The Project Management Offices: A Practice Guide is a fresh take from PMI on what PMOs should be and how they can add value. It’s not just another theory-heavy book—it’s a practical guide that bridges the gap between textbook knowledge and the day-to-day realities of running a PMO. The guide taps into the collective expertise of the global PMO community, bringing real-world insights into common challenges like proving value and staying aligned with organisational strategy.
It’s designed for a broad audience—whether you’re leading a PMO, part of a PMO team, consulting, or simply trying to understand what PMOs should be delivering. With input from hundreds of experienced professionals, the guide blends research with lived experience.
A key feature of the guide is the PMO Value Ring™ framework, a PMI model that focuses on making PMOs more customer-centric and value-driven. It shifts the mindset from old-school, process-heavy PMOs to dynamic, strategic business partners. The emphasis is on understanding what the organisation actually needs from its PMO and delivering accordingly.
The guide is split into two main parts:
- Part 1 challenges traditional PMO thinking and covers key topics like what a PMO really is, the role of services, customer focus, maturity levels, and building the right competencies.
- Part 2 dives into the PMO Value Ring™ framework, offering a structured approach to creating and evolving a PMO that delivers real, measurable value.
Some of the big ideas in the guide include:
- PMO Structural Components – The foundations of a strong PMO, covering things like the mandate, strategy, and governance.
- PMO Customer Experience Cycle – A five-stage process (exploration, design, deployment, enhancement, and realisation) that ensures PMOs are delivering value in a way that resonates with their stakeholders.
- Value-Generating PMO Flywheel – A practical 10-step approach to embedding continuous improvement and making sure PMOs stay relevant.
- PMO Services and Maturity – A detailed look at common PMO services and a structured maturity model to help organisations assess where they are and where they need to go.
- PMO Competences – The essential skills PMO professionals need to be effective.
To make it even more actionable, the guide includes appendices with assessments for measuring customer expectations, service maturity, and key competencies.
Ultimately, this guide is all about making PMOs work smarter, proving their worth, and ensuring they are properly aligned with organisational goals. It’s packed with tools, strategies, and insights that you can put into action straight away. If you’re looking to make your PMO a true asset to your organisation, this is a great place to start.
Useful Resource for PMO Professionals
This new guide can be particularly useful for the same set of people who would consider taking the House of PMO Essentials courses for PMO Administrators, PMO Analysts, PMO Managers, and PMO Directors.
Here’s how the PMO Practice Guide might be beneficial for each of these groups:
PMO Administrators
The Essentials for PMO Administrators focuses on supporting project, programme, or portfolio managers in administrative and secretariat aspects. The Practice Guide, while more strategic, provides a broader context for the role of a PMO and the services it offers. An administrator would gain a better understanding of why their administrative tasks are important within the larger PMO strategy and how they contribute to value delivery.
Understanding the customer-centric approach emphasised in the Practice Guide can also help PMO administrators better support the needs of project managers and teams they work with. The guide’s overview of common PMO services can also provide insights into the different ways an administrator’s skills might be applied and developed within a PMO.
PMO Analysts
The Essentials for PMO Analysts focuses on supporting delivery through coordination, planning, control, reporting, analysis, and insights, as well as assisting the PMO Manager.
The PMO Practice Guide’s focus on data analytics and reporting as a key PMO service directly relates to the analyst role. The guide’s emphasis on value delivery and demonstrating tangible benefits can help analysts frame their reporting and analysis in a way that highlights the impact of projects and the PMO.
The PMO Value Ring™ framework provides a structure for understanding how an analyst’s work contributes to the overall PMO value proposition. Also the discussions on PMO service maturity can inspire analysts to think about how their services can evolve and improve.
PMO Managers
As the Essentials for PMO Managers qualification aims to equip individuals with the essential knowledge and skills to undertake this role, the PMO Practice Guide serves as a valuable supplementary resource.
The guide’s in-depth exploration of PMO strategy, governance, and the development of PMO services can provide PMO Managers with broader perspectives and frameworks beyond the core competences covered in the Essentials syllabus. The strong emphasis on being a value-driven service provider and adopting a customer-centric approach offers a different perspective on PMO management that complements the foundational knowledge provided by the Essentials course. The PMO Value Ring™ framework offers a practical roadmap for developing and operating a PMO focused on continuous value delivery.
PMO Directors
The Essentials for PMO Directors focuses on providing effective, organisation-wide PMO capabilities to support the delivery of the organisation’s strategy. The PMO Practice Guide aligns strongly with this strategic perspective.
Its emphasis on aligning the PMO with organisational vision, mission, and strategy is crucial for PMO Directors. The guide’s insights into different organisational landscapes and positioning the PMO as a strategic asset are directly relevant to the responsibilities of a PMO Director. The concepts of PMO service strategy and the PMO lifecycle discussed in the context of PMO Director training materials are further elaborated upon in the Practice Guide through frameworks like the PMO Value Ring™.
The guide’s focus on measuring and communicating PMO value is also essential for a PMO Director seeking to demonstrate the impact of their organisation-wide capabilities.
While the House of PMO Essentials courses provide role-specific knowledge and a pathway to certification, the PMI PMO Practice Guide offers a broader, more strategic, and value-centric perspective on PMOs. It can serve as a valuable resource for individuals at all stages of their PMO career, from administrators seeking context to directors aiming for strategic alignment. The guide’s emphasis on customer centricity, value delivery, and continuous improvement provides a framework that complements the competency-based approach of the Essentials courses, ultimately helping PMO professionals at all levels enhance their effectiveness and contribute greater value to their organisations.
>> The PMO Practice Guide is available via PMI
Enjoying Our Blog?
Sign up and receive all our articles (we’ll send you an update once a week!) plus special offers and events:
