I met Fahad through a mutual friend at a leadership roundtable. We were both standing in line for coffee when we struck up a conversation about project management. I could tell immediately that he wasn’t just any executive—he was sharp, direct, and had the kind of presence that made you lean in when he spoke.

“So, what’s your take on PMOs?” I asked casually, stirring sugar into my coffee.

Fahad let out a dry chuckle. “I just shut one down.”

That caught me off guard. “Really? What happened?”

He took a sip of his espresso and sighed. “I walked into this mid-sized financial institution as a senior executive, excited to make an impact. They had a PMO—at least, that’s what they called it. But within six months, I knew it had to go.”

That was the beginning of one of the most interesting conversations I’ve ever had about PMOs—one that every PMO leader needs to hear.

The PMO That Wasn’t Really a PMO

Fahad had spent years leading teams in large, complex organizations. He had seen firsthand how a well-structured PMO could be a game-changer, driving strategic execution, improving decision-making, and ensuring that projects delivered real business outcomes.

But at this institution, something was very wrong.

“The first red flag? Nobody in the executive team could clearly tell me what the PMO actually did,” Fahad said. “Every time I asked, I got a different answer. ‘Oh, they handle status reports.’ ‘They approve budgets.’ ‘They manage the templates.’ None of it connected to business outcomes.”

Then, there was the way projects were run. Each department had its own way of doing things. Some followed a structured methodology; others ran purely on gut instinct. The PMO, instead of bringing alignment, had become a passive bystander—obsessed with governance but disconnected from strategy.

“It felt like they were just moving pieces around on a board, without any real sense of the game we were trying to win,” Fahad said.

Symptoms of Why PMOs Fail

Fahad wasn’t the type to make rash decisions, but he had a strong filter for what worked and what didn’t. As he dug deeper, he found more troubling signs:

• Projects weren’t aligned with strategic goals. No clear prioritization process, no way to measure value, and no connection to business objectives.

• The PMO was a reporting machine. They focused on tracking and policing, but not enabling. They could tell you if a project was late, but not how to fix it.

• Executives saw them as a burden, not an asset. Business leaders viewed the PMO as another bureaucratic layer that slowed them down.

• Project managers didn’t respect the PMO. Instead of seeing the PMO as a strategic partner, they saw it as an administrative roadblock.

• No one could articulate its ROI. The PMO consumed resources, but its value was invisible.

“I tried to course-correct,” Fahad said. “I really did. But by the time I started having these conversations, the PMO had already lost the trust of the business. It wasn’t a question of fixing it—it was a question of starting fresh.”

Why Executives Like Fahad Lose Faith in PMOs

The hard truth is that executives don’t care about frameworks, governance models, or methodologies. They care about results. They want to see:

• Faster time to market for initiatives.

• Clear prioritization of what really matters.

• Data-driven decisions, not just reports.

• A PMO that accelerates execution instead of slowing it down.

When a PMO fails to connect the dots between project execution and business success, leaders like Fahad won’t hesitate to shut it down.

“I needed a PMO that would be my right hand in driving change,” Fahad told me. “Not one that just collected documents and policed deadlines.”

What PMO Leaders Can Do to Avoid This Fate

If you’re leading a PMO, and this story sounds uncomfortably familiar, here’s what you can do to turn things around before it’s too late:

1. Align with Business Strategy – Ensure that every project ties directly to strategic objectives. If you can’t answer how your PMO is driving business success, you have a problem.

2. Shift from Policing to Enabling – Stop acting as a compliance checkpoint. Instead, focus on solving execution challenges and removing roadblocks.

3. Speak the Language of Executives – They don’t care about project phases or governance structures. They care about business impact, ROI, and outcomes. Talk to them in those terms.

4. Measure What Matters – Stop tracking useless metrics like the number of reports generated. Instead, measure cycle time, project success rate, business value delivered, and resource utilization efficiency.

5. Win Trust Through Quick Wins – Find a project that’s struggling and turn it around. Show the business what you can do before you ask for buy-in.

6. Build Relationships, Not Just Processes – Get to know your executives and project managers. Understand their pain points and position the PMO as a partner, not a roadblock.

A Fresh Start

“So what happened next?” I asked Fahad as he finished his espresso.

“I built a new PMO from scratch,” he said with a grin. “This time, I did it differently. I brought in people who understood the business first and project management second. We focused on solving execution problems, not just tracking them. And guess what? The business loves us now.”

Is Your PMO at Risk? Let’s Talk.

If you’re a PMO leader and you’re worried about whether your executives see real value in your PMO, you’re not alone. Many PMO leaders face these challenges, and the key is taking action before it’s too late.

Let’s have a conversation. I’d love to hear about your PMO, what’s working, and where you see challenges. Together, we can explore ways to make your PMO indispensable.

Drop me a message or schedule a quick chat—I’m here to help.