The Team Behind the PMO

Why high-impact PMOs don't just rely on structure, they rely on the right roles

You don’t build a PMO by drawing boxes on an org chart.

You design the right team and build it by bringing together the relevant talent to make it real.

PMOs are often launched with ambition but staffed without intention.

• They focus on frameworks instead of functions.

• They obsess over templates rather than talent.

• They try to build governance but forget to build teamwork.

It’s easy to call something a PMO but it’s much harder to make it deliver.

This week, we’re exploring how project management is powered by a full cast of roles, not just the project manager. Today, we’re looking at how those roles come together to make a PMO actually work.

PMO ≠ One Size Fits All

There’s no universal model for a PMO, and that’s a good thing.

Some PMOs are enterprise-wide while others support departments, portfolios, or programs. Some operate as centers of excellence, yet others act as delivery hubs.

Whether you call it an ePMO, PSO, project office, or transformation command center, one thing is true across the board:

A PMO is only as strong as the team that empowers it.

When You’re Building at Enterprise Scale

While no two PMOs are the same, enterprise PMOs (ePMOs) offer the broadest lens into what’s possible.

At full maturity, an ePMO may be responsible for five core capabilities, as defined in the RapidStartPMO™ Framework:

1. Center of Excellence: Define, improve, and scale standards, methodologies, and tools.

2. Governance & Reporting: Monitor delivery performance and enable executive decision-making.

3. Profession Custodian: Build the PM talent pipeline, oversee the practice, and develop people.

4. Corporate Alignment: Ensure that portfolios and programs serve real business priorities.

5. Enterprise Strategy (where applicable): Support execution of strategic transformations and organizational change.

Not every ePMO needs to do all of this, but when you operate at this level, you're powering how the organization moves.

At this level it is important to remember that the roles and the people who make this PMO run are the difference between failure and success.

The Roles That Make a PMO Tick

Here are the functional roles that bring these PMO pillars to life based on the RapidStartPMO™ framework.

• PMO Champion: sets the vision and leads the PMO (title may vary: VP, Director, other). This role could also have a Deputy PMO Champion in certain instances

• Manager of PM Practice: oversees project/program managers and delivery quality

• CoE Manager, Methodology & Tool Owner: drives methodology, tools, and continuous improvement

• Governance & Reporting Manager: leads performance monitoring and analysis

• Business Analyst, Project Coordinator: supports operational execution and insights across the portfolio

• Corporate Support Manager, Strategist, Trainer: provide support services to make the work of the PMO effective and connected within the organization

• Portfolio / Program / Project Managers

PMOs will likely need to define how these functions are covered within their mandate, however, not every PMO will have a specific and distinct position for each of these roles.

What matters is coverage not headcount, title, and structure.

What High-Impact PMOs Do Differently

The best PMOs don’t chase maturity models for the sake of recognition, they build fitness for purpose.

They staff intentionally, scale appropriately, and adapt based on context: industry, complexity, budget, mandate.

Most importantly, they don’t see the PMO as a static structure, they see it as a system of capability that evolves with time.

What Really Matters

If you want your PMO to succeed, don’t start with reporting lines. Start with what the organization actually needs and build the roles that deliver on that.

Ask yourself:

• Who owns the methodology?

• Who monitors performance?

• Who grows the profession?

• Who makes sure strategy actually connects to delivery?

If you can’t answer those questions clearly, it doesn’t matter what you call your PMO.

Structure doesn’t deliver, leaders and teams do.

💬 What roles are making your PMO work?

Reply, comment, or tag someone who’s helping power your delivery system.