Key takeaways
- Start with the decisions leaders need to make, then design reporting around them.
- Get a single list of all initiatives before introducing any new process.
- Launch the operating model visibly, with leadership in the room.
Many organisations have tried a PMO before. It produced templates, asked for status reports and quietly faded. The problem is rarely the idea of a PMO. It is a PMO designed around process instead of decisions.
Days 1 to 30: see the whole portfolio
Build one list of every initiative in flight and in the pipeline. For each one capture the owner, the sponsor, the stage it is at, the budget and the people it needs. Interview the executive team about the decisions they struggle to make today, agree a simple lifecycle, and name the forum that will own portfolio decisions.
Days 31 to 60: design for decisions
Design the minimum set of artefacts and reports that support those decisions: a one-page initiative request, a consistent prioritisation scorecard, a short gate checklist and a portfolio view the board can read in five minutes. If a template does not help someone make a decision, it should not exist.
Days 61 to 90: launch and embed
Leadership should introduce the new operating model, not the PMO alone. Run the first prioritisation cycle with the new scorecard, hold the first programme board with the new portfolio view, and collect feedback after the first month.
What success looks like at day 90
Leaders can see every initiative in one place, new requests arrive through one route, and the board makes decisions using a consistent method. That is a PMO with a future.
Forlanto offers a fixed-scope PMO Quick-Start built on this plan. We bring the frameworks, templates and facilitation, and we leave your team running it.