Our PMO collects reports but adds little value. What should it focus on?
Administrative PMO without decisionsFocus on the decisions the organization cannot make reliably today, such as prioritization, dependencies, capacity, and escalation. Retain reporting only where it supports those decisions.
What to do now
- Identify recurring management blind spots
- Define a small set of useful PMO services
- Remove duplicate information requests
- Measure whether decisions and delivery improve
When to escalate
Escalate when
Reporting burden is materially reducing delivery without improving control.
Who decides
The portfolio decision authority
Example
The PMO replaces duplicate status reports with a cross-project capacity and dependency review.
Mistake to avoid
Adding more templates to demonstrate PMO activity.
Prevent a repeat
Review whether active commitments fit available capacity and current priorities rather than just tracking project counts.
Suggested ApprovedFlow setup
- Projects
- Resources
- Documents
- Approvals
Use project and capacity records to support portfolio decisions, then record approved priorities and consequences explicitly. See the platform
Related cases
- How can a small organization get value from a PMO without hiring a large team?Lightweight portfolio coordination
- How do we measure PMO effectiveness?PMO activity-versus-outcome confusion
- How do we detect vanity metrics in project reporting?Metrics without decision value
- Our committed costs are missing from reports. Why does that matter?Incomplete obligation reporting