In my experience, people who have successful PMO careers have a broad skills base. They are generalists who have skills that bridge the gap between project and operations; finance and creative; orators and the industrious. But when it comes to the types of training PMO professionals seek out, it always seems to be depressingly narrow. The focus is on either qualifications in project frameworks, or on PMO certifications such as P3O.
Looking around, there are lots of courses that could not only help PMO professionals in terms of their personal development, but could help the organizations they work for too. I've pulled a few examples of training courses that will boost PMO professionals' careers over at HotPMO.com , but I'm keen to hear your ideas too. Thoughts?
Hi John,
If you’re looking to develop competencies, it’s worth focusing on key hard skills such as planning & scheduling, cost control, risk management, and data analysis. In that case, you might want to have a look at Aram Academy (www.aramacademy.com). Aram offers practical training in Project Controls, which is highly relevant for PMO roles as well—depending on how the PMO is positioned within the organisation.
In my experience, many PMO professionals are strong in communication and process understanding, but often lack deeper knowledge in areas like planning and cost control. Aram Academy specifically addresses these gaps.
Best regards,
Sander
Disclosure: I run PMO Mastery, so take this with that in mind. But I built it as an answer to exactly this problem. Practical skills, no certification obsession, affordable. Take a look to see if it fits your needs: pmomastery.com
The PMI-SP currently covers off most of the skills needed for a PMO manager / team lead - it has a much wider scope than just scheduling: http://www.planning-controls.com.au/pmisp-courses/
Coming soon - The Guild will have modules covering the full scope at several levels of advancement.
Replying to my own post :)
The more I think about it, Data Analytics is an area where I think PMOs could develop. Many businesses I have worked with are screaming out for people with the ability to convert data into actionable MI. I've added more thoughts about it here: http://www.hotpmo.com/blog/pmo-big-data