PMO Staff vs PMO Leaders: Realism or Pessimism?

June 29, 2023 | by Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin

An interesting divide showed up between PMO leaders and PMO staff members in our most recent research, Project Management Skills for Value Delivery. Across the board, whether they are rating their organiation's level of skills, scoring its project success, or ranking skills by importance, PMO staff members are less cheerful about the state of things than their bosses are.

What's going on here?

In our previous skills study, carried out in 2015, a similar gap showed up in the rating of the skills of leaders and staff, particularly in the areas of trustworthiness and communication. Leaders upscored themselves, and took a dim view of thier reports. The opposite was true for the staff members. This perception gap can be very damaging to team morale; and when a perceived lack of trustworthiness on the part of leadership causes project team members to withhold vital project information, it can be devastating. The Challenger debacle is the classic case study in this area.

Once again, in this year's research, trustworthiness scores very high in importance ... and once again, staff members seem to lack the confidence shown by leaders in their organizations. Whether this is a case of over-optimistic leaders or over-pessimistic staffs is probably only solvable by looking at each organization in detail. Stay tuned for future exploration of this question as we interview survey participants to discover where common ground can be found. Value delivery can't be optimal in organizations where there's a communication or trust chasm between project teams and execs, after all.

For more, see our Research Brief: Performance Perceptions

---

Next Steps:

About the Author

Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin

Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin is editor-in-chief for PM Solutions Research, and the author, co-author and editor of over twenty books on project management, including the 2007 PMI Literature Award winner, The AMA Handbook of Project Management, Second Edition.

View Posts by Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin

Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin

Related Posts:

• PMaaS and Organizational Performance, Then and Now
• (More) Changing Approaches to Project Management
• What We Mean When We Say PM as a Service
• Jazzed Up About Project Management and AI
• Live from Atlanta ... People, Ideas and More, Part 2
• Live from Atlanta ... People, Ideas and More
• Value Delivery Skills Webinar Attendees Had Questions: Here Are Some Answers
• Webinar Alert: Project Management Skills for Value Delivery Research Overview
• Seven Actions for the Adaptive Organization
• High Performers Value These Skills
• PM Skills Benchmark Study: Your Second Chance to Participate
• New Research Launch: Project Management Skills for Value Delivery
• Managing Projects…Or Delivering Value? Eric Foss’s Challenge to Project Managers
• A Look Forward, With Hope and Confidence
• Some Thoughts About Governance, PMOs and the Thinking Project Manager
• PMO of the Year Finalist Ontario Power Generation
• The Future is Already Here for These PMOs
• State of the PMO Research Webinar – Your Questions, Answered: Part 2
• State of the PMO Research Webinar – Your Questions, Answered: Part 1
• Will A.I. Kill the PMO? Part 3 in Our A.I. in PM Series
• PMO Research Reveal: What You'll Learn in This Week's Webinar
• The Evolution of the Enterprise PMO: What Comes Next?
• Think Your Business Is Too Small for a PMO? Think Again.
• The Enterprise PMO Delivers
• PMOs: New Research Shows Benefits Outweigh Cost
• The PMO at 20: New Research Findings Released
• Extended: The State of the PMO Research Study, Thru Feb. 18.
• Why Research Is Important
• 2022: What Is the State of Your PMO?
• Something to Be Thankful For

1 Comment on PMO Staff vs PMO Leaders: Realism or Pessimism?