The success of your project management office (PMO) will rely heavily on your project managers. It’s up to them to implement the methodology and frameworks you lay out, so your office should be training project managers to keep them on track with business objectives.
It can seem like a nice to have when building and embedding your PMO into a business, but it has short- and long-term benefits that can’t be ignored. Here, we’re going to explore:
Six reasons why you need to offer regular training to your project managers
Areas you can focus on when designing ongoing training for your project managers
Why do I need to offer training to project managers to keep them aligned with strategy?
You want to make sure that your project managers have the skills and capabilities to deliver the projects within your PMO. While you can assume a level of knowledge, since they are already in role, ensuring that everyone grasps your methodology and processes is vital.
Here are the key reasons you need to invest time and money into training your PMs:
Improve skills – everyone can be better at something, so offering training hard skills in project management will make sure that everyone can cover the needs of their projects.
Build consistency – when all your PMs know the same processes, information, and strategy, you can be sure projects are being run consistently well.
Better planning – with training, you can make sure projects start off well and embed business strategy within projects from the very beginning.
Stronger decision–making – courses and seminars can make sure you embed decision-making best practices within your PMs. This can make sure strategic objectives are always taken into account.
Increase collaboration – bringing your PMs together for training sessions can build their networks and options for collaboration. With the cross-fertilisation of ideas, you should see more conversations about business strategy.
Higher engagement – the investment into the skills and knowledge of PMs will improve their buy-in to the business and help them see and strive for the broader picture the business is aiming for.
The more touchpoints you have with your PMs, the more you can ensure business goals and strategy are part of their processes and thinking. It will also improve the overall results your PMO and projects deliver.
What training should my PMO offer to project managers to improve strategic alignment?
There are clear benefits to upskilling and training your project managers. Knowing what competencies to focus on can be a challenge, so we’ve put together some ideas for training sessions that can improve the strategic alignment of your PMs.
Business strategy training is a clear way to ensure PMs know what they aim to achieve.
Project methodology training can ensure PMs understand the what of their work and also fundamentally get to grips with the why.
Risk management training will make sure PMs are monitoring project risk and can see the bigger picture when working on this element.
Stakeholder management training will help PMs understand the importance of engaging across their projects and interacting with people working to deliver strategic goals.
Change management training makes sure that PMs grasp the bigger picture of what your PMO is delivering and, therefore, how your office fits into business strategy.
KPI and metrics training will give your PMs the tools to understand how strategic goals are being delivered so they can see results in real-time.
Delivering training to keep your project managers aligned with business strategy
It’s vital that your PMs understand what the wider business is aiming for. Whether you run a PMO in a software company, a government department, or a construction business, there will be a bigger picture that your PMO needs to keep an eye on.
When you offer regular training to your PMs, you can make sure the courses have an element of strategic awareness. It will also build engagement between them and the business; you can be sure they care about delivering results.
