The first 90 Days Make or Break Your PMO

You don't get a second first impression

Your first 90 days in a PMO leadership role aren’t about job security. They’re about delivering value quickly and visibly.

That window sets the tone for everything that follows: your leadership style, the PMO’s purpose, and how you engage stakeholders.

Whether you’re launching from scratch or inheriting something someone else built, those first 12 weeks are where trust is built, momentum begins, and people decide if this PMO will actually make a difference, or just make noise.

Get ready to deliver and don’t waste the window

In some organizations, the first few months of a new PMO are spent building frameworks, finalizing governance models, and socializing plans. It looks organized on paper, but the work on the ground hasn’t shifted yet. While all of that is happening, the business is still waiting for signs of change.

In fact this is the most risky part of PMO launch because the executive sponsors and organizational champions are anxious for real results and are often relegated to waiting for form and function before outcome. If you're not creating visible value in the first 12 weeks, you're not falling behind, you already are.

What Can you Achieve in the First 90 Days?

There are a lot of solid arguments around why it is important to establish clarity around the type of processes needed to make the PMO successful and what services are needed to create value for the organization. Yes, all of these are needed, but they fall far short of being considered enough.

I’m going to share a best kept secret about executives that most Project Management practitioners either miss or ignore. Executives love fire fighting and if you don’t come out of that gate with your helmet on and fire hose in hand ready to put our those fires, the battle is already lost.

The one constant that I’ve observed on every PMO initiative, regardless of geography, industry, or organization type is the need to position the PMO as a squad that can put out fires, even when your ultimate goal is organized planning, strategic thinking, and long term capability building. If you hope that executives will give you the space to do all these things that are critical for long term delivery, you need to:

• Establish rhythm before governance

• Solve a real problem before standardizing process

• Build relationships before asking for reporting

These are your brand moments that enable you to demonstrate to the organization the kind of leadership that they can expect from the PMO.

Three Questions That Actually Matter

Once you’ve shown you can put out fires, the real work begins. It starts by asking the right questions to help shift your PMO from abstraction to action.

• What problem are we solving this week?
  It’s easy to get caught up in long-term vision. But this question is designed to prompt action now. Don’t worry about your five year plan, worry about what the team is doing this week that solves something real.

• Who are we building trust with?
  You probably already have your sponsor’s support, at least for now. Focus instead on the skeptics, especially the ones with quiet influence. Oh, and don’t waste time fighting the hardline detractors who are set against the PMO no matter what. That fight only leaves you bloody.

• What momentum are we creating?
  Forward motion, even in small steps, builds confidence. That’s how skeptics become supporters. Identify real quick wins and deliver them quickly. Just a heads up, rolling out a 12-month software deployment or trying to “fix the culture” doesn’t qualify. If it can’t land fast, it doesn’t go on the quick win list.

The Skill Shift You Can’t Ignore

Here is your challenge. While the PMO launch is a project that requires quick delivery and fast outcomes, running a project and leading a PMO are not quite the same thing. The project is about delivery. The PMO is about building capabilities, systems, and more importantly people. That takes a different set of muscles.

That means shifting your focus from execution to elevation. It’s no longer just about how fast you can manage a schedule, it’s also about how effectively you can shape an environment where delivery becomes repeatable, scalable, and trusted. The PMO team is not just guiding the achievement of tasks but shaping how the organization works.

RapidStartPMO: Built for the Paradox

Here’s the reality. When you step into a new PMO role, you’re not handed a clean runway and asked to build a plane. You’re handed a moving plane and asked to upgrade the engine while flying it.

That’s where RapidStartPMO comes in as a practical framework focused on the build-and-fly challenge. It’s designed to:

• Launch quickly, with structure that evolves

• Balance setup with delivery, strategy, and action

• Deliver quick wins without losing sight of long-term capability

It is designed to sidestep the need for perfect sponsorship or infinite patience. We assume you have a mandate, some urgency, and a lot of eyes on you.

If that’s the case, RapidStartPMO can help you move.

Final Thought

You don’t need your first 90 days to be flawless. But they do need to be useful to your team, your stakeholders, and the people still deciding if they’re on board.

The main point is this: in PMO work, how you start often shapes how you're remembered. That does not mean you can ignore a strong finish and a meaningful journey, but those topics will be left for future posts.

---

Coming Up This Week

📽️ Tuesday (CtrlAltPMO Video):
“Start Strong, Even When the Room Is a Mess”
A story about leading through a failed kickoff, regaining control, and winning executive trust in a single move.

📰 Wednesday (PM Matters Article):
“The Skills That Got You Here Won’t Get You There”
A practical breakdown of the leadership leap from project manager to PMO head.

📽️ Thursday (CtrlAltPMO Video):
“Get Your Hands Dirty”
Credibility in technical organizations isn’t granted, it’s earned. Usually by showing up in the work, not just above it.