Your next PMO leader: should she be an internal promotion or an external hire?

It’s no secret that the success rate of PMOs across the globe isn’t enviable.

According to the Association for Project Management (APM), only 50% of PMOs are considered successful after 3 years of their creation.

Over the years, PMOs have developed associations with descriptions like cost-eating overheads, slowing things down, bureaucracy, and providing little value. Their reputations often precede them and the expectations from them are often unaligned with what they can deliver within a specific timeframe.

There are plenty of PMOs out there that are doing incredibly well, sitting at the strategy table, and delivering the outcomes that are expected of them.

But they don’t get heralded enough, so we (and our executives and stakeholders) usually bump shoulders with bad press.

And even though the notion of PMO leaders as business leaders is changing on paper, they’re largely in practice still considered extensions of being project managers.

It becomes incredibly difficult then for PMO leaders to stand strong on the position of what the PMO should really do to be a value-adding business unit, articulate it to the leadership and stakeholders, and get their “buy-in” for the PMO.

So when you’re looking for a new PMO leader, whether it’s to setup a brand new PMO, resurrect an old one, or keep your current one humming, where do you turn to?

Should you look into your existing corps for your next leader or should you bring in someone from the outside?

Both options have their pros and cons.

Let’s take a quick look.

External candidates

• Pros
• Bring fresh perspectives and lessons from other experiences
• Fill in skills and leadership gap that simply cannot be found internally
• Similar experiences (to what’s required at your company) can bring in a ton of credence to the PMO
• Cons
• It could take time to find the ideal candidate
• The new leader may not be able to adjust to the culture, pace, personality and maturity levels of the organization
• The organization may need to set a high salary cap to attract the right candidates

Internal candidates

• Pros
• Already have relationships built within the organization and are well-versed with the culture and pulse of the organization
• Cons
• May not have prior PMO experience and may be put in a precarious position to learn on the job without slipping up

Now let’s explore what PMO leaders really need to bring to the table to succeed.

They need to:

• position themselves as a business leader, not a project leader
• have strong relationships with all stakeholders (executives, peers, team members) to understand their challenges and solve for them
• have the reputation of a “get things done” person
• be great communicators and skilled in facilitation and negotiation
• have an understanding of project management
• possess the attitude and mindset to systematically and confidently set, communicate, evolve and get “buy-in” for the PMO
• be objective, hold others accountable, and be able to manage up, down and sideways

And if its a functional or departmental PMO, then having that functional experience is certainly a plus.

In his book Leading Successful PMOs, Peter Taylor suggests several skills including:

• Decisive
• Pragmatic
• Able to understand the big picture and communicate the end goal
• Not enforce process for process’ sake

At the PMO Virtual Summit that I founded and hosted in October 2018, Andy Jordan said

“I can take an experienced and successful business leader and give him or her the project skills they need to lead a PMO within a month. I cannot always take an experienced and successful project manager and give him or her the business skills they need to lead a PMO even if you gave me a year.”

Andy’s stance here was that for PMO leaders, business skills are more important than project skills, that they are the face of the business to project delivery areas, and they must have incredible soft skills, including emotional intelligence and political understanding.

Let me go ahead and throw in one more critical piece of experience that you should look for in your next PMO leader: PMO leadership experience!

Not just prior experience being in the PMO - but that’s definitely much better than just having project / program / portfolio management experience - which is what a lot of companies are asking for through their job postings.

And then there’s them including prior industry, consulting experience and/or an MBA.

This is all great!

But rarely have I come across any postings that require prior PMO experience - some display a preference for it - but not many absolutely require it.

I understand that some skills are transferable from other experiences.

Prior project management experience helps figure out what processes, tools, training and templates might work best for the organization.

Previous stints with consulting help with developing roadmaps, working with executives, and coming up with metrics and KPIs that work.

And an MBA brings its own merits of understanding strategic and tactical elements of setting up a business unit, cost-center accounting, overall purview of running a business (unit) and tying it to the overall direction of the organization

But we’re not talking about any business unit here. We’re talking about the PMO!

A PMO is unlike an IT, Accounting, Finance, Marketing, HR, Strategy (& any other) department that exists.

None of these other departments have to continuously prove their value. Their value is understood, accepted,and appreciated. You don’t hear any of these other departments getting shutdown after 3 years.

PMOs on the other hand don’t enjoy that luxury.

The nuances that are involved in setting up a PMO, the navigation of its common pitfalls, building strong relationships with stakeholders, identifying and delivering quick-wins, controlling the narrative, establishing and executing the roadmap, rallying the troops (if there are any - usually PMOs start off as an army of one), measuring success, managing change & showcasing value to get the “buy-in” - doing all these things on-the-fly. on-the-job, under a tight microscope is a tough balancing act to say the least. And a misstep here or there can lead to a fall - a massive one, both for your new PMO leader and for your PMO.

And that’s why I believe that having prior PMO setup and/or leadership experience should be mandatory! It’s rare to find personnel that have done this multiple times, and when you do find them, they understandably have large salary requirements.

Interestingly, even companies that can afford them don’t include this requirement within their job descriptions.

But companies that cannot have these rare breeds within their reach - what can they do?

I offer two (2) possible options:

• Option 1 (recommended):
• Identify someone from within the organization
• the rising star or the person with the reputation of getting things done - irrespective of their background
• they could have a strategy background or an operations background and even very limited project management background
• and even better if they’ve been on a rotational program
• This is because they
• are familiar with the organization, its maturity, and its culture so he/she understands its appetite for change
• have established relationships with key stakeholders and are well respected by them so that
• the stakeholders share their true pain-points and priorities that they would want the PMO to address
• it is easier to push through the change induced by the PMO
• the probability of PMO expectations alignment and buy-in increases
• All this gives internal candidates an incredible head-start to push the mandate of the PMO through with lower resistance to change that comes with it
• It also offers some cushion for learning and execution
• while there might be wiggle room for newly created PMOs for some missteps, there’s really no leeway for those resurrecting old PMOs - which is akin to taking old skeletons out of the closet, breathing new life into it, giving it a makeover, and convincing everyone around how better this new version is
• If you have the luxury of finding multiple folks within your company for this, identify the better fit, invest in their growth and nurturing by surrounding them with the PMO specific education, mentorship or coaching
• Option 2:
• If Option 1 isn’t possible, then get someone from the outside and invest in their PMO education, mentorship or coaching

I speak to first-time PMO leaders often. Some are promoted from within, some are brought in from the outside to make an impact.

They largely believe in their ability to deliver and with good reason. Everyone starts from somewhere - they just need to have a support structure in place. In fact, I advocate it and provide some strategies to succeed.

These first-time PMO leaders often share their desire for an objective sounding board that can vet and validate their progress and direction. A little guidance here can reap tremendous benefits for them, their PMOs and their organizations.

And something for companies to consider and apply when they’re choosing and grooming their next PMO leader.

How have your experiences been as a first-time PMO leader settling in, or a PMO sponsor bringing in a new PMO leader?

I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!