The New PMO Leader

You were good at managing projects. Now you're running a PMO. Nobody trained you for this jump, and that's more common than you think.

The shift from doing to enabling is harder than it looks. You're used to driving tasks to completion. Now your job is setting up other people to succeed. It feels less direct, less controllable (sometimes completely out of control).

It’s normal to want to change everything in the first month. Fight that urge. 

Here is my take:

Your first 30 days should focus on understanding the current state, not fixing it. If you are coming in from the outside learn what's actually broken versus what just looks different from your last PMO. Learn what your stakeholders want from your new PMO.

Build relationships before you build processes. Your project managers need to trust you before they'll follow new frameworks. Stakeholders need to see you understand their pain points before they'll support your initiatives.

When you do start implementing changes, keep them small. Don't try to achieve your end state vision in month two. If you roll out ten new processes at once and aren’t successful, you burn a bit of your credibility and your team’s goodwill. Build process incrementally, 1-2 at a time, turn them into PMO habits, then move on to the next set.

I believe the greatest success comes from consistent execution over comprehensive planning. Consistent execution builds your PMO's value with the organization. When every project looks the same from the outside you build trust quickly. Getting your portfolio optimized can come later—focus on delivering what you promised first.

Two critical success factors: Find your executive champions early. You need people with authority backing your changes as your roll them out. Also, connect with other PMO leaders. It's lonely at first, but you don't have to figure this out alone.

Building your PMO is a marathon, not a sprint (no Agile puns intended). Start simple, stay consistent.