A PMO that delivers IMPACT doesn’t need to sell. The results speak for themselves.
That’s your goal. Let your IMPACT do the talking for you.
I’m getting increasingly worried about what the “experts” are telling you to do to “get your PMO noticed.” I’ve read a few articles recently that say that PMO leaders must “sell” the value of the PMO. Then I watched a mini-training that said the same thing.
That is total nonsense.
Frankly, if you are “selling” the PMO, it’s likely the reason your business leaders aren’t listening.
Do you like being “sold” to?
When you are eating dinner and a telemarketer calls, do you love it?
When you are trying to read an article on a website and the page is filled with “click here” ads, does that make you smile?
When you walk into a car dealership…ok, well you are just asking for it there. ?
Your business leaders are people too. They are very busy people, just like you, and they likely really don’t truly understand what the PMO does and how it’s supposed to help them.
You can educate them, but it’s even better if you can show them.
When we educate, we must do so very carefully because most of the time, education feels like selling. “Let me tell you all the great things the PMO can do for you!”
Instead of spending so much time trying to convince, cajole, plead, beg, or otherwise talk your business leaders’ ears off, a higher-IMPACT approach is simply to get busy getting results.
I’m not talking about the usual “busy” that a lot of the resources out there will tell you to start with like creating a bunch of tools and templates. I’m also not talking about showing how “busy” you are as a sign that you are providing value.
I’m talking about finding a pain point, fixing that pain point, and then letting your value speak for itself.
Ask business leaders what they need.
What keeps them up at night?
Where are the opportunities to further drive return on investment for the organization’s investments?
Are projects not getting the outcomes expected?
Ask these questions, really listen to their answers, then create a solution for them. This will build credibility and show the business leaders you “get it.”
You won’t have to sell anything to anyone.
They will see that you are solving their problems. They will see that you have improved something. They will see that you are helping them to deliver on their objectives. They will see that you are creating the return for the investment made in the PMO.
To do this right, you must make sure you have outcome-focused metrics in place that clearly track not just progress or how busy you are in the PMO, but how much return you’ve created for their investment in the PMO.
Note:
I’m talking outcomes, not outputs.
Projects are not successful simply because they delivered the required scope, even when the projects are on time and on budget. Yes, even then.
Projects are successful when the desired outcomes (a.k.a. the success criteria and metrics that were defined in the business case) are met.
How do you know that you made the world a better place? What can you measure to show the before and after state with that pain point?
That will tell the story of the IMPACT the PMO is making.
Result?
You will never have to “sell” the PMO a day in your life.
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Warmly,
