You don’t have long to get it right…

The days of being able to spend a year or two building PMO capability before delivering direct and clear IMPACT are long gone. Business leaders in the commercial sector are facing increasing challenges in competing in a marketplace that is moving at the speed of light. Those in the government and nonprofit sector often have a different challenge…not enough time and not enough money…but A LOT they need to get done to fulfill their mission. No matter where you work, you won’t have long to make a lasting IMPACT with your PMO.

With the harsh reality that nearly 50% of PMOs fail, it’s easy to see why so many business leaders struggle to understand the value of PMOs – and why they are so quick to pull the plug on them.

When I built my first PMO in the late 90s, we were in the midst of the dotcom boom and change was happening so fast, you were behind before you ever started. We didn’t have a lot of time to spend months and months building out a PMO before we showed value. We had clients to serve and technologies to master overnight.

So, I got busy…getting busy…

I honestly had no idea where to start!

I didn’t have time to go to training or spend weeks reading books, so I did something wild…I asked the business leaders and PMs what they needed.

Shocking, I know.

Then, I built that.

And guess what? It worked. Really, really well.

Fast forward to the next PMO. This time, we had more time. It wasn’t quite the frenetic pace and I thought that this would be my chance to formalize my training and experience. I looked for training and grabbed any books I could find that would help me with my PMO setup and they all had the same message…

Create a charter, build tools and templates, put in a holistic methodology, hire a bunch of PMs…

I tried that. I did what the books said. It didn’t work.

It was the typical people, process, tools stuff that is still prevalent today.

I was fortunate enough to work in an organization of business leaders that had no problem telling me what I was doing wrong. And do you know what it was? I wasn’t focused enough on what they needed, instead I was telling them the medicine they needed to take because that’s what the “experts” said I was supposed to do.

The problem was that the “expert” advice didn’t match what they actually needed.

I decided to go back to what works…engaging my business leaders to understand their paint points, where they needed help, and then we built a PMO that addressed that need.

It worked.

Then, I did it again, and again, and again, and again.

It worked every time.

Now, 20 years later, I am sharing all of my learning and practical real world experience with PMO leaders around the world and guess what?

It’s working for them, too.

If you would like to learn more about my system for building a high-IMPACT PMO, then please join me for this FREE masterclass that I am giving as a part of my friend Hussain’s PMO Virtual Summit from October 16-18.

Register for this FREE event to watch my session and 20 others over the course of three days.

What’s this IMPACT Engine system all about? 

The IMPACT Engine 90 Day PMO training program is based on my experience from 15 years in your shoes as a PMO leader and another 5 years as a consultant and trainer getting these results for my clients.

When it’s time for you to build a PMO or if you are wondering why your PMO isn’t regarded as a critical and strategic asset in your organization, then I encourage you to leverage 20 years of lessons learned and a step-by-step system that will help you build a high-IMPACT PMO in 90 days. Because we don’t have long to get it right.

Free Training for PMO Leaders

Join me for this FREE masterclass I am giving for my friend Hussain’s PMO Virtual Summit from October 16-18 to learn about my approach and hear from other industry leaders on how to build your PMO right the first time.

See you at the Summit!

Thanks for taking the time to read this article.

Click here to receive these blog posts right to your inbox.

Fill out our one-minute survey if you have topics you would like read more about.

I welcome your feedback and insights. Please leave a comment below.

See you online!

Warmly,