Few organisational entities generate as much passionate debate as PMOs, or Project Management Offices to give them their formal title. For some, the mere mention conjures up images of bureaucratic nightmares with endless templates, rules and checklists. For others it’s completely different. The PMO is seen as a crucial support system that enables project success. Why the difference? It comes down to whether they are a gatekeeper or partner PMO.
The Tale of Two PMOs
Consider the following two scenarios, both of which play out daily in organisations worldwide.
The Gatekeeper PMO
In organisation A, project managers dread the start of the week. Mondays find their inboxes full of automated reminders about overdue status reports, upcoming gate reviews and mandatory process training sessions.
Project managers spend nearly 30% of their time maintaining multiple reporting templates; one for the PMO, one for the executives and one for their business unit.
When a project manager proposed an agile approach for a time sensitive project they faced weeks of back and forth with the PMO. “We need to follow our waterfall methodology” was the response, accompanied with a 50 page process document. By the time approval to proceed was granted the project was already weeks behind schedule.
The PMO’s monthly project review meetings are seen as interrogations instead of discussions. Project managers present using a mandatory 30 page slide deck regardless of project size or complexity. Questions focus on compliance with process rather than actual project challenges or risks. Innovation is discouraged and lessons learned gather dust in a SharePoint repository that nobody ever accesses.
Projects repeat the same mistakes over and over again.
The Partner PMO
Contrast that with organisation B where the project managers have a very different experience. Their PMO is headed up by a former project manager and operates on a simple principle: Our success is measured by our project managers’ success.
When a new project manager joins the organisation the PMO sets up a one on one meeting with them. This meeting is designed to get to know the new project manager, understand their experience level and their immediate needs. At this meeting they are given a simplified set of templates that are tailored to their project’s size and complexity. They’re also introduced to a mentor who can guide them through the first few months in the new organisation. Rather than enforcing a one size fits all approach they adapt their processes to each project.
The PMO team regularly attend project team meetings, not to police them but to observe and identify common challenges and improvement opportunities. During these meetings the PMO picked up that resource allocation is a common problem. In collaboration with the project managers the PMO developed a resource management solution that would actually be used.
The monthly PMO reviews focus on helping projects succeed. Instead of rigid presentations they use the time to facilitate problem solving discussions. When projects have problems the PMO team’s first response is “how can we help?” rather than “why didn’t you follow the process?”
Most telling is their approach to lessons learned. Rather than wait for projects to finish the PMO facilitates regular “learning moments” sessions where project teams share their challenges and solutions. These insights are captured in a searchable knowledge base with practical, context rich summaries. The PMO team actively curates this information and they connect project managers facing similar problems with their colleagues who have dealt with similar issues in the past. They even organise informal “war stories” lunches where project managers share their stories over pizza, building both knowledge and, more importantly, community.
The PMO also maintains a “quick wins” database where project managers can find solutions to common problems as well as templates and strategies that have worked in similar situations. When new projects are initiated the PMO proactively shares relevant lessons and connects new project managers with experienced colleagues who have handled similar initiatives.
The Impact on Project Success
The difference in results from the two approaches is stark.
In organisation A, the control focused approach has lead to:
- Projects running, on average, 30 – 40% over budget
- 65% of strategic initiatives suffering schedule delays
- Project managers spending over 20 hours a week on administrative tasks
- Annual staff turnover of 25% in project management roles
- Declining stakeholder satisfactions scores, currently sitting at 5.5/10
- “Shadow PMOs” springing up across the organisation to bypass central PMO processes
Compare those results with organisation B, where things couldn’t be more different:
- 85% of projects are delivered within budget and growing
- On time delivery increased from 60% to 88% within two years
- Project managers are spending 4 – 5 hours a week on administrative tasks
- Project management retention rates have risen to almost 90% in two years
- Stakeholder satisfaction scores are averaging 8.7/10
- Business units are actively seeking PMO involvement in new initiatives
- Risk identification and mitigation has improved over 40% through better knowledge sharing
- Cross functional collaboration has increased by 45% through PMO facilitated connections
However, most tellingly, is the comments from the project managers themselves when asked what their biggest project challenges and enablers were:
- Organisation A’s project managers consistently cited PMO requirements in their top 3 obstacles.
- Organisation B’s project managers consistently list the PMO as one of the biggest “project success enablers”
The financial implications are equally as interesting.
- Organisation A continues to struggle with high project failure rates and diminishing returns on project investments.
- Organisation B meanwhile has seen a 25% reduction in project cancellations and a 30% improvement on benefits realisation across the project portfolio.
From Gatekeeper to Partner
The key difference between the two scenarios outlined above is the PMO’s approach. The most effective PMOs position themselves as strategic partners asking, “how can we help project managers succeed?” Instead of being the process police asking, “how can we ensure compliance?”
This shift in mindset does a number of things:
Building Trust Through Collaboration
Instead of mandating processes because “that’s the standard” effective PMOs work collaboratively with project teams to understand their unique needs. When project managers see the PMO as a partner in delivering better results compliance becomes a natural byproduct instead of being a forced burden.
Flexible Support Instead of Rigid Control
While some standardisation is necessary, successful PMOs realise that not all projects are the same. They collaborate with project managers to tailor processes and templates to project size, complexity and risk level. This flexible approach lets governance add value instead of being a burden.
Creating Open Dialogue
Rather than defending established processes as “this is just the way we do things round here” enabling PMOs actively engage in two way conversations with project managers. They regularly ask questions like:
- What tools would make your job easier?
- Which processes create the most friction?
- How can we help you deliver better results?
This ongoing dialogue not only builds trust but leads to the ongoing development of processes that meet the needs of the people doing the job, instead of being all about theoretical best practice.
Making the Transformation
For PMOs looking to move from a gatekeeper to a partner here are several key steps that can help you on the way:
Listen and Learn
Before implementing new processes or tools spend time with your project managers to fully understand their pain points. You can shadow them, conduct surveys and hold town hall sessions to gather insights into what support they actually need.
Focus on Outcomes
Instead of measuring success by process compliance, track metrics that matter to project delivery.
- Are projects more successful?
- Are teams more efficient?
- Are stakeholders more satisfied?
Let these outcomes guide process decisions.
Build Partnerships Through Value
Start by offering services that clearly benefit project managers, it could be anything from training to introduction to mentors. Once project teams start seeing the value of PMO support they become more receptive to necessary governance requirements.
Share Decision Making
Look for opportunities to involve project managers in process decisions while providing clear guidelines and support. This builds ownership and reduces the perception of the PMO as a bottleneck.
Enabling PMO Excellence with Psoda
The transformation from gatekeeper to partner PMO needs the right tools to support this new way of working. This is where Psoda’s Project Portfolio Management (PPM) solution comes in, offering features specifically designed to support a collaborative PMO:
Flexible Governance
Unlike rigid, one size fits all systems, Psoda allows PMOs to configure different governance approaches for different types of projects. This means lightweight processes for simple projects and more comprehensive oversight for complex initiatives – exactly what a partnership PMO needs to provide appropriate support without unnecessary overhead.
Automated Intelligence
Psoda’s automated reporting capability frees PMOs from the role of the “report police”. Instead of chasing project managers for updates, PMOs can focus on analysing trends, identifying risks and providing strategic support.
Customisable Dashboards
Psoda’s configurable dashboards let PMOs provide relevant information to different stakeholders without adding extra reporting burdens. Project managers update information once and the system automatically generates appropriate views for different audiences.
Resource Optimisation
The resource management capabilities gives PMOs visibility of resource capacity and demand, allowing them to optimise resource allocation and prevent bottlenecks before they happen.
AI Powered Knowledge Sharing
At the heart of Psoda’s knowledge management capabilities is Psonar. An AI assistant that transforms how organisations leverage their collective project experience. Unlike traditional document repositories where valuable lessons often get buried and forgotten, Psonar actively searches through historical project data, risks and lessons learned to provide relevant insights exactly when they are needed.
Want to know if other projects have faced similar risks? Psonar can instantly search across your entire project history to find comparable situations and solutions. Need to know how similar projects handled specific challenges? Psonar provides horizontal visibility across your entire organisation’s project history, helping teams learn from each other’s successes and challenges – even if you’re in different countries and have never met.
This AI powered approach means that knowledge sharing isn’t limited by organisational silos or human memory. Whether you’re a new project manager starting your first project or a seasoned PMO professional looking for patterns across the portfolio, Psonar makes your organisation’s collective wisdom accessible and actionable.
These tools, combined with a partner mindset, help PMOs to provide the right level of support at the right time to achieve the perfect balance between governance and agility.
Don’t just take our word for it, sign up for a free personalised demo where we’ll show you how Psoda can help transform your PMO into a strategic partner.
