PMO Strategies

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