A Transformation on the Brink
Emma leaned back in her chair, rubbing her temples, as she stared at the latest executive email—another concern, another complaint.
As the Head of the PMO for a mid-sized financial services company, she had always prided herself on execution. Budgets balanced. Projects delivered. Deadlines met. But this transformation—this massive, organization-wide shift—was unlike anything she had tackled before.
The company was modernizing everything at once: a new CRM, an upgraded ERP system, and automated workflows to replace outdated manual processes. It was a much-needed overhaul meant to bring them into the future. The executive team had trusted the PMO to lead the charge, ensuring initiatives were on time, on budget, and aligned with the business strategy.
Yet, despite careful planning and execution, chaos was brewing.
Employees were frustrated. Some business teams were overwhelmed, their workloads growing as they struggled to learn new systems while keeping up with their daily responsibilities. Customers were receiving confusing messages about new procedures, leading to increased complaints. Worst of all, executives were now questioning whether they had moved too fast, jeopardizing the entire transformation effort.
Emma sighed. Delivering projects wasn’t enough. Something had to change.
The PMO’s Missing Piece
At first, she did what any PMO leader would do—she tightened governance, created more status reports, and conducted more steering committee reviews. She also doubled down on tracking risks and dependencies. Yet, despite these efforts, things continued to unravel.
It wasn’t until she had a candid conversation with the Head of Operations that she saw the real problem.
“Emma, I appreciate all the reports, but people aren’t resisting the changes because of a lack of tracking. They’re exhausted. They feel like these changes are being forced on them with no regard for how they work.”
That hit hard.
Emma realized her PMO had been so focused on delivery that they had neglected something just as important—organizational change management (OCM). They had been rolling out change to the business, rather than leading change with the business.
Shifting Gears: Making Change Management a Core PMO Practice
Determined to turn things around, Emma dove into understanding how to integrate change management into the PMO’s methodology. She identified three key areas that needed immediate attention:
1. People Readiness: Involving Stakeholders Early
One of her first steps was assembling a Change Network, a group of influencers from across departments who would act as advocates for the transformation. These weren’t just managers; they were well-respected employees who could communicate changes in a way that resonated with their teams.
Instead of issuing top-down directives, the PMO started working collaboratively with business units. They held town halls, interactive Q&A sessions, and small-group meetings where employees could voice concerns and get real-time answers.
2. Communication: Clarity Over Complexity
Emma took a hard look at the communication strategy. The messages being sent out were full of jargon and technical details that meant little to the average employee or customer.
She partnered with the Communications team to simplify the language, focusing on three critical questions for every update:
-
What’s changing?
-
Why does it matter to you?
-
What do you need to do next?
Instead of long, convoluted emails, they implemented short video updates, interactive FAQs, and a dedicated transformation portal where employees and customers could track progress, ask questions, and find resources.
3. Measuring Adoption, Not Just Completion
Previously, project success was measured by budget adherence, timelines, and system go-lives. But Emma introduced new KPIs focused on adoption and sentiment:
-
Engagement surveys to gauge employee sentiment toward the changes.
-
System utilization rates to see how often new tools were actually being used.
-
Help desk inquiries to track whether training materials were effective.
These new metrics gave executives a more realistic picture of whether the transformation was succeeding beyond just project completion.
The Turning Point
Six months later, the transformation story looked utterly different.
The Change Network had become a powerful force, identifying roadblocks before they turned into crises. Business teams felt heard and involved, making them far more likely to embrace the changes. Employees had a clearer understanding of why the transformation was happening and how it would benefit them. Even customers noticed a difference as communications became clearer and more personalized.
Most importantly, executives no longer saw change management as a soft skill—it was now a critical pillar of the organization’s delivery strategy.
A Lesson for Every PMO Leader
Emma’s story is not unique. Transformation doesn’t fail because of technology—it fails because people aren’t ready to adopt the change. And as PMO leaders, we have a responsibility to consider change management a fundamental part of project execution.
So, if you’re leading a transformation and seeing signs of resistance, take a step back and ask yourself:
-
Have we truly engaged the people affected by this change?
-
Are our communications clear, simple, and actionable?
-
Are we measuring adoption, not just project completion?
If the answer to any of these is no, then it might be time to rethink your approach.
