Certified PMO Manager - Projekti-instituutti · 3 PMO Competence Baseline: PMO Competence Requirements .....3 3.1 Project Culture Development ... Because each development area is

Project Institute Finland Ltd. 2014

Certified PMO Manager™ Competence Baseline 1.2

PMO Manager Certificate Project Office competence requirements (CPMO Competence Baseline)

Project Institute Finland Ltd. Phone: +358 (09) 4391 410 [email protected]

Spektri Business Park / Duo 3. krs, Metsänneidonkuja 6, 02130 Espoo

Fax: +358 (09) 4391 4120

www.projekti-instituutti.fi

Contents

1 Certified PMO Manager™: the PMO professional’s certificate ...................................................... 1

2 How to demonstrate competence .................................................................................................. 2

Exam ......................................................................................................................................... 2

2.1 .................................................................................................................................................... 2

2.2 Project culture development task ........................................................................................... 2

3 PMO Competence Baseline: PMO Competence Requirements .................................................... 3

3.1 Project Culture Development ................................................................................................. 3

3.2 Project management processes and project management ..................................................... 4

3.3 Project Portfolio Management ................................................................................................ 5

3.4 Change management and program management .................................................................. 6

3.5 PM and PPM software ........................................................................................................... 7

3.6 Leadership in projects and facilitation .................................................................................... 8

3.7 Project Competence Development ......................................................................................... 9

4 Evaluation ................................................................................................................................... 10

5 PMO Manager certification without PM Master™ training program ............................................. 10

5.1 IPMA A certified candidates ................................................................................................. 11

5.2 Candidates with proven experience of establishing and/or leading a PMO .......................... 11

6 Validity and renewal of certificate ................................................................................................ 11

PMO Competence Baseline

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1 Certified PMO Manager™: the PMO professional’s certificate

A Certified PMO Manager has proved his or her skills as a project culture development

expert in his/her organization. In Finland, Certified PMO Manager™ is a unique proof of

increasingly demanded competence in an increasingly important field. For both

companies and public sector organizations, Certified PMO Manager™ brings credibility

and professionalism to their project culture development endeavors.

Receiving the PMO Manager certificate requires experience and proof of project and/or

program management, project portfolio management, and/or development of project

practices in general. The candidate has to be familiar with (project) decision and

steering models in his/her organization and understand the meaning of projects for the

organization’s business. He/she should have an understanding of the maturity level of

the organization’s project activities, as well as the targeted maturity level. He/she needs

to be familiar with the different elements of project culture development and understand

how they should be balanced in order to raise the maturity level of project activities.


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2 How to demonstrate competence

The certification process includes an exam and planning & carrying out a project culture

development task in one’s own organization. Both can be done as a part of Project

Institute Finland’s PM Master training program1 (in Finnish); the certification and support

for the development task are included in the price of the training program. The

certification can also be done independently from the training program; please see

chapter 5 for prerequisites and instructions.

2.1 Exam

In the exam, candidates demonstrate their knowledge of common concepts, processes,

theories, and methodologies needed in PMO tasks (see appendix).

The exam covers the PMO competence areas described in chapter 3.

2.2 Project culture development task

The Project culture development task should focus on a development area identified by

the candidate in his/her organization’s project practices. The development task is carried

out during the PM Master™ training program. The topic and scope are defined in the

beginning of the training program, and the trainers will support candidates throughout

the training program. A summary of the development task is presented in the end of the

training program.

Because each development area is organization specific and individual, each candidate’s

development task will be different. However, in the summary, candidates should

demonstrate their ability to plan and carry out a development project, -program or

action systematically, goal-orientedly and according to the organization’s strategy. The

1 In this document, PM Master™ refers to Project Institute Finland’s open PM Master training program (not organization-specific training programs).


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competence areas that should be demonstrated through the development task are

described in the PMO Competence Baseline (chapter 3).

3 PMO Competence Baseline: PMO Competence Requirements

3.1 Project Culture Development

A Certified PMO Manager

• knows how to assess development needs in organization’s project culture

• understands the prerequisites for and the significance of projects in different

organizations

• is familiar with the areas of project culture development, identifies development

needs, and is able to make a development plan based on these needs

Content areas:

a) Areas of project culture

b) Assessing project culture; assessment focus areas

c) The significance of projects in different businesses or business areas

d) Assessing Project Allocation Percentage; the significance and consequences of

PAP

e) Setting a target level for project culture maturity

f) Designing a roadmap for development program(s)

g) Project management standards (knowledge and ability to implement)


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3.2 Project management processes and project management


• understands the nature of PM processes and how they differ from

implementation processes

• knows the prerequisites for a functioning project management model and teh

decision points and process groups in a PM model

• knows the PM Process Groups and their contents according both to ISO 21500

standard and PMI’s PM BOK 2

• understands which complexity factors affects the choice of an adequate PM effort

level

• has PM knowledge and competence on IPMA D level minimum

Content areas:

a) PM models (prerequisites and basic solutions)

b) Knowledge of the contents of ISO 21500 standard

c) Knowledge of the contents of PM BOK

d) Project classification according to management complexity

e) Linking implementation level processes with PM processes

f) Basic principles of project management

g) Project management methodologies

2 Project Management Institute: the Project Management Body of Knowledge


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3.3 Project Portfolio Management


• understands the nature of PPM processes and how they relate to the

organization’s strategic and operative management processes as well as single

project management processes

• knows the PPM maturity and target levels and the prerequisites for reaching

them

• knows the significance and responsibilities of different roles in PPM

• is familiar with methodologies for portfolio reporting, resource management, and

project prioritization

Content areas:

a) PPM maturity levels

b) Basics of strategic planning

c) Linking PPM to strategic and operative management

d) Linking PPM processes to project processes

e) PPM roles

f) knowledge of types of relations between projects and how they can be utilized in

PPM

g) Project portfolio status and balance reporting

h) Resource management

i) Principles for choosing and prioritizing projects


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3.4 Change management and program management

A certified PMO Manager

• knows the nature & principles of change and the basics of change management

• knows the principles and basic methodologies of program management and knows how

program management can be applied in major change endeavors

• knows how to apply project management for realizing small changes or parts of change

endeavors

• knows the basic principles of change communication

Content areas:

a) Change management

b) Communication skills

c) Program management

d) Change projects


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3.5 PM and PPM software


• understands the requirements for PM and PPM software in different organizations

and project environments

• understands the relationship between PM software data structure and other data

systems

• is familiar with available solutions and their suitability for different purposes

• is able to support software users or find suitable support for them

• identifies solution development opportunities brought by the overall development

of information technology

Content areas:

a) Basic familiarity with information technology

b) Familiarity with organization’s data architecture

c) Basic knowledge of communication technologies

d) Knowledge of PPM software features

e) Knowledge of PM software features

f) Familiarity with the most common software solutions on the market


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3.6 Leadership in projects and facilitation


• understands the distinct requirements of project environments for team and

individual leadership

• has good self-knowledge and possesses self-leadership skills

• knows how to apply different leadership styles

• has good communication skills

• is willing to develop his or her own emotional intelligence

• is aware of different behavioral styles and applies this awareness in his or her

own leadership and communication activities

• is familiar with facilitation methodologies and knows how to utilize them in

different situations

Content areas:

a) Leadership styles

b) Behavioral styles

c) Motivation and feedback

d) Conflict solving and negotiation skills

e) Facilitation principles and methodologies

f) Behavioral competencies accordning to IPMA Competence Baseline 3

3 ICB - IPMA Competence Baseline Version 3.0, part 4.2: Behavioural competence elements


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3.7 Project Competence Development


understands the skill and competence requirements for different project roles

has the competence to plan and utilize competence development solutions for

different roles

is aware of and can utilize PM competence structures when planning tarining

contents (ICB , PM BOK)

has the competence to plan and develop Project Managers’ career paths

offers support to project staff via mentoring and understands the prerequisites

for and possibilities of coaching

Content areas

a) Different approaches to competence development and training planning

b) Basics of pedagogy

c) Using mentoring and coaching in competence development

d) Project management competence structures (ICB, PM BOK, APM)


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4 Evaluation

In the exam, candidates prove their knowledge of common concepts, processes, and

development methodologies needed in PMO work (see appendix).

The Project culture development task (see section 2.2) is evaluated qualitatively

according to the PMO Competence Baseline. The topic and scope of the development

task are determined together with Project Institute’s trainer/tutor. The chosen topic

indicates which of the competence requirements are the most relevant and crucial when

evaluating the result presented.

The candidate presents the development task and the acquired results to his/her PM

Master group (when getting certified as part of PM Master™ training program) and

Project Institute’s representatives. Someone representing the candidate’s organization,

e.g. the owner of the development project, should give their comments on the

development task/project. The evaluation is based on how well the development task is

aligned with the organization’s strategy, development actions and implementation plans,

as well as the expected and acquired results at the time of the certification.

5 PMO Manager certification without PM Master™ training program

The PMO Manager Certificate can with certain prerequisites be granted to a person who

hasn’t participated in the PM Master™ training program. The candidate should then be

strongly experienced in PMO work and IPMA A certified, or present strong proof of

establishing and/or managing a PMO.

In the CPMO evaluation process, previously acquired and proved professional knowledge

can be taken into account. How the competence requirements stated in the CPMO


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baseline are then proved, and what documentation the candidate should provide Project

Institute, is agreed on case-by-case.

5.1 IPMA A certified candidates

When evaluating the competence level required for PMO Manager Certificate, the

following documents and courses are taken into account:

• CV and proof of experience of PMO work

• Completion of one of the following IPMA Advanced courses (the list can be

completed when new suitable courses are proposed within the IPMA Advanced

program):

Managing corporate project portfolios

Programme Management

Auditing PM (no longer available)

Managing project orientated company (no longer available)

5.2 Candidates with proven experience of establishing and/or leading a PMO

When evaluating the competence level required for PMO Manager Certificate, the

following documents and courses are taken into account:

• CV and proof of experience of PMO managerial work

• An IPMA or PMI project management certificate

• At least two (2) completed IPMA Advanced courses, one of which should be

among he courses listed in section 5.1 above)

6 Validity and renewal of certificate

The PMO Manager certificate is valid for five (5) years from its granting date. The

certificate is renewed by reporting to Project Institute how one has sustained and

developed one’s competence in PMO work. Renewal procedures should be agreed on

separately with Project Institute Finland.

Documents

Certified PMO Manager - Projekti-instituutti · 3 PMO Competence Baseline: PMO Competence Requirements .....3 3.1 Project Culture Development ... Because each development area is