The Strategic PMO: Key Questions, Real Insights

‍

When hiring for a PMO leader, ensure you are asking questions or considering these ideas to help you uncover strengths in the following skill sets:

1. Project Management

• Process Walkthrough: Ask the candidate to walk you through their typical process covering:
  • Resource scheduling
  • Risk management
  • Budget creation, maintenance, and reporting (for both programs and projects)
  • Communicating progress towards objectives, deliverables, and outcomes.
• Reporting Acumen: Inquire about the various types of reporting they provide to different levels of stakeholders.
  • Follow up by asking what kind of feedback they have received on their reporting style and content.

2. Organization

• C-Suite Collaboration & Strategy: Explore their competency and experience in:
  • Working with the C-suite to help set strategy.
  • Ensuring regulatory compliance.
  • Managing cost center accountability.
• Performance & Accountability: It's equally important to dig into their philosophy and real-world approach regarding:
  • Performance appraisals.
  • Establishing and maintaining accountability.

3. Functional Expertise

• Stakeholder Collaboration: Ask them to provide examples of the types of stakeholders they typically collaborate with and report to. This will help demonstrate their exposure to diverse stakeholder management.
• Learning from Challenges: Crucially, ask for a specific example of a time when stakeholder management didn't go well.
  • Focus on what they learned from that experience and how they adapted their approach.

4. People Management

(This is a critical skill set and, in my mind, the most important!)

• Team Leadership & Facilitation: Ask detailed questions about how they:
  • Facilitate, coach, and lead their project teams (both directly and indirectly).
• Influencing Outcomes: Inquire how they go about influencing decisions and outcomes through their skilled staff.
  • Again, an example of a time that didn't go well and what they learned will expose valuable evaluation data.
• Team Development & Communication: Understand their approach to:
  • Their team's growth and career development for the leaders they guide.
  • Handling crucial conversations effectively.

This is a critical hire for any organization and one that should not be taken lightly. A PMO organization and their leader can really positively impact the outcomes of a company's objectives, mission, and vision... but you need the RIGHT person to make it impactful!

By Angie Janko, COO of GSD Coach & Recruiting, helping SaaS founders build the top 5% of talent, FAST!