004: The IMPACT PMO Leader Mindset: Perform Relentlessly

PMI Talent Triangle: Power Skills (Leadership) Welcome to the PMO Strategies Podcast + Blog, where PMO leaders become IMPACT Drivers! We are on to the 3rd step in changing your mindset as a PMO leader. If you haven't listened to episode 000, the Introductory episode or 001, The PMO Reset, or 002 talking all about instilling focus, or even 003 redefining what success looks like - then definitely go back and listen to or read those first. Starting at the beginning will be the stepping stones to how we got here, and help you understand why we must work on mindset first. Today in episode 004, we are diving into step 3, performing relentlessly. This step in the process is crucial for building credibility with your PMO and leadership confidence in you as a PMO leader. IMPACT PMO Leaders understand that it’s not enough to stay busy, it’s not enough to show progress, we’ve got to Get. It. Done. consistently and reliably and have a relentless perseverance of IMPACT. Your goal is to drive a delivery focused mindset with your team, show that you understand that the work you are doing is for a greater purpose, ensure that you are keeping your commitments, minimize friction and barriers to IMPACT outcomes, and right-size your governance framework to drive the ideal state of IMPACT delivery. Let’s dig into the steps you can take to Perform Relentlessly. 1. Drive a Delivery-Focused Mindset When we create process or tools or get busy managing projects, we must make sure that we keep our eye on the prize. Your job as an IMPACT PMO Leader is to ensure that everyone on the team sees the forest, not just the trees. We don’t allow our teams to get caught up in checking boxes or mindlessly following steps in a process. We don’t allow our teams to simply go through the motions of delivering capabilities or services for the organization. We ensure that everyone on the team is tirelessly driving toward creation of IMPACT. This means that we need to allow our teams some flexibility and space to find creative ways to solve problems, use only the tools in the toolbox that are enabling project delivery and throughput, and ensure that we think about delivering IMPACT through every service we create or interaction we have with stakeholders. 2. Talk IMPACT to Everyone Performing relentlessly means that you are talking about the IMPACT you are making with everyone. When we are talking to people about the work we are doing, think about the language you use. Make sure you connect people to the outcomes you are creating instead of the steps you are taking to get there. Sometimes we will speak one language to our business stakeholders and then get right back to talking tools, process, and methodology when we go back to our team. Instead, make sure that are you are connecting the work that you are doing as a team directly to the IMPACT that work has on the overall organizational strategy. You will see performance increase if people are able to tie the work they are doing to the big picture of the organization. People want to see how they are part of the puzzle and how what they are doing matters. Show them just how much it matters. 3. Keep Commitments If you want to build credibility, then you must do what you say you are going to do. Every time. That means being thoughtful and purposeful about the commitments you make and create a relentless pursuit of IMPACT on those most important priorities. People are counting on you. They are judging you. They are trying to figure out if they can rely on you to deliver. Show them that they can. You want to set expectations and then deliver on exactly what you said you were going to deliver. To do this, you must spend time defining and planning out the capabilities you will deliver with your PMO and ensuring that you are planning for the inevitable changes and roadblocks that will hamper your progress. Be good at planning before you do.