As you begin to set up your new project management office (PMO), you don’t always know what you don’t know. Your team may be new to PMOs or the Agile method as well, so bringing in consultants to help train your new PMO team can be a powerful move.
Training and upskilling will likely be a part of the long-term activities of your PMO, and you need to get the basics across from the beginning. You will need to train the people in your office, like your analysts and administrators, as well as your project managers and their teams.
Here, we’re going to look at:
- How an Agile consultant can help with your new PMO training needs
- What types of training an Agile consultant can offer your new PMO
- The reasons you should consider using Agile consultants for your training needs
What training can an Agile consultant offer a new PMO?
Whether you’re new to setting up PMOs or have been there at the beginning of many PMOs, there will always be training needs. Your team will have different levels of knowledge and familiarity with Agile, and you need to make sure everyone is up to speed at the start.
To make sure that everyone has the same knowledge and understanding of Agile principles as well as the strategy you’ll be implementing, you can bring in an Agile consultant. They’ll be able to:
- Deliver customised training – Each PMO is unique, and you need to get the fundamentals across to your team and projects. A consultant offering Agile training will give your team bespoke information to work within your new setup.
- Offer a range of training types – It’s a consultant’s job to know the best way to deliver different types of information. Bringing in an expert means you’ll get the right mix of hands-on, classroom, and online training to support your team.
- Support certification preparation – You may want to get your team on the path to project management certification, such as PRINCE2 or PMP. Embedding the knowledge needed and how and why your team will want to do this can be presented authoritatively by an Agile consultant.
- Facilitate initial processes – To ensure your new Agile PMO gets off to a strong start, your Agile consultants can be present at your initial meetings, scrums, stand-ups etc, to make sure that your frameworks and processes have been embedded and that hiccups are dealt with early.
While you spend your time getting your PMO ready to go, you can delegate the training and embedding within your team you an Agile training consultant.
What types of training can an Agile consultant offer?
PMOs can and do offer ongoing training and support to their teams, so you’ll likely be aware of the different types of classes and education that can be offered. An Agile consultant that specialises in training will be able to identify the right training types for your needs.
- Classroom training – You may want your team to sit in a classroom environment to learn the fundamentals of your Agile PMO. This doesn’t necessarily mean a row of desks or eye-front style teaching, but bringing your teams together to focus in a learning environment.
- Seminars – This style of training offers guided learning where your team will be given a chance to find information, work with their peers, and be supported by experts to learn what they need to know. You, your C-suite, and other stakeholders can attend seminars with your team to work through knowledge acquisition.
- Hands-on training – Many people learn by doing, and it can reinforce other learning to let people start their work and be guided and corrected through the process. You can have an Agile consultant on hand for the first project planning, kick-off meetings, daily huddles, etc, to offer guidance and support to get things going.
Do I need Agile consultants to train my team?
You may be familiar with training people about Agile project management and the way you work with it. However, it can take time to develop training materials, and it can be hard to know the level of a group of fresh recruits and people who have worked within different methodologies.
An Agile consultant will get everyone up to speed at the start of your PMO, giving you a solid basis to develop their skills and careers in the longer term. You can also focus on the task of getting your PMO ready and functioning quickly without breaking your flow to offer training.
