Unlocking Business Agility through Portfolio Management, the audience took me somewhat by surprise when “Portfolio Prioritisation” was chosen by a few as part of their learning objectives. We were able to address the unexpected specific need by introducing an additional session, but it still begs the question “Why is Portfolio …

Reporting – The Sword of Damocles for every PMO?

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Note: For this article, no differentiation has been made between project, programme or portfolio reporting or indeed operational reporting. The phrase ‘Sword of Damocles’ refers back to an ancient parable of the Roman philosopher Cicero and is used to mean a sense of impending doom. One of the most common and often most critical service …

From PMO to Portfolio Management

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I’m currently working in a PMO, supporting a large program. I’d like to move into a portfolio PMO in the next few years and want advice on what I should be doing to make this a reality. What is Portfolio Management? The link between an organisation’s strategy and how that strategy is delivered is commonly …

Improving Portfolio Management

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The world of the PMO is constantly changing – one of the more recent additions to its services is Enterprise-wide Portfolio Management According to the most recent Gartner study (Gartner Magic Quadrant for PPM May 2019), by 2023, 80% of organisations will have an enterprise project, programme or product management office (PMO). It is only …

Foundation Knowledge in Programme and Project Management

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PMO Learning, of course, focuses on PMO training and development yet we know that a foundation of learning and development in project, programme and portfolio management (PPM) is also something a PMO practitioner focuses on. We’ve recently gone into partnership with Aspire Europe to bring a whole portfolio of popular PPM certification based courses to …

The 6 Themes Of Portfolio Management

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In our last blog, we reflected on the fact that within the next four years, most organisations will have an Enterprise-wide PMO, supporting strategy definition to strategy execution, focusing on choosing the right investments. Enterprise-wide Portfolio management was defined as an ecosystem, containing an integrated set of strategic processes and arrangements that together enable the …

Taking the Top Position in PMO

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Whose job is it anyway? When I got my first role in a PMO, I realised I’d found part of the organisation that I was happy to spend the rest of my career in.  Back in those days, I had done the reverse step of most people in the PMO – I had been a …

Top Five Skill Areas of a Portfolio Director

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Portfolio management – the way an organisation knows which programmes and projects they should be delivering in order to meet their strategic goals for the business. And for that to happen there has to be someone accountable. Step forward the Portfolio Director role. Portfolio Directors, as a role within project management, has become increasingly common …

Getting into a Portfolio PMO

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There’s something happening in PMO with increasing frequency. I’m getting asked questions like this one: I’m currently working in a PMO, supporting a large programme. I’d like to move into a portfolio PMO in the next few years and want advice on what I should be doing to make this a reality. Portfolio management is …

Portfolio Management and the PMO

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Although it is now generally accepted that the PMO is not just an admin department, the discussions seem to have moved to the other end of the spectrum – whether PMOs do or support Portfolio Management. In this one hour webinar, we explored the role of PMO in Portfolio Management and launched our new course …

Portfolio Management and the PMO

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At our latest Breakfast Briefing in Canary Wharf, Eileen Roden, Consulting Director of PMO Learning, spoke about The Evolving Role of the PMO and dove deep into Support vs Service PMOs – take a look at the video. From the humble beginnings of minute taking and report chasing, PMOs have developed to begin offer newer …