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APM PMO Interest Network

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Welcome to the APM PMO Interest Network.

Ready to make a difference? Dive into our network and become part of something truly special. Whether you're passionate about volunteering, seeking valuable resources on PMO, or eager to network with like minded project professionals at our exciting events, there's a place for you here.

Volunteer opportunities await. Join us to create positive change! From webinars to networking events, there are countless ways you can contribute your time and skills to make a difference.

Discover valuable resources. Empower yourself with knowledge and tools to drive progress forward. Explore our resources below filled with insightful articles, practical guides, and useful tools designed to support your career.

Our purpose? To provide a forum for PMO professionals to discuss matters of mutual importance and to share knowledge across the global PMO community. We welcome membership from across the whole project management community.  

What do we do? A Project Management Office (PMO) is a group or department that defines, maintains and ensures project management standards in an organisation. It can also refer to a Program or Portfolio Management Office. 

PMOs vary in every organisation, but their core goal is to reduce risk and create space to deliver growth and strategy. As a result, they influence nearly every aspect of project management. 

We bring together knowledge, experience, and PMO wisdom from all over the world, primarily through learning and sharing events. We also support organisations to take their PMO and project management practice to the next level. 

What we offer our followers? We organise monthly learning and sharing events, including webinars and conferences. Additionally, we produce blogs, articles, and most importantly, podcasts featuring our “PMO Wisdom” interviews, which are showcased on the APM website. 

How to get involved? Whether you're at an entry, mid or senior level, we can connect you with experienced practitioners who can help leverage your own PMOs to improve project delivery. 

We typically attract PMO professionals, but we welcome people from all areas of project management who want to learn more about collaborating with their PMO or even setting one up. 

“We are passionate about PMO and advancing the profession, as well as helping others enhance their skills in this changing landscape,” says network lead Emma-Ruth Arnaz-Pemberton. “We welcome everyone to get involved, no matter the scale, as we offer insights for PMOs of all shapes and sizes.” 

Project (programme or portfolio) management office (PMO) An organisational structure that provides support for projects, programmes and/or portfolios.

Definition from APM Body of Knowledge 7th edition

What is a PMO?

What is portfolio management?

The APM PMO Interest Network provide a forum for PMO professionals to meet and discuss matters of mutual importance and to create knowledge to be shared across the PMO community. We welcome membership from across the whole PPM community. This includes:

  • PMO practitioners, defined as people who enable, support and ensure the management of change in organisations
  • Project and programme managers who would like to learn how to leverage their own PMOs to improve their project delivery
  • Those who need to know more about PMO and its benefits, practices, tools and techniques
  • People in leadership positions who need to understand the potential benefits of the PMO approach
  • People in organisations who are tasked with performing the ‘bridge’ function between strategy and delivery, either in a portfolio setting or in various dispersed units throughout the organisation.

Our aim is to provide a collaborative open forum for PMO practitioners, and anyone with an interest in the role of PMOs, to get together, share ideas, offer support and advice to the PMO community, and to create valuable practice-oriented knowledge, which helps drive the PMO profession forward.

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Apply to be an APM Interest Network Volunteer

This ongoing volunteering opportunity offers a chance to support and facilitate knowledge sharing and production of thought leadership content in the network's area of interest.

Volunteers can be a member or non-member of APM and can apply to join a team at anytime.

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APM PMO Interest Network Conference

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

Wisdom interviews

 

PMO wisdom interview with Nick Karamanis

PMO wisdom interview with Darren Gunter

PMO wisdom interview with Moffitt Cancer Center

PMO wisdom interview with Andrew Wall

PMO wisdom interview with Liz Bohler

PMO wisdom interview with Emma Blagg

PMO wisdom interview with Nina Hartley

PMO wisdom interview with Hussain Bandukwala

PMO wisdom interview with Fatimah Abbouchi

PMO wisdom interview with Elise Stevens

PMO wisdom interview with Hans Arnbjerg

PMO wisdom interview with Matti Haukka

PMO wisdom interview with Tuula Nurmiluoto

PMO wisdom interview with Andy Jordan

 

News

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PMO wisdom interview with Nick Karamanis, Winter 2025
The full recording of this conversation with Nick Karamanis has now been published. Nick shares his wisdom, as the Head of PMO from the APM PMO of the Year 2024 award winners Alpha Plus.
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The four elements of project management
The skills a project manager needs to be successful are also key for the PMO. The PMO customer base should be treated as such, and utilising these core elements to ensure a positive and collaborative relationship with those involved in, interested, and leading change.
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PMO wisdom interview with Darren Gunter, Spring 2024
APM Awards PMO of the year winner 2023 interview.
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From SIGs to networks - PMO
Becoming an Interest Network will lead to better alignment with the APMs five dimensions of professionalism
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The future of PMO, a conversation with PeopleCert webinar
Our PMOs continue to evolve, and with that evolution comes the importance of seeking out and understanding what the future holds for our PMO teams.
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PMO's and the CxO webinar
A look at the roles and responsibilities of the CxO and the PMO, and the issues that arise that prevent the two working effectively together.

Blogs

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The diversity, equality and inclusion benefits of a virtual programme management office
The virtual programme management office (VPMO) offers significant benefits related to diversity, equality, and inclusion. This ChatGPT-authored blog outlines the significant benefits of VPMO and offers a glimpse of how AI can support PMOs in future.
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How do you get to work in a PMO?
The majority of PMO professionals have had a career change or have experience as a project and/or programme manager. This suggests that PMO roles are not the obvious route when starting out in the change industry. 
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Answering the most urgent and frequent PMO questions
Answering the most urgent and frequently asked PMO questions with the PMO Specific Interest Group
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Revisiting the basics of PMO
We got back to the basics of PMO and share some of the key points you need to know for successful PMO.
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PMOs and resilience in a post-COVID world
Getting back to our lives and work can be a difficult task, PMO teams must be mindful that there's no right way to bring people back to the office, if at all.
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Take your chance to drive the PMO industry forward
From organisations questioning the need for a PMO, right up to our current reality where PMOs have been the light in the midst of chaos to enable beneficial change to happen for organisations during an unprecedented time. Over the years, the APM PMO SIG has been instrumental in driving the PMO industry forward.