PMO Strategies

Welcome to the PMO Strategies Podcast + Blog, where PMO leaders become IMPACT Drivers!

PMI Talent Triangle: Power Skills

You can have a strong strategy, a solid plan, and all the right tracking in place and still watch delivery slow down because the people doing the work are not truly engaged.

That is where this conversation with Ian Watts gets interesting for PMO and transformation leaders. We talk about what happens when the stakeholder problem you keep trying to solve is actually a broader people problem inside the organization.

Ian is the founder of SB Dream Coach and Employee Success Group, and his work focuses on helping organizations connect people, purpose, and performance. In this episode, we explore what real commitment looks like beyond surveys, perks, and surface-level engagement.

🔹 Why disengagement can show up as a strategy-delivery problem

🔹 How to tell the difference between a PMO engagement issue and a wider organizational issue

🔹 Why knowing what matters to people changes the way they show up

🔹 How to approach team members and stakeholders differently while keeping the same human-centered intent

Press play to rethink the people side of strategy delivery and what it takes to create commitment that lasts.

Connect with Ian Watts

LinkedIn

Website

P.S. People are more likely to engage when they understand why the work matters. Your executives are no different. In my FREE training, Build a Business Case for a Strategy-Driven PMO, I’ll show you how to connect the PMO to the business problems, outcomes, and 90-day progress leaders care about so you can make a stronger case for the support you need. Register for the free live workshop.

Thanks for taking the time to check out the podcast!

I welcome your feedback and insights!

I’d love to know what you think and if you love it, please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast player. Please leave a comment below to share your thoughts. See you online!

Warmly,

Laura Barnard

GET NOTIFIED ABOUT NEW EPISODES | TELL US WHAT YOU WANT TO LEARN | PDU REPORTING INSTRUCTIONS

Welcome to the PMO Strategies Podcast + Blog, where PMO leaders become IMPACT Drivers!

PMI Talent Triangle: Power Skills

You can be surrounded by people all day and still feel like you are leading alone.

Your team needs confidence from you. Your executives expect a recommendation. Your peers may be part of the tension you are trying to work through. So you keep turning the problem over in your own head, reading more, working harder, and trying to find the answer before anyone realizes you are not sure what to do next.

That independence probably helped you become the leader who could walk into a mess and figure it out. But as your role grows, trying to solve everything alone can limit you to the questions, experiences, and patterns you already have.

In this episode, I’m showing you what the right room can do for your leadership and how to tell whether the rooms you are in are actually making you stronger.

🔹 Why validation without challenge can leave you just as stuck as when you walked in

🔹 How a better question can move you from process thinking to the real business problem

🔹 What to look for in peers, coaches, communities, and leadership rooms

🔹 Why getting into the room is only the beginning

Press play to find the rooms that expand your thinking and help you lead the work differently when you go back inside your organization.

P.S. If you know what needs to change but need executive funding, authority, resources, or support to build or strengthen your PMO, join the FREE virtual training, How to Build a Business Case for a Strategy-Driven PMO. I’ll show you how to connect your PMO to the business problems executives already care about and make your case in language they can understand.

Thanks for taking the time to check out the podcast!

I welcome your feedback and insights!

I’d love to know what you think and if you love it, please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast player. Please leave a comment below to share your thoughts. See you online!

Warmly,

Laura Barnard

GET NOTIFIED ABOUT NEW EPISODES | TELL US WHAT YOU WANT TO LEARN | PDU REPORTING INSTRUCTIONS

Welcome to the PMO Strategies Podcast + Blog, where PMO leaders become IMPACT Drivers!

PMI Talent Triangle: Business Acumen

AI activity is spreading across organizations faster than many leaders can see what it is costing, where it fits, or whether it is creating business value.

That is exactly why I believe this moment matters for PMO and transformation leaders.

In this episode, I’m joined by Cedric Fiederer to explore what happens when AI stops being a collection of experiments and starts becoming a real enterprise portfolio of investments, tradeoffs, risks, and strategic choices.

We get into the questions executives are increasingly going to ask, especially when AI funding starts competing with ERP upgrades, growth investments, capacity, and everything else already in the portfolio.

🔹 Why fragmented AI activity is becoming an enterprise decision problem

🔹 How the PMO can create visibility without building a giant layer of red tape

🔹 What leaders need to know about value, compliance, workforce risk, and tradeoffs

🔹 Where to start if nobody currently owns the enterprise picture

If your PMO has felt a little outside the AI conversation, this is the opportunity I do not want you to miss.

Press play to see how the PMO can help turn AI activity into strategic value.

Connect with Cedric Fiederer

Follow Cedric on LinkedIn

Learn More About Planview

P.S. If you know what needs to change but need executive funding, authority, resources, or support to build or strengthen your PMO, join the FREE virtual training, How to Build a Business Case for a Strategy-Driven PMO. I’ll show you how to connect your PMO to the business problems executives already care about and make your case in language they can understand.

Thanks for taking the time to check out the podcast!

I welcome your feedback and insights!

I’d love to know what you think and if you love it, please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast player. Please leave a comment below to share your thoughts. See you online!

Warmly,

Laura Barnard

GET NOTIFIED ABOUT NEW EPISODES | TELL US WHAT YOU WANT TO LEARN | PDU REPORTING INSTRUCTIONS

Welcome to the PMO Strategies Podcast + Blog, where PMO leaders become IMPACT Drivers!

PMI Talent Triangle: Power Skills

How many times have you told yourself, “I’m not ready yet”?

Not ready to have the executive conversation. Not ready to apply for the role. Not ready to build the PMO differently. Not ready to get the training or support because you need to figure a few more things out first.

I understand that instinct because I lived it. I did not become a confident speaker and then step onto a stage. I said yes while I was scared, prepared responsibly, practiced with people who could help me, paid attention to what worked, and did it again.

That order matters for PMO and transformation leaders because the confidence, judgment, and skill you are waiting for are often built through the work itself. And if something is already not working, waiting can cost more than time.

• How to tell the difference between responsible preparation and hiding
• Why discomfort is not proof that you should wait
• What real practice gives you that private preparation cannot
• Why waiting too long can change how executives see your PMO

Press play to hear why the work is what makes you ready, and how to take the next responsible step before the organization makes the decision for you.

P.S. If the conversation you don’t feel ready for is the one where you need to make the case for your PMO, join my free training, How to Build a Business Case for a Strategy-Driven PMO.

You’ll learn how to connect your PMO to the business problems executives care about, define credible 90-day wins, and make a stronger ask for the support you need.

Join the free training.

Thanks for taking the time to check out the podcast!

I welcome your feedback and insights!

I’d love to know what you think and if you love it, please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast player. Please leave a comment below to share your thoughts. See you online!

Warmly,

Laura Barnard

GET NOTIFIED ABOUT NEW EPISODES | TELL US WHAT YOU WANT TO LEARN | PDU REPORTING INSTRUCTIONS

Welcome to the PMO Strategies Podcast + Blog, where PMO leaders become IMPACT Drivers!

PMI Talent Triangle: Business Acumen

AI is creating more ideas, more experiments, and more pressure to move than most PMO processes were designed to absorb.

That does not mean your PMO needs a bigger gate. It means the way you connect strategy, intake, prioritization, capacity, and learning has to change.

In this episode, I’m joined by Marc Chabot, Co-founder and CEO of ForceEquals, to explore what AI changes across the strategy lifecycle and why this may be one of the biggest opportunities PMO and transformation leaders have had to step into the Strategy Navigator role.

🔹 Why strategy can no longer be treated as a once-a-year input to project planning

🔹 How AI can help mature rough ideas without forcing stakeholders through a heavy intake process

🔹 What changes when leaders can see projects, priorities, capacity, and strategy in the same decision context

🔹 Why AI guardrails, exceptions, and human-in-the-loop decisions can become signals for the next strategy conversation

Press play to hear how the PMO can use AI to remove friction, strengthen decisions, and help the organization turn strategy into measurable business IMPACT.

Connect with Marc Chabot

Follow Marc on LinkedIn

Learn more about ForceEquals

P.S. If you know your PMO needs more funding, authority, or resources, but you are struggling to make the case in a way your executives will understand, join me for my free training, How to Build a Business Case for a Strategy-Driven PMO. I’ll show you how to connect the PMO to the business problems your executives already care about and make the case for the support you need.

Thanks for taking the time to check out the podcast!

I welcome your feedback and insights!

I’d love to know what you think and if you love it, please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast player. Please leave a comment below to share your thoughts. See you online!

Warmly,

Laura Barnard

GET NOTIFIED ABOUT NEW EPISODES | TELL US WHAT YOU WANT TO LEARN | PDU REPORTING INSTRUCTIONS

Welcome to the PMO Strategies Podcast + Blog, where PMO leaders become IMPACT Drivers!

PMI Talent Triangle: Business Acumen

A few years ago, I was listening to PMO leaders compare the size of the portfolios they managed. $50 million. $100 million. $500 million. Billions.

Those numbers sound impressive, but they only tell me what the organization invested. The business question is what it got back.

That is the shift I want you to make in this episode. Thinking like a business owner means looking beyond activity, utilization, schedule, scope, and budget to the measurable outcome the work was funded to create. It also means being willing to make harder portfolio choices when too much work is slowing everything down.

🔹 Why a project can be green and still fail the business

🔹 The three questions that reconnect work to measurable business value

🔹 Why 100% resource utilization can actually destroy throughput and flow

🔹 How to bring leaders stronger choices about capacity, timing, cost, and expected value

Press play to hear how business-owner thinking changes the way you lead projects, portfolios, and the PMO.

P.S. If you need executive funding, authority, or resources to build or strengthen your PMO, the conversation cannot stay focused on headcount, tools, governance, or explaining what the PMO does. In my free training, How to Build a Business Case for a Strategy-Driven PMO, I’ll show you how to connect the PMO to the business problems your executives already care about and make the case in a way they can understand and support. Register for the free training.

Thanks for taking the time to check out the podcast!

I welcome your feedback and insights!

I’d love to know what you think and if you love it, please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast player. Please leave a comment below to share your thoughts. See you online!

Warmly,

Laura Barnard

GET NOTIFIED ABOUT NEW EPISODES | TELL US WHAT YOU WANT TO LEARN | PDU REPORTING INSTRUCTIONS

Welcome to the PMO Strategies Podcast + Blog, where PMO leaders become IMPACT Drivers!

PMI Talent Triangle: Business Acumen

If you are responsible for helping strategy become reality, you probably know this tension: the executive team wants the portfolio moving faster, but you cannot move work you cannot see.

Hidden departmental initiatives compete for the same people. Decisions wait for the next meeting. The same specialists become the bottleneck on every “top priority.” Then everyone calls it a resource problem.

In this episode, I’m joined by Paul Thompson, Founder and CEO of Metagyre, to get practical about what PMO and transformation leaders can do differently. We dig into the execution system underneath the project plans and what changes when you start managing the flow of work like a business leader.

🔹 Why “ruthless transparency” matters when hidden work is consuming capacity

🔹 How smaller, controlled releases can reduce risk and create momentum

🔹 Why the best meetings ratify decisions instead of beginning the debate

🔹 How to find the constraint that is actually setting the pace of the portfolio

Press play to hear how to move strategy forward with the people, capacity, and complexity you already have.

Connect with Paul

Follow Paul on LinkedIn

Get the Metagyre DIY Strategy Execution Eval Kit

P.S. If you know your PMO needs more funding, authority, or resources, but you are struggling to make the case in a way your executives will understand, join me for my free training, How to Build a Business Case for a Strategy-Driven PMO. I’ll show you how to connect the PMO to the business problems your executives already care about and make the case for the support you need.

Thanks for taking the time to check out the podcast!

I welcome your feedback and insights!

I’d love to know what you think and if you love it, please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast player. Please leave a comment below to share your thoughts. See you online!

Warmly,

Laura Barnard

GET NOTIFIED ABOUT NEW EPISODES | TELL US WHAT YOU WANT TO LEARN | PDU REPORTING INSTRUCTIONS

Welcome to the PMO Strategies Podcast + Blog, where PMO leaders become IMPACT Drivers!

PMI Talent Triangle: Power Skills

You did the assessment. You designed the service around what people said they needed. You launched it, trained everyone, published the templates, and built the SharePoint page.

Then someone submits the old intake form. An executive bypasses the new prioritization process. The governance meeting becomes another status update, and you are left wondering why people are resisting the very thing they asked for.

I know how frustrating that feels. I also know the launch may not be where the problem started.

In this episode, I’m taking you into the space between “we launched it” and “this is how we work now.”

You’ll hear:

🔹 Why rollout activity can look successful while behavior stays exactly the same.

🔹 How to define adoption in language your stakeholders will recognize.

🔹 What early users can reveal about design, support, accountability, and friction.

🔹 How to reinforce a new habit when the old way feels faster.

Press play to learn how to give the PMO services you have already built a real chance to create the business value they were designed to deliver.

P.S. If you know your PMO needs more funding, authority, or resources, but you are struggling to make the case in a way your executives will understand, join me for my free training, How to Build a Business Case for a Strategy-Driven PMO. I’ll show you how to connect the PMO to the business problems your executives already care about and make the case for the support you need.

Thanks for taking the time to check out the podcast!

I welcome your feedback and insights!

I’d love to know what you think and if you love it, please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast player. Please leave a comment below to share your thoughts. See you online!

Warmly,

Laura Barnard

GET NOTIFIED ABOUT NEW EPISODES | TELL US WHAT YOU WANT TO LEARN | PDU REPORTING INSTRUCTIONS

Welcome to the PMO Strategies Podcast + Blog, where PMO leaders become IMPACT Drivers!

PMI Talent Triangle: Power Skills

Some of the most expensive words I hear inside an organization are, “We’re waiting for more clarity.” Sometimes that is exactly the right call. The organization may be missing information it truly needs to act responsibly.

But sometimes “we need more information” is a hiding place. The team already has a recommendation, but nobody wants to own it. Every decision moves up the chain while strategy waits.

In this episode, I’m showing you how to separate a real information gap from false uncertainty and use one question to surface the thinking already in the room: “If you did know, what would you do?”

You will hear how this changes the PMO’s role, what executives need instead of another unresolved escalation, and how to create movement without confusing responsible action with reckless speed.

🔹 How to recognize when “we need more clarity” is masking decision avoidance

🔹 Why a recommendation builds more executive trust than an unresolved escalation

🔹 How to distinguish a reversible learning step from a decision that requires stronger evidence

🔹 The three questions that turn uncertainty into a responsible next move

🔹 Why creating clarity is strategic decision support, not project administration

Press play to learn how to help your team move forward without pretending the path is perfectly clear.

P.S. If you know your PMO needs more funding, authority, or resources, but you are struggling to make the case in a way your executives will understand, join me for my free training, How to Build a Business Case for a Strategy-Driven PMO. I’ll show you how to connect the PMO to the business problems your executives already care about and make the case for the support you need.

Thanks for taking the time to check out the podcast!

I welcome your feedback and insights!

I’d love to know what you think and if you love it, please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast player. Please leave a comment below to share your thoughts. See you online!

Warmly,

Laura Barnard

GET NOTIFIED ABOUT NEW EPISODES | TELL US WHAT YOU WANT TO LEARN | PDU REPORTING INSTRUCTIONS

Welcome to the PMO Strategies Podcast + Blog, where PMO leaders become IMPACT Drivers!

PMI Talent Triangle: Business Acumen

Organizations are moving quickly to deploy AI. But are they building the adaptability, judgment, and decision systems required to use it well, or repeating the same mistakes that weakened so many Agile transformations?

AI can analyze more data, generate more options, and move work faster. None of that guarantees the organization is asking the right question, assigning the decision to the right person, or protecting the human judgment it will need when the consequences rise.

In this episode, I am joined by Jim Highsmith, Agile Manifesto co-author and a pioneering voice in adaptive leadership, to connect the original purpose of Agile with the decisions organizations are making about AI right now.

Jim explains how Agile was designed to help organizations respond to uncertainty, why too many implementations became rigid and process-driven, and how the same pattern is beginning to appear in AI transformation. Together, we explore the shift from process-oriented management to judgment-oriented management and the role PMO and transformation leaders can play in designing stronger human-AI decision systems.

This is not a conversation about choosing the newest AI tool. It is about deciding what should be automated, where people must remain accountable, how judgment develops, and whether the organization is becoming more capable or simply producing more output.

When you press play, you will hear:

🔹 What Agile was created to solve and why its mindset became diluted as it spread.

🔹 Why doing Agile is not the same as building an adaptable organization.

🔹 How AI transformation can repeat the same process-over-mindset mistake at greater speed.

🔹 How to distinguish automation that removes activity from augmentation that strengthens human capability.

🔹 Why removing easy decisions can erode the experience people need for harder decisions later.

🔹 How PMO and transformation leaders can move forward before introducing more AI.

🔹 Why leaders need enough hands-on AI experience to guide implementation credibly.

🔹 What it means to move from process-oriented management toward judgment-oriented management.

Press play to learn how your PMO or transformation office can help the organization move faster without surrendering the judgment, adaptability, and accountability required to create measurable business IMPACT.

Connect with Jim Highsmith and Keep Exploring

Connect with Jim Highsmith on LinkedIn

Skills Build Teams. Judgment Builds Enterprises.

Your AI Is Working. Is Your Team Getting Better?

What the Dashboard Cannot See

The Next Ethical Frontier: Why AI Can’t Replace Judgment

Stop Picking Sides: Manage the Tension Between Adaptation and Optimization

P.S. If you know your PMO needs more funding, authority, or resources, but you are struggling to make the case in a way your executives will understand, join me for my free training, How to Build a Business Case for a Strategy-Driven PMO. I’ll show you how to connect the PMO to the business problems your executives already care about and make the case for the support you need.

Thanks for taking the time to check out the podcast!

I welcome your feedback and insights!

I’d love to know what you think and if you love it, please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast player. Please leave a comment below to share your thoughts. See you online!

Warmly,

Laura Barnard

GET NOTIFIED ABOUT NEW EPISODES | TELL US WHAT YOU WANT TO LEARN | PDU REPORTING INSTRUCTIONS