Five What-If Questions for Fearless PMOs

Questions hold power. They not only serve to exchange information (e.g., “What is the status of Project Eureka?”), but also to turn the thought process of your entire company – or at least your PMO – around.  

Hal Gregerson, Executive Director of the MIT Leadership Center, has developed the Question Burst method, which we often use here at Meisterplan. After an intensive round of questions, this technique reveals a clear way forward when there was barely even a path before.  

To help you see not one but five possible ways forward, we have developed five what-if questions for PMOs. Sit down with your team and set aside some time for each question. Build a creative space in which everyone can think freely. You may discover a new mission, motivation or groundbreaking ideas for your PMO.

• What if you were suddenly forced to invoice for your work?
• What if you were never allowed to hold a meeting again?
• What if you had unlimited resources to work as a PMO for a year?
• What if your goal was to do as much good as possible for the people in your organization?
• What if you could only implement one initiative this year?

Not a PMO? Simply adapt the questions from this article for your department or role. The main goal is to never stop asking questions.

The Check, Please

What if you were suddenly forced to invoice for your work?

Somewhere in your organization, there is a table of cost centers. One of them is labelled “PMO”. Now, suppose you are an external service provider rather than an internal unit. You provide certain services for your company and charge an appropriate fee.

• What monetary value would you put on your work? For example, what would a project sparring session be worth, or what would the preparation and implementation of a portfolio board be worth?
• Would your current time investments be approved as they are?
• Which of your current services could you eliminate because nobody in your company would pay a single dollar for them? And on the other hand, which of your activities are so valuable that you could use them to finance your PMO and still grow?
• What kind of image would ensure your colleagues and managers not only see you as a necessary authority, but also actively and happily make use of your expertise? (An image as “the process police” is probably not very effective.)

It makes perfect sense to maintain central organizational units such as HR, finance or even the PMO. But as a PMO, there is often high pressure to prove your value to the company again and again. This what-if question can be a valuable exercise in optimally tailoring your services to the needs and challenges of your organization and clearly communicating your contribution to the company’s success.

Goodbye Meetings

What if you were never allowed to hold a meeting again?

Imagine the dreams of your introverted colleagues coming true. No more meetings! Everyone’s calendars are suddenly empty. No more complaints about there being too many poorly prepared meetings or too many meetings at all. What now?

• How would you make decisions without meetings? For example, how would you make decisions about what is included in the project portfolio?
• What alternative processes, tools and resources would you need to ensure effective management of the project portfolio? How would you prioritize projects? How could conflicts be resolved when project plans stall or teams reach their limits?
• How could you strengthen team spirit within the PMO without meetings? Could you still show appreciation and be there for one another?
• How should you collaborate within and across teams?

Meetings are often the best way to make joint decisions, collect ideas or grow together. And yet this what-if question can help you identify which meetings are unnecessary or how you can better support meetings in terms of process.

Break the Bank

What if you had unlimited resources to work as a PMO for a year?

Imagine having unlimited funds available to your PMO for a year. No questions asked, no reporting. Every single purchasing request is accepted, every budget is approved and every initiative is financed.

• What training and professional development opportunities would you fund to develop your team’s skills?
• Are there any investments that you would make or initiate immediately? For example, would you make your office space more inviting or modernize your software landscape?
• What pilot projects and initiatives would you launch? What risks would you take that would have been previously unimaginable?
• Would you award funds to student projects, research institutions, consultants or partners around your PMO?

The budget is always too tight to act freely. With this what-if question, you can identify really important budget needs and develop new ideas.

Do Good

What if your goal was to do as much good as possible for the people in your organization?

Imagine if the success of your PMO wasn’t measured by business metrics, but by the satisfaction and wellbeing of your colleagues. At the quarterly meeting, it isn’t the sales figures that are shared, but a mood barometer that shows exactly how fulfilled, happy and healthy employees are at your company.

• What tools do you already have at your disposal as a PMO to positively influence the barometer?
• How can you, as a PMO, ensure that project staff (especially the frequently requested key resources) are not overworked, but are still challenged enough?
• Can you propose any programs that promote good working conditions (e.g., more flexible working hours)?
• As a PMO, are you a reliable partner for management AND employees when it comes to committing resources or decision-making transparency?
• How can you value employees for great projects rather than flawlessly completed status reports?

At Meisterplan, we’re convinced that project portfolio management and resource planning only work in tandem. Together, they are a huge lever for increased “people-centricity” in companies. By exploring this what-if question, you can better understand how you as a PMO can help keep satisfied employees in your organization for the long term.

The One and Only

What if you could only implement one initiative this year?

As a PMO, you are certainly familiar with all the methods of project prioritization. But what if you could only choose one (change) initiative to implement in the next year? Imagine having to narrow down your entire project list to just one project.

• Which initiative has the greatest potential to have a positive and lasting impact on your company? What resources would you have to pool to achieve this?
• What criteria can you use to determine the potential impact of different initiatives?

When looking back, it’s often only two or three big decisions and initiatives per year that really bring about a change of course. If you identify these early on, you can save yourself and everyone else a lot of energy.

A Few Closing Words

With these questions, we hope we’ve inspired you to look at your work from new perspectives and find creative solutions to the challenges that your PMO faces. Each question invites you to break out of familiar thought patterns and develop new approaches that can move your PMO and your company forward.

Use these questions as a starting point for discussions with your team and as a basis for strategic thinking. Be bold and think big! The answers to these questions could be the key to a successful and fulfilling future for your PMO.

By the way: if you happen to be looking for suitable software to help you on your way, I’d like to leave you with my recommendation to take a look at Meisterplan.