Now your project management office (PMO) has survived what seems to be the worst of the pandemic, and we’re returning to business as usual, it’s time to review the changes you went through. A major consideration needs to be plugging the skills gap in your post-COVID hybrid PMO.
Lots of businesses are listening to the needs of employees and working within a hybrid PMO model, with some office time required mixed with working from home a couple of days a week. Remote working was foisted upon most companies at the start of the pandemic, so now is the time to be intentional with your new working paradigm.
To make sure your team is prepared and ready for hybrid working, we’re going to look at:
How hybrid working differs from traditional and fully remote working
The skills your team will need to thrive in a hybrid PMO
The different training methods you can use for each required skill
So you smoothen the transition to a new way of working.
What is a hybrid PMO?
In this context, a hybrid PMO is one that allows team members a mix of in-office and remote working. You may have set days for the whole team to be present or a quota of hours that need to be met on-site.
The skills needed for working hybrid need to be more refined than for remote working since the working day is going to have less routine. Your team will need to be able to adapt and have less structure.
You may want to consider adapting the in-office environment to make transitions easier. For example, having a less-rigid timeframe for breaks and reworking desk space to meet modern standards like laptop stands, greenery, and natural lighting.
What skills are needed to work in a hybrid PMO?
Many of the skills specific to remote working are needed for hybrid working, too. However, some are more specific to the changing environments of hybrid working, and we’ll explore them here.
Time management and planning
A lot of remote working is self-directed – your team have to allocate their time and motivate themselves to stick to the schedule.
In a hybrid PMO, they will need to be yet more organised to decide what tasks are best done at home and what will be better done when in the office. Remembering to have the right devices and access to the right folders is also going to be more challenging when you work from multiple locations.
There are a range of time management skills and processes you can introduce to your team. Give your team training in the form of an online course to give them a solid, actionable, and proven framework to implement.
Collaboration and problem solving
Making sure everyone can work together is important when you have people at home and the office. As we discussed in a previous post, you can create a communication charter to ensure your team is confident they’re involved in decisions.
Your PMO team will need to have more problem-solving skills when they may be working non-core hours or the person they need isn’t in the office that day as well.
Improving collaboration skills should be an ongoing process of working with everyone to hone what you have in place. You could consider a one-off workshop and then keep the process under regular review.
Digital literacy
You likely threw a lot of different software at your PMO team when you made the hasty transition to working from home. Post-COVID, it’s time to make sure your office and your team are getting the best out of them.
You also need to ensure they understand some of the broader concepts of online security. They may know to turn on their VPN but are they aware of why it’s important and how else to stay secure online?
Offer your team training specific to the tools they are using – lots of the time, the supplier will have online classes. You can also consider general digital literacy classes online or pay for classroom training locally.
The right skills for a post-COVID PMO
Now you have time to ensure your team has the right skills to thrive in a hybrid working environment. Start looking at plugging the skills gap in your post-COVID, hybrid PMO to make the transition better for your team and more productive for your office.
