Awards

The PMO of the Year Awards are designed to recognize and honor PMOs who have exemplified superior performance and significantly contributed value to their organizations.

By identifying the best PMOs from each region and the best in the world, we aim to foster a culture of excellence and encourage the global development of the PMO community.

This recognition goes to those PMOs that have effectively aligned their strategies with organizational goals, demonstrating innovation, efficiency, and effectiveness in their practices.

This prestigious recognition also serves as a beacon to other PMOs worldwide, setting a benchmark for excellence and inspiring others to strive for similar achievements. It is an opportunity for outstanding PMOs to share their success stories, methodologies, and practices, thus contributing to the collective knowledge and advancement of the global PMO community.

By highlighting the achievements of the best, we aim to inspire all PMOs to pursue excellence, innovate continually, and play a crucial role in driving their organizations toward success and sustainability.

A total of 7 awards will be presented to the best PMOs in 2024 as outlined below:

1. World PMO of the Year Award.
2. Africa PMO of the Year Award.
3. Asia-Pacific PMO of the Year Award.
4. Europe PMO of the Year Award.
5. Latin America PMO of the Year Award.
6. Middle East PMO of the Year Award.
7. North America PMO of the Year Award.

Excellence Distinctions are special recognitions given to nominees who showcase exceptional performance in specific domains.

These distinctions play a crucial role in recognizing PMOs' strengths and unique skills. This is particularly important for those who may not reach the final stages of the global competition.

By focusing on specific areas of excellence, the awards emphasize the varied and significant contributions that PMOs make to their organizations and the broader PMO community.

Such an approach not only provides a sense of accomplishment to the participants but also offers insights into the best practices and innovative strategies prevalent in the PMO field.

Additionally, this award system broadens the scope of recognition, honoring a diverse range of organizations that have made remarkable strides in their PMO strategies. It highlights the varied and impactful efforts across the spectrum of PMO practices, underscoring the field's depth and diversity.

This inclusive form of recognition is designed to motivate and inspire PMOs worldwide, showcasing various ways to achieve excellence and encouraging a culture of continuous improvement and innovation.

When creating the video to be submitted, please remember to include aspects related to the topics covered by the Excellence Distinctions in case the organization excels in one or more of them.

A total of 16 Excellence Distinctions will be given in 2024 to PMOs that have distinguished themselves in the competition through excellence in key domains critical to the success of PMOs, which are as follows:

1. Agile & Hybrid Strategies
2. Business Transformation
3. Collaborative Practices
4. Communication & Stakeholder Management
5. Competencies Development
6. Diversity & Inclusion
7. Innovation
8. Knowledge Management
9. Methodology & Processes
10. Organizational Change Management
11. Portfolio & Benefit Management
12. Project Governance
13. Community Impact
14. Strategic Alignment
15. Sustainable Practices
16. Value Delivery

Application

• To begin your application for the PMO Global Awards 2024, the first step is to designate a Lead Nominator. This person, who must be the PMO Leader, will be the primary point of contact for all communications regarding the nomination. To initiate your application, you need to submit a one-page application form.
• Within three business days of submitting this form, the PMO Global Awards team will email you to confirm your eligibility for the PMO Global Awards 2024, marking the start of your journey. To complete your application, you must submit the requested video by May 15^th, 2024, adhering to the guidelines provided in the subsequent sections.
• More than one application from the same country is allowed. However, only the best performer nominee from each country will advance from the Group Stage to the Knockout Stage. Please refer to the Evaluation Stages section below to understand this process.
• It is important to remember that you are committing your organization to participate in the competition by submitting the application form, even if the video has not yet been sent. Therefore, submit the form only when you are certain of your organization's participation. Failure to submit the video and withdraw from the competition will result in your organization being listed as one of the nominees but automatically losing all matches in the group stage, which could adversely affect your PMO's reputation. Additionally, your organization will become ineligible to participate in the subsequent two editions of the PMO Global Awards following such withdrawal. Thus, submitting the application form signifies a commitment to the PMI and your peers from other organizations. Your absence in the group stage could negatively impact the competition. Understanding the seriousness of this commitment and the implications of withdrawing after submitting the application form is essential.
EXCELLENCE DISTINCTIONS
• The Excellence Distinctions do not require applications. Regardless of their ultimate rank in the worldwide competition, all nominees who participate, even if they leave in the early stages, may earn one or more Excellence Distinctions if they stand out in specific key topics under evaluation.

Eligibility Criteria

• PMOs from any industry, sector, or country are eligible to participate.
• Enterprise, Business Unit, Departmental, Program, or Project PMOs are eligible to participate.
• PMOs from the same global organization can represent different countries in the competition if they have offices located in those respective countries.
• Multiple PMOs from a single organization are eligible to participate.
• Nominations from third parties on behalf of a PMO are not accepted. Consulting, Training, or other third-party providers cannot submit nominations on behalf of an organization's PMO.
• Current PMI staff, PMI contractors, and PMI consultants are not eligible to apply for this award.
• PMOs that have won the World PMO of the Year award in one of the last four editions of the PMO Global Awards or one of the Regional PMO of the Year awards in the previous two editions are not eligible to participate in the current edition.

Competition Format

• Nominees will compete in successive rounds against each other in a one-on-one format based on the set criteria.
• Each contest will be assessed by a group of judges assigned to select the winner according to the established criteria.
• The outcome of each contest will be determined by the final score, which indicates the victorious PMO for that match.
• Take, for instance, a contest between Country A and Country B with twenty judges assigned. If fifteen judges consider Country A's nominee superior in line with the criteria, while the remaining five prefer Country B's nominee, the final score would be Country A 15 X 5 Country B, leading to a victory for Country A.
• In cases where there is a tie, the tiebreaker will involve a comparison of performances based on each criterion, beginning from the last and working towards the first. Should the tie persist, a public draw will be conducted to establish the winner of the match.

• A nominee must secure endorsements from at least 75% of the judges to be eligible for an Excellent Distinction.
• The nominee with the highest relative score in each particular domain will be awarded an Excellence Distinction.
• The relative score is determined using the following formula: the number of judges who selected the nominee for excellence in a specific domain divided by the number of judges who evaluated the nominee. For instance, two nominees were assessed throughout the competition by 80 and 120 judges, respectively, with the first leaving the competition in the semi-finals and the second advancing to the regional finals. Of the 80 judges who evaluated the first nominee, 72 (90%) appointed it for its excellence in a particular domain, whereas 90 (75%) appointed the second for its excellence in the same domain. Given that these were the two best-performing nominees in that domain, the first nominee will be awarded the Excellence Distinction for outperforming all competitors (90%). This rigorous selection process ensures the awards genuinely acknowledge and celebrate PMOs demonstrating outstanding capabilities and achievements in specific areas.

Judges Assignment Model

• Judges are assigned to each match through a random selection process, considering their availability and the number of matches they have already evaluated.
• Judges who either have citizenship or reside in any of the countries participating in a specific match are not eligible to be assigned to that match. This rule ensures impartiality and fairness in the judging process by avoiding potential conflicts of interest.
• In the initial rounds, about ten judges are assigned to each match due to a higher number of parallel matches. In subsequent rounds, this number gradually increases and can reach nearly all the more than 400 judges in the grand world final.

Evaluation Criteria

1. PMO's Evolution: This criterion assesses the development and growth of the PMO, focusing on its strategic approach, consistency, adaptability, leadership, and the journey that shaped its current state. This aspect carries a significance of 20% in the overall evaluation.

2. Client Service Excellence: This aspect gauges the range and suitability of services or functions the PMO offers to its clients and stakeholders. It considers how well these services meet the needs of the given scenario and their effectiveness in fulfilling the organization's performance expectations. This criterion has a weight of 15%.

3. Adherence to Best Practices: This criterion examines the PMO's service delivery approach, including the methodologies and techniques employed. It assesses alignment with industry best practices and the PMO's commitment to continuously improving its services. This factor contributes 15% to the overall evaluation.

4. Innovation and Adaptability: This criterion looks at how the PMO has implemented innovative solutions to overcome challenges and the impact of these innovations on achieving tangible results for the organization. It accounts for 15% of the total assessment.

5. Community Engagement and Culture: This aspect evaluates the PMO's role in fostering a vibrant project management community within the organization. It considers how the PMO contributes to the evolution of organizational culture and promotes sharing experiences and lessons learned. This criterion is weighted at 10%.

6. Value Creation and Impact: This criterion assesses the tangible benefits and outcomes delivered by the PMO to its customers, stakeholders, and the wider organization. It also examines the PMO's influence on the evolution of organizational culture and maturity, as well as its role in enhancing senior management engagement and sponsorship levels. This is the most significant criterion, holding a weight of 25%.

Evaluation Stages

The evaluation process for the PMO Global Awards is split into two stages: the Group Stage and the Knockout Stage.

GROUP STAGE

• The Group Stage aims to identify the nominees who will advance to the Knockout Stage, where only one single PMO must represent each country.
• For each of the six regions (Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, and North America), a maximum of 16 nominees with the best performance in their respective countries can qualify for the Knockout Stage. Here are some possible scenarios:

a) If more than one nominee from a specific country participates in the Group Stage, only the one with the best overall performance in this stage will advance to the Knockout Stage of their region. The other nominees from that country will conclude their participation in the competition.

b) If there is only one nominee from a particular country, they will automatically advance to the Knockout Stage of their region. However, if a region has more than 16 nominees eligible to advance to the Knockout Stage, only the top 16, based on their performance in the Group Stage, will move forward, with the remaining nominees ending their participation in the competition.

c) In the event of a tie in the performance of nominees, the tiebreaker will be the average performance in the last criterion, progressing backward to the first criterion. This method ensures a fair and measurable way to resolve ties and determine which nominees advance to the next stage.

d) In cases where there are multiple nominees from a single country that hosts a local award recognized by PMOGA, the indications of this local award will receive a 30% handicap in all Group Stage matches. For example, let's assume a country has two nominees in the Group Stage, and Nominee A has been indicated by a PMOGA-recognized local award. In a match between Nominee A and Nominee B, where the final score was Nominee A 20 x 25 Nominee B, this rule will come into play, and the adjusted score for this match will be Nominee A 26 x 25 Nominee B since Nominee A receives an additional 6 points as a bonus for winning the local award. This handicap is designed to acknowledge and reward the achievement of winning a recognized local award while maintaining a competitive balance in the Group Stage.

KNOCKOUT STAGE

• The Knockout Stage of the competition features a single PMO representing each participating country to determine the regional winners from six regions: Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and North America.
• The process involves these regional representatives competing against each other to identify the top PMO from each region.
• Following this, the competition intensifies as these six regional winners, now world finalists, vie against one another to ultimately establish the World PMO of the Year Awardee.

Regional Finalists and Winners

• If a nominee is selected as a regional finalist in its respective region, it agrees to the condition of participating in the 2024 PMI Global Summit in Los Angeles, CA. As part of this participation, the nominee is expected to conduct a session at the summit.
• If a nominee is selected as one of the regional winners and thus a finalist for the 2024 World PMO of the Year Award, it agrees to the condition of participating in the 2024 PMOUNCON (location will be defined soon). As part of this participation, the nominee is expected to participate in a panel discussion at the conference.

• Also, if a nominee is selected as one of the regional winners and thus a finalist for the 2024 World PMO of the Year Award, it agrees to produce a 2-minute and 30-second video at their own expense. This video will be a part of the PMO Global Awards Ceremony. The specific requirements for the video will be communicated along with the announcement of the regional winners and must be adhered to strictly. The deadline for the video submission is set at 40 days. Reference can be made to the previous PMO Global Awards Ceremony videos for examples of videos produced by previous finalists.

• Please be aware that PMI will not cover any costs related to creating materials or videos, attending the Regional Finals at the PMI Global Summit in Los Angeles, CA, participating in the PMO Global Awards Ceremony during the 2024 PMOUNCON, or shipping trophies.

Confidentiality and IP Rights

• Unlike traditional awards, a key to the success of the PMO Global Awards is the innovative approach of having nominees submit a video presentation of their PMO, aligning with established criteria and structure. This method revolutionizes the evaluation process, making it more dynamic and interactive. Moreover, it facilitates a learning opportunity for the global PMO community, as these videos are made available in full after the competition concludes on the PMO Global Awards Knowledge Base.
• The rule here is simple and unequivocal: Do not include confidential information in your video. Since the video will be mandatorily made publicly available to the PMO community after the competition, it's crucial to ensure that no sensitive data is shared.
• This rule is non-negotiable as it is vital for transforming the PMO Global Awards into a true learning journey for our entire community. It ensures transparency and encourages knowledge sharing, enabling PMOs worldwide to benefit from the experiences and strategies of the nominees.

• The Lead Nominator is responsible for obtaining all necessary permissions from their organization before submitting the Nomination Package.

• Upon submission, the organization consents to grant PMI a non-exclusive right to use any materials provided for business-related purposes. This includes adding the submitted video to our public knowledge bases, displaying the materials on our websites, press releases, and other marketing and promotional content, such as video presentations.

Video Guidelines

• The video is vital to your participation at the PMO Global Awards, providing Judges with essential insights, clarifications, and a deeper understanding for thorough evaluation.

• Please remember that the expectation for the video is that your PMO is presented like what would be done, for example, in a virtual conference. There is no requirement or expectation for professional production or any level of sophistication that would require a high investment in video production. The evaluation focuses on the content of the video rather than its production sophistication.

• The video presentation should last strictly between 30 to 40 minutes. A tolerance of +/- 5 minutes is allowed. Videos not adhering to this time frame will not be accepted.

• The video format can vary and might include PowerPoint-style presentations with voiceover or other effective formats. The video presenter does not need to be the lead nominee. Narration through voiceover is acceptable.

• There is no specific template for the presentation, but using a sans-serif font of at least 14-point size is recommended for readability.

• Your video must be in Business English. This is crucial as they will be evaluated by an international Judging Committee that may not be familiar with unique acronyms and terms specific to your organization, industry, or country.

  Pay special attention to the quality of audio capture for clear and intelligible narration.

  The applicant is fully responsible for recording and producing the video presentation. PMI does not offer technical support for this task.

  Please be aware that PMI will not cover any costs for preparing the video.

  The procedure for submitting your video presentation for the PMO Global Awards requires that a download link for the video be provided. This link should be sent to the email address [email protected] by the deadline of May 15^th, 2024. It's essential to adhere to this deadline to ensure your entry is considered.

  When preparing to send the link, please keep in mind the following:

  a) Video Format and Hosting: Ensure that your video is in a compatible format and hosted on a reliable platform that allows for easy downloading. Formats like MP4 or AVI are generally preferred for their wide compatibility.

  
  b) File Size and Quality: Check the file size and video quality before sending the link. The video should be of high quality, both in terms of audio and visual elements, but also manageable in size for easy download and access.

  c) Verification of Link: Before submitting, verify that the link works correctly and that the video is accessible for download without any issues.

  d) Backup Option: It’s advisable to have a backup copy of the video. You can quickly provide an alternative if there are any issues with the link or file.

  e) Email Confirmation: After submitting your email, you can expect to receive a confirmation of receipt from the PMO Global Awards team within three days. This confirmation email will acknowledge that your submission has been successfully received and logged for award participation.

Video Format and Content

• The video must comprehensively cover the following six topics:

  0 – PMO's OVERVIEW:

  - Industry: (Finance & Insurance, Information, Manufacturing, Professional Services, Healthcare, Education, Government, Other)
  - Organization Size in number of full-time employees
  - Organization Size in annual sales revenue in USD (small – less than $100 million, medium - $100 million to $1 billion, large (greater than $1 billion)
  - PMO Name
  - PMO Leader (Name & Title)
  - PMO Size (full-time employees)
  - PMO Annual Operating Budget (approximate USD)
  - PMO Service Span (Enterprise, Business unit (LOB), IT, Product Development/Research & Development, Marketing, Engineering, Single Program, Single Project, Other)
  - PMO Age
  - PMO Organization Chart
  - PMO Budget (in USD)
  - Number of Projects Managed
  - Average Value of Project (in USD)
  - Number of Projects in/Value of Portfolio

  1 – PMO'S EVOLUTION: Detail the PMO's journey, focusing on its strategy, consistency, adaptability, leadership, and the pathway to its current state.

  2 – CLIENT SERVICE EXCELLENCE: Discuss the range of services/functions provided by the PMO to its clients and stakeholders, their relevance to the presented scenario, and how they meet the organization's performance expectations.

  3 – ADHERENCE TO BEST PRACTICES: Describe how the PMO delivers its services/functions, the methods and techniques used, their alignment with industry best practices, and the PMO's efforts in continuous improvement.

  4 – INNOVATION AND ADAPTABILITY: Illustrate how the PMO has employed innovation to address challenges and the impactful innovations delivered to the organization.

  5 – COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND CULTURE: Explain how the PMO fosters an engaged project management community within the organization, contributing to the evolution of organizational culture and promoting knowledge sharing.

6 – VALUE CREATION AND IMPACT: Present the tangible benefits and results achieved by the PMO for its clients, stakeholders, and the organization. Discuss the evolution of organizational culture and maturity and the PMO's role in enhancing senior management engagement and sponsorship levels.

General Rules

• PMI holds the right to disqualify any participant at any time up to the award presentation if they are deemed ineligible.

• PMI also reserves the right to accept or reject applications and videos, make or cancel awards, or change deadlines as necessary to uphold the quality of the PMO Global Awards and benefit the global PMO community.

• If any submitted information is found to be false or misleading, PMI reserves the right to rescind an award.

• Participants, finalists, and winners will receive publicity through PMI communication channels and external media. Participants may also collaborate with PMI for additional publicity.