The PMO Coach

The PMO Coach Helping to demystify Portfolio, Programme, Project and Change Management

04/09/2026

PMO:
“Let’s keep the process simple and flexible.”
Project Manager:
“Great. So, I can move forward?”
PMO:
“Absolutely. You just need one more approval.”
Project Manager:
“From who?”
PMO:
“That depends. We’ll need to confirm who needs to approve it.”
Project Manager:
“But the situation has changed. We need to act today.”
PMO:
“Of course. Just complete the change request first.”
Project Manager:
“Done. What happens next?”
PMO:
“We’ll review it at the next governance meeting.”
Project Manager:
“When’s that?”
PMO:
“Next Thursday.”
Project Manager:
“The deadline is tomorrow.”
PMO:
“Perfect. We’ll make sure it’s on the agenda.” 😂

And somewhere in the background, the project manager is quietly wondering whether the governance process is now taking longer than the project itself.

Of course, governance matters. It provides structure, visibility, accountability and helps organisations make better decisions but governance should enable delivery not become another obstacle to it.

The real skill is knowing what genuinely needs approval, what can be delegated and where teams need the freedom to respond quickly when circumstances change.

Because when every small decision requires another meeting, another form and another approval, the process can become the problem it was designed to prevent.

The best PMOs don’t remove governance. They make governance work.
If you’ve ever waited for an approval to approve an approval…😂

If you know, you know!

Earlier in my career, I saw how easy it was for PMOs to become heavily focused on controls.More reporting. More template...
03/09/2026

Earlier in my career, I saw how easy it was for PMOs to become heavily focused on controls.

More reporting. More templates. More approvals. More checkpoints.

The intention was usually good. Create visibility, reduce risk, improve consistency and make sure projects were being managed in a structured way.

But over time, I began to notice something important.

There comes a point where adding more control doesn’t necessarily create more confidence. In fact, it can start getting in the way of delivery.
When every decision needs another approval, every change requires another form and every project needs another layer of reporting, teams can spend more time managing the process than managing the work.

And that’s when I learned an important lesson:
A mature PMO isn’t defined by how many controls it has. It’s defined by how intelligently it uses them.

Some things genuinely need tight governance. Financial decisions, significant risks, regulatory requirements and major changes may require clear controls and oversight but not everything needs the same level of scrutiny.

Teams also need space to make decisions, respond to changing circumstances and move quickly when the situation demands it.

For me, effective PMO leadership is about understanding where control adds value and where it simply adds friction.

The goal isn’t to control everything, it’s to create enough structure to provide confidence while giving teams enough flexibility to deliver effectively.

The strongest PMOs don’t create control for the sake of control. They create the right level of control for the right situation.

Where do you think PMOs most often cross the line from helpful governance into unnecessary bureaucracy?

02/09/2026

Good PMO governance isn’t about adding more processes, approvals and reporting. It’s about creating the right level of control while giving teams enough flexibility to respond when circumstances change.

The goal is simple: clear guardrails, better decisions and confident delivery.
The question isn’t “How much control should we have?”
It’s “What needs to be controlled, and where can we allow flexibility?”

What’s your experience? Has your PMO ever had too much governance?

A PMO can have the best processes in the world. The frameworks can be carefully designed, the templates can be beautiful...
01/09/2026

A PMO can have the best processes in the world. The frameworks can be carefully designed, the templates can be beautifully structured and the governance model can look perfect on paper. But if every decision requires another meeting, another approval or another form, people will eventually stop seeing governance as something that helps them deliver.

And when that happens, teams often find ways around the process. Not necessarily because they don’t value governance but because the governance has become a barrier to getting work done.

The answer isn’t to remove governance. It’s to make governance purposeful.
Good governance should help people understand what matters, what decisions need to be made, who has the authority to make them and when something needs to be escalated.

That means having clear standards, so everyone understands the expectations.
It means clear decision rights, so teams know who can make decisions without unnecessary delays.
It means clear escalation points, so risks and issues reach the right people at the right time.
And it means allowing enough flexibility for teams to respond to reality.

Because projects don’t always follow the plan. Priorities change. Risks emerge. New information becomes available. Stakeholders change direction. Sometimes, the situation simply requires a different approach.

A governance framework that cannot adapt to those realities can end up creating more problems than it solves.

The strongest PMOs understand that governance isn’t about controlling every detail. It’s about creating the right environment for good decisions, effective delivery and appropriate risk management.

They don’t control everything. They control what matters That’s the difference between governance that supports delivery and governance that gets in the way.

What does purposeful governance look like in your PMO?

A strong PMO needs control but too much control can slow delivery, frustrate teams and create unnecessary bureaucracy.Th...
31/08/2026

A strong PMO needs control but too much control can slow delivery, frustrate teams and create unnecessary bureaucracy.

The real challenge is finding the balance between governance and flexibility, giving leaders the visibility they need without creating processes that get in the way of delivery.

What would you add? Share your perspective in the comments.

“We just need to add one more project.” It sounds harmless enough, doesn’t it? Until the PMO asks the obvious question: ...
28/08/2026

“We just need to add one more project.” It sounds harmless enough, doesn’t it? Until the PMO asks the obvious question: “Who is going to deliver it?” The answer is usually, “The same team.” Then comes the next question: “And what happens to the other projects?”, “They’ll continue as planned.” Finally: “Do we have the capacity?” And somehow, the answer is always: “We’ll make it work.” 😂

Three months later, the organisation has more meetings, more status reports, more escalations, more competing priorities and considerably less energy. Deadlines start slipping, risks increase, teams are constantly switching between priorities and everyone is working harder just to keep things moving. Yet, when the PMO raises the capacity question, the answer can still be, “We’ll make it work.”

The problem is that “making it work” can sometimes become another way of saying “we’ll ask already-stretched people to absorb even more.” And that is where portfolio management becomes so important. A good PMO should not only ask, “What are we delivering?” It should also ask, “Do we have the capacity to deliver it well?”

Because adding another project without considering capacity does not automatically create more progress. Sometimes, it simply spreads the organisation’s limited resources more thinly across everything. The better question is: “If this is important enough to start, what are we prepared to stop, pause or deprioritise?”

That is not about limiting ambition. It is about making sure ambition is realistic, focused and deliverable. Sometimes the most strategic decision an organisation can make is not deciding what to add but deciding what it is prepared to let go of.

What is the most unrealistic “we’ll make it work” situation you’ve seen in project delivery?

Earlier in my career, I saw how easy it was for organisations to keep adding work. A new strategic priority would appear...
27/08/2026

Earlier in my career, I saw how easy it was for organisations to keep adding work. A new strategic priority would appear, another project would be launched and then another. Each initiative was important and each one had a genuine reason behind it. The problem was that the organisation had not created any additional capacity to deliver them. The same people were expected to absorb more work while continuing to deliver everything already on their plates.

At first, it can look manageable. Everyone is busy, meetings are happening, plans are being updated and projects are moving forward. But over time, the cracks begin to appear. Teams become stretched, priorities start competing with one another, deadlines become harder to meet and people spend more time reacting to issues than making meaningful progress.

What struck me was that the problem was not necessarily a lack of commitment from the teams. People were working hard. The real issue was that the organisation was continually increasing its commitments without having an honest conversation about capacity.

That experience changed how I viewed the role of the PMO. A strong PMO should not simply help an organisation keep adding projects to the portfolio. It should help leadership understand the relationship between capacity, priorities, resources and delivery risk.

Sometimes, the most valuable question a PMO can ask is not, “How do we deliver this?” but “What are we prepared to stop, pause or deprioritise to make room for this?”

That question can be uncomfortable. But it can also prevent teams from becoming overwhelmed and protect the organisation from taking on more commitments than it can realistically deliver.

Because sometimes, the answer to a growing workload isn't another project plan, another deadline or another request for people to work harder.

Sometimes, the answer is simply to do less but do it better.

Have you ever worked in an organisation where the workload just kept growing? What happened when the capacity finally ran out?

What happens when an organisation keeps adding projects without considering capacity?Teams become stretched, priorities ...
26/08/2026

What happens when an organisation keeps adding projects without considering capacity?
Teams become stretched, priorities compete, deadlines slip and delivery starts to suffer.

In this month’s newsletter, I explore how PMOs can help organisations recognise these pressures earlier, improve portfolio visibility and help leaders make better decisions about what to prioritise, pause or stop.

If your organisation is trying to deliver more with limited capacity, this is one to read.

Read the full newsletter and let me know your thoughts.

What is the biggest warning sign of delivery burnout you have seen?

Read here- https://lnkd.in/p/e-KGNaNs

25/08/2026

Your PMO shouldn’t just report delivery pressure. It should help leaders understand it.

When organisations keep adding projects without considering capacity, delivery burnout becomes almost inevitable.

A strong PMO helps leaders make the difficult decisions about what to prioritise, pause or stop.

Do PMOs do enough to challenge unrealistic delivery expectations?

When teams are constantly juggling competing projects, tight deadlines and changing priorities, something eventually giv...
24/08/2026

When teams are constantly juggling competing projects, tight deadlines and changing priorities, something eventually gives.

Delivery burnout isn’t always about people not working hard enough. Sometimes, the organisation is simply asking teams to deliver too much, too fast, with too little capacity.

What do you think is the biggest cause of delivery burnout?

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