Project, Programme, Portfolio & PMO
PMO Design and Operation
A five-day programme for PMO teams and their sponsors. It addresses the common position in which a PMO collects data diligently, produces reports punctually, and is nonetheless experienced by the organisation as overhead because the information it produces does not change any decision.
The business challenge
Why organisations commission this programme
PMOs frequently fail not through lack of effort but through lack of mandate. Without a defined purpose agreed with sponsors, a PMO accumulates administrative tasks, standardises for its own convenience, and reports status rather than insight. Delivery teams then treat it as a reporting burden and route around it, and the organisation loses the assurance the PMO was created to provide.
A PMO exists, collects data and produces reports, but is experienced by the organisation as administrative overhead rather than as a source of delivery confidence.
Who it is for
Participants
- Audience
- PMO managers and analysts, delivery assurance staff and sponsors establishing or resetting a PMO
- Recommended cohort
- 10 to 16 participants
- Prerequisites
- Current PMO role, or accountability for establishing or resetting a PMO. Familiarity with project delivery is assumed.
Outcomes
What participants will be able to do
- Define a PMO mandate and operating model matched to organisational need and maturity.
- Design standards, templates and cadence that improve delivery rather than consume it.
- Build management information that answers decision questions instead of restating status.
- Operate assurance and gate review roles credibly without becoming a policing function.
- Plan and sequence a PMO improvement roadmap with measurable maturity targets.
Learning objectives
- Define a PMO mandate and operating model proportionate to organisational need and maturity.
- Design standards and cadence that improve delivery rather than consume it.
- Produce management information that answers decision questions.
- Operate assurance and gate review credibly without becoming a policing function.
Indicative content
Programme structure
Content is confirmed during design and adapted to your context.
Day 1
PMO types, mandate, maturity assessment and diagnosis of the current PMO; baseline assessment.
- PMO types and purposes
- Mandate definition
- Maturity assessment
- Diagnosis of the current PMO; baseline assessment
Day 2
Operating model, services, roles, interfaces with delivery and finance, and resourcing.
- Operating model and service catalogue
- Roles and capability requirements
- Interfaces with delivery, finance and HR
- Resourcing and workload
Day 3
Standards, templates, data model, cadence and the discipline that keeps information trustworthy.
- Standards and templates
- Data model and information quality
- Cadence and the reporting calendar
- Tooling considerations
Day 4
Management information and executive reporting; assurance, gate reviews and intervention.
- Management information design
- Executive reporting
- Assurance and gate review
- Intervention and escalation
Day 5
PMO improvement roadmap, stakeholder plan, assessment and action planning.
- PMO improvement roadmap
- Stakeholder and adoption plan
- Assessment
- Action planning
Delivery and customisation
Configured around your organisation
- Typical duration
- Five days
- Formats
- Classroom or blended
- Language
- English by default. Other languages subject to facilitator availability and materials translation, agreed during design.
How it can be tailored
- Current PMO artefacts: terms of reference, templates, reporting packs and standards.
- The client delivery method and gate model.
- Existing tooling and data constraints.
- Inclusion of sponsors in selected sessions to agree mandate in the room.
- Sector-specific assurance or regulatory reporting requirements.
Methods
- Maturity assessment of the client's own PMO conducted by participants on day one and used throughout the week.
- Critique of real reporting packs against the test of whether each element supports a decision.
- Syndicate design of a PMO operating model and service catalogue.
- Stakeholder simulation in which participants must justify the PMO's value to a sceptical delivery director.
Materials, assessment and completion
Materials
- Participant workbook containing session content, frameworks, exercises and space for applied work.
- Client-contextualised case material and scenario packs used during the programme.
- Job aids, checklists and templates designed for use in the role after the programme.
- Assessment instruments and the marking criteria applied to them.
- Individual action plan template and a manager briefing note.
- PMO maturity model, service catalogue template and reporting design patterns.
Reinforcement
- Individual action plans agreed during the programme and shared with line managers where the client permits.
- Manager briefing material setting out what was taught and what should be reinforced in the role.
- Toolkits and templates issued in editable form for continued use.
- Follow-up session at 30, 60 or 90 days where commissioned, reviewing action-plan progress and obstacles.
- Review of the implemented PMO changes at 90 days against the roadmap, where commissioned.
Completion
- Attendance at no less than 80 per cent of scheduled contact time, recorded daily and reconciled against the registered cohort.
- Participation in the assessed practical components of the programme.
- Submission of the assessed work product and the individual action plan.
- Achievement of the assessment threshold where the client sets one; where no threshold is set, results are reported without a pass or fail determination.
Participants who meet the completion criteria receive a Knull certificate of completion recording the programme, dates, duration, content covered and, where assessed, the assessment outcome. Knull does not award accredited or regulated qualifications and does not hold third-party training accreditation. Attendance and assessment records are retained under the engagement terms and provided to the client with the completion report.
| Component | Weighting | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Baseline and post assessment | 25% | Knowledge instrument administered before and after, reported as learning gain. |
| PMO operating model | 35% | Clarity of mandate, proportionality, workability of cadence and realism of resourcing, marked against a rubric. |
| Improvement roadmap | 25% | Prioritisation, sequencing, measurability of maturity targets and stakeholder realism. |
| Reporting redesign | 15% | Whether each retained element demonstrably supports a decision, and the clarity of the resulting pack. |
Next step
Make it fit your organisation
Dates, cohort, format and fees are agreed in a proposal once scope is defined. To register interest in a closed cohort, use a corporate booking request — Knull reviews every request; it is not a confirmed reservation.
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Discuss this programme for your organisation
Tell us about your priorities, capability gaps or business challenges. We'll help identify an appropriate next step.