Project Management Institute (PMI), the world’s leading association for the project management profession, launched the PMI® Organisational Transformation (OT) Series, a full suite of online courses and resources dedicated to helping lead successful business transformation.

Many organisational leaders seek to find the balance between effectively running and simultaneously evolving their organisation, and the OT series provides project professionals, leaders, aspiring leaders, and their teams with the building blocks and fundamental knowledge needed to understand how to transform efficiently and effectively.

When individual employees, project managers, and their teams understand the processes of supporting and leading transformation efforts, and have the necessary skills to do so, businesses can keep pace and continue to deliver value to their stakeholders.

However, recent research from PMI and PwC found that the major barrier to employees developing capabilities is a lack of organisational prioritisation of learning and development (L&D).

The same study found that 40% of project professionals see the biggest share of L&D budget going to training on specific tools, processes, and methodologies, which is important, but there is not as much investment in the power skills and business acumen skills needed to influence transformation.

To ensure future success and growth, organisations must prioritise upskilling their workforces with the specific skills and frameworks necessary to effectively transform from within.

“Today, organisations are operating in light years. Innovations now happen in seconds and businesses have to not only be prepared but must always be one step ahead,” said Ashwini Bakshi, Managing Director Europe and Sub Saharan Africa at Project Management Institute (PMI).

“Birthed by the COVID-19 pandemic, transformation has become the DNA of companies that seek to excel in a competitive business environment. Without constant innovation, purpose, monitoring trends, and evaluating technologies to enhance and speed up deliveries, businesses can fall behind in a post-pandemic world.”

The OT Series helps users hone the power skills and business acumen needed to meaningfully partake in transformation initiatives by teaching the processes, best practices, frameworks, and strategies behind large-scale organisational transformation efforts over three online courses: Foundation, Implementation, and Orchestration.

OT: Foundation (OTF) introduces employees and project leaders to the fundamentals of successful transformation by introducing the five building blocks for effective transformations, shares relevant case studies to help contextualise these frameworks and engage with learners in potential real-world scenarios to build effective teams, and strengthen organisational culture.

OT: Implementation (OTI) builds on OT Foundation by training project leaders on how to successfully execute an organisation wide transformation. It introduces the transformation domains and delves into the types and trajectories of transformation. Additionally, OTI showcases more comprehensive business scenarios to help leaders understand and reflect on how to organise teams and work streams in the midst of an organisation-wide transformation.

OT: Orchestration (OTO) trains project leaders and senior leadership on how to approach transformation from a people-centric perspective. OTO helps transformation leaders assess market conditions and trends by exploring frameworks for achieving desired outcomes, and successfully adapting a people-centric approach to promote a culture of alignment, accountability, and cohesion.

Each course engages learners with content and modules that demonstrate ways to reduce transformation expenses, drive engagement with teammates, and ultimately strengthen organisational culture. Upon the completion of each course, participants can earn an Organisational Transformation micro-credential by passing a 30-question exam, demonstrating their learned knowledge of transformation. By taking the online courses and earning the micro-credentials, which are designed to support professionals during an organisational transformation, these professionals can become ambassadors for organisational change.

Project Management Institute (PMI) is the leading professional association for project management, and the authority for a growing global community of millions of project professionals and individuals who use project management skills. Collectively, these professionals and “changemakers” consistently create better outcomes for businesses, communities and societies worldwide.

PMI empowers people to make ideas a reality. Through global advocacy, networking, collaboration, research, and education, PMI prepares organisations and individuals at every stage of their career journey to work smarter so they can drive success in a world of change.

Building on a proud legacy dating to 1969, PMI is a not-for-profit, for-purpose organisation working in nearly every country around the world to advance careers, strengthen organisational success, and enable project professionals and changemakers with new skills and ways of working to maximise their impact. PMI offerings include globally recognized standards, certifications, online courses, thought leadership, tools, digital publications, and communities.