# Can a one-person PMO work?

- **Episode:** [145](https://agents.truthliesandwork.com/episodes/145.md) (2024-11-14)
- **Type:** interview
- **Tags:** one-person-pmo, small-team
- **Time:** 13:08–17:05 (start 788s)
- **Listen:** [https://truthliesandwork.com/145?t=788](https://truthliesandwork.com/145?t=788)

---

[13:08] Al Elliott: So, is it as simple as a one-person PMO could just be one person accountable for managing a portfolio of projects across a business, or is there more to it?
[13:18] Laura Barnard: Yep, yep, yep, exactly. So, one of the things that's a challenge in this space for those that are in the industry is that there's no one definition of what a project management office should be. And I say exactly, because that's a good thing, because even though I've written a book on how to build or elevate or even rescue your project management or delivery capability in an organization, it doesn't mean that you have to do it a certain way. I believe that every organization has different priorities, different goals, different strategies they're trying to deliver on. And this function, no matter how big or small it is, is there to accelerate strategy delivery. And therefore, whatever that looks like for that organization, that's what That PMO should be doing? Is it about helping to drive accelerated performance across a whole bunch of different customer-facing projects, for example? Right? It could be that it's a portfolio. I ran a PMO where there was a portfolio of customer-facing initiatives. It wasn't even about building internal capabilities. It was about delivering results for customers. That's one kind of service that you could deliver, or it could be all internal projects. We have a, you know, I run a small business and we have a PMO function where we have an entire portfolio
[14:36] midroll (Phil Agnew, Nudge): Right
[14:38] Laura Barnard: portfolio of all of our change efforts and the services we're building and the way we're delivering for our clients. And it's more capability building, right? It's a little bit of both. How do we solidify our own foundation? So for example, if we're doing technology upgrades for our operational functions, that's a project that needs to be managed, but so is the delivery of services that we're delivering for clients. So you could have a PMO that is, well, really it should be right-sized to exactly what business problems you're trying to solve, and, and ensuring that you're solving them as fast as you can, with the highest return on investment you can
[15:13] midroll (Phil Agnew, Nudge): After this short break, we're going to find out why projects fail, why it's so hard to get your ideas implemented by your team, and Laura shares a process for managing projects that will make your life so much easier. See you in a second
[15:35] midroll (Phil Agnew, Nudge): We actually have a lot in common. We both use behavioral science to help people do better at work
[15:55] Al Elliott: the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business Seamless, seamless
[16:37] midroll (Phil Agnew, Nudge): It can
[16:45] Al Elliott: But come back
[16:46] midroll (Phil Agnew, Nudge): Yeah, come back. Definitely come back because Nudge isn't as good as this
[16:49] Al Elliott: So come back
[16:50] midroll (Phil Agnew, Nudge): I'll cut that out. Keep that in. Welcome back. Let's get right into what they call the meat and potatoes of it. Why do projects fail? What are the common reasons for a failed project? Laura has the answers