APM PMO Interest Network

Emma-Ruth Arnaz-Pemberton

The APM PMO Interest Network conference took place in Manchester on Thursday 11 July. Thanks to the volunteer team that have been planning the event for almost a year, the day was packed full of inspirational speakers from all over industry; but all focused on providing thought provoking insights to the PMO and Project Management professionals in the room.

This was the first conference that the Interest Network has held since 2018, so a big theme of the day was networking. Throughout the day, delegates were provided with lots of networking time, as well as support to get started for those who found themselves at a conference for the first time or after a long time.

Networking for PMO and PPM professionals
The panel session just after lunch brought together a variety of practitioners to discuss and highlight the value of networking. The panel focused across opportunities across APM and across industry. They discussed that networks should be about creating a safe space for practitioners to ask questions, share experiences, and provide peer to peer support for each other.

Key messages from the networking panel included consider that engaging with a network can be simply being present and listening. That no matter how little practical experience you have, you have something to bring to the conversation and that people need to approach networks to build authentic relationships.

PMO and strategic alignment
The presentations focused on the alignment that PMOs can and should have with the strategy of the organisation considered various topics such as accountability, joined up thinking, becoming more net zero focused, and the value of understanding the starting position before considering the roadmap.

Understanding what the executive expect and are interested in can help to narrow the focus of the PMO and enable them to remove non-value adding services and focus more on the ones that can make a real difference in the perception of the PMO.

PMO and development
The sessions focused more on development covered both people and the PMO itself (not that they are mutually inclusive). Understanding the state of the PMO, and how to bring skills and development opportunities to the individuals in the PMO as much as those delivering is key to maturity growth.

An important note was that development is not exclusive to those in delivery roles, but actually when building learning strategies, PMOs also need to consider those that are directly and indirectly involved in delivery. Sponsors, SMEs, and line managers need to be considered for any PMO evolution to be successful.

PMO and data
Data is a key enabler for PMO teams, but they need to be careful of how data is used. For organisations looking to technology enable themselves for successful project delivery, data quality is key along with the right use of it.

Even if the plan is to utilise emerging AI, the data held still has to be of good quality and ‘clean’. There is still no shortcut to ensuring that the information being collated is the right and complete information in order to drive real insights, trends, and for informed decisions to be made.

The future PMO
The PMO journey is very individual. The PMO journey is influenced by a number of factors including:

• The people
• The skills the people have
• The position of the PMO in the organisation
• The culture
• External factors (PESTLE)
• The expectations of PMO Customers

The future PMO is different for every delegate that attended the conference. This is the uniqueness of PMO, what makes it interesting, and also difficult at times.

Adam Boddison, CEO of APM talked about the new work economy and how PMO teams are being affected in different ways. Some are starting from scratch (maybe again), some are pivoting their nature or scope, some are moving to a new model, and everything in between.

The PMO #BigPMOAdoption conference provided a clear message to delegates: The journey of PMOs is the same – but it is a different flavour to everyone else’s.

To navigate this, there is nothing better than positive connections to deliver a sustainable change, with the safety net of a supportive network to get you over the line.

Finally
Thank you to all our sponsors, speakers, volunteers and those that invested their time to attend the PMO Interest Network conference 2024.

View some of the speakers' slides from the conference.

Connect with the PMO Interest Network