
PMO Strategies
In this podcast, PMO leaders and those wanting to capitalize on the best of project management to deliver the organization’s strategy,will uncover the hidden secrets of the best PMOs, learn the game-changing techniques that transform any PMO into a value-driven IMPACT Engine, and explore the best ways for the PMO to become an integral part of the fabric and future of an organization. After spending two and a half decades helping organizations deliver change, with 15 of those years in the shoes of PMO leader inside organizations, Laura strongly believes that there is more to making an IMPACT than templates, tools, and process. She’ll show you how to make the shifts necessary to becoming a business focused PMO that will become an invaluable organizational asset. With her guests and insights, we explore the sticky situations and tough challenges PMO leaders face, from sorting through all of the “noise” about what the PMO “should” do to finding the best ways for your PMO to make an IMPACT. Listen in and you can discover how to shift your focus from outputs to outcomes, fundamentally changing the game for your PMO and personal success.
Latest episodes

Sep 14, 2020 • 46min
065: The Portfolio Management Dream with Rick Morris
Welcome to the PMO Strategies Podcast + Blog, where PMO leaders become IMPACT Drivers!
PMI Talent Triangle: Power Skills (Leadership)
Hi, IMPACT Drivers!
Today I’m talking to Rick Morris about the portfolio management dream. You hold the keys to your organization's strategy delivery when you have a portfolio management practice in place. So, how do you get there in a way that makes it a dream come true instead of a nightmare?
In this episode, you’ll learn:
Why Rick calls it "a dream" and if it's actually doable
the barriers to portfolio management you must conquer
tips to expedite portfolio management and why it's necessary
if PPM hurts or helps project management
Make sure to catch Rick at the PMO IMPACT Summit and say hi to him in the mobile app!
Transform Visibility and Alignment
Strategy-Led PPM for Business Outcome Focused PMOs.
Place the right bets, turn quickly, and deliver faster with this innovative approach to top-down portfolio and capacity planning with KeyedIn.
Looking at adopting a more agile method due to the on-going crisis?
Concepts like iterative development, continuous improvement, and prioritizing a dynamic backlog, when applied to portfolio management can deliver a host of compelling benefits that KeyedIn brings to life.
LEARN MORE
Thanks for taking the time to check out the podcast!
I welcome your feedback and insights!
I’d love to know what you think and if you love it, please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast player. Please leave a comment below to share your thoughts. See you online!
Warmly,
Laura Barnard
GET NOTIFIED ABOUT NEW EPISODES
TELL US WHAT YOU WANT TO LEARN
PDU REPORTING INSTRUCTIONS

Sep 6, 2020 • 37min
064: Leadership in a Time of Crisis with Amir Younes
Welcome to the PMO Strategies Podcast + Blog, where PMO leaders become IMPACT Drivers!
PMI Talent Triangle: Power Skills (Leadership)
Hi IMPACT Drivers!
There’s no question that leadership today means facing a unique set of challenges. Leaders must find a way to empower and motivate dispersed employees and facilitate cross-functional collaboration, operating in an environment like never before. With remote work as the new norm for so many, effective leadership is critical.
In this episode, I’m talking to Amir Younes, Vice President of Client Success at Wrike. During his time at Wrike, Amir has built and led an internationally recognized client success team and has helped take Wrike from a $35M company to $100+M. We’re talking about leadership in a time of crisis so you can learn how to unite, empower, and inspire teams from anywhere.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
3 essential leadership qualities for managing during a crisis
how to build high performing teams amidst the chaos
how to effectively manage your time as a leader
what processes you should automate to create efficiency
a unique way to think about leadership vs management
Learn more from Wrike:
Wrike Virtual PMO Summit - Article
Power the Modern, Agile Enterprise
Wrike is a collaborative work management platform that enables teams to be insanely productive by transforming the way they plan, manage, and complete work. More than 20,000 companies worldwide rely on Wrike to manage complex projects and ensure deadlines are met. By bringing everyone into a single digital workspace, no matter where individual contributors are located, teams can achieve aggressive growth goals, while improving efficiency and maintaining quality.
LEARN MORE
Thanks for taking the time to check out the podcast!
I welcome your feedback and insights!
I’d love to know what you think and if you love it, please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast player. Please leave a comment below to share your thoughts. See you online!
Warmly,
Laura Barnard
GET NOTIFIED ABOUT NEW EPISODES
TELL US WHAT YOU WANT TO LEARN
PDU REPORTING INSTRUCTIONS

Aug 31, 2020 • 19min
063: Applying a Disciplined Agile Mindset to the PMO with Scott Ambler
Welcome to the PMO Strategies Podcast + Blog, where PMO leaders become IMPACT Drivers!
PMI Talent Triangle: Business Acumen (Strategic and Business Management)
Hi, there IMPACT Drivers!
Have you heard of Disciplined Agile?
I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know Scott Ambler, the Vice President, Chief Scientist of Disciplined Agile at the Project Management Institute (PMI) and he’s introduced me to Disciplined Agile and I LOVE IT! It’s the perfect approach to putting common sense into common practice. It’s not a framework or methodology, but more of a toolkit of guidance and resources to help you make good decisions to have a more Agile approach to implementing your PMO, products, and projects.
Scott is diving deep on this topic at the PMO IMPACT Summit and has agreed to give us a brief overview of Disciplined Agile and how that mindset applies to the PMO for this week’s podcast.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
what Disciplined Agile is all about
how the principles of Disciplined Agile create opportunities for PMOs
why Disciplined Agile is so important to the future of project work
how the Disciplined Agile mindset applies to the PMO
Imagine it, achieve it, and make an impact with Clarizen’s enterprise collaborative work management solution.
Clarizen offers the only adaptive solution on the market for enterprise collaborative work management. Their solution enables you to work in whatever manner you want – whether waterfall, agile, or a combination of the two. Companies find immense value in the visibility the solution brings across many workstreams at a company – regardless of where the work is being done. People quickly turn ideas into strategies, plans, and actions to adapt and respond faster to market changes.
Project leaders can move faster with better data, eliminate work chaos with complete transparency, and work smarter with better results.
LEARN MORE
Thanks for taking the time to check out the podcast!
I welcome your feedback and insights!
I’d love to know what you think and if you love it, please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast player. Please leave a comment below to share your thoughts. See you online!
Warmly,
Laura Barnard
GET NOTIFIED ABOUT NEW EPISODES
TELL US WHAT YOU WANT TO LEARN
PDU REPORTING INSTRUCTIONS

Aug 24, 2020 • 37min
062: How a SRO Can Make an IMPACT with the PMO with Philip Martin
Welcome to the PMO Strategies Podcast + Blog, where PMO leaders become IMPACT Drivers!
PMI Talent Triangle: Business Acumen (Strategic and Business Management)
This week, I’m speaking with Philip Martin, CEO of Cora Systems. Philip has been working with organizations globally to implement portfolio solutions and how critical it is to get it right AND get it right. We’re going to walk through Philip’s 9 Rules for Successful Strategy Realization and if you like what you hear, make sure not to miss his session at the PMO IMPACT Summit where you can download his action-taking Pandemic Planning workbook that walks you through these 9 rules and so much more!
In this episode, you’ll learn:
what is meant by a Strategy Realization Office (SRO)
what an SRO does that’s different from the typical PMO
how running an SRO helps you earn a seat at the table
factors to consider when building an SRO
Learn more from Cora Systems:
https://corasystems.com/blog/project-controls-issues-portfolio-planning/
Cora PPM contains a comprehensive suite of functionality that provides the strategic capabilities to optimize capacity, analyze scenarios, track benefits, inform all stakeholders, and integrate across the enterprise. Acting as the bedrock for delivering major transformation programs.
LEARN MORE
Thanks for taking the time to check out the podcast!
I welcome your feedback and insights!
I’d love to know what you think and if you love it, please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast player. Please leave a comment below to share your thoughts. See you online!
Warmly,
Laura Barnard
GET NOTIFIED ABOUT NEW EPISODES
TELL US WHAT YOU WANT TO LEARN
PDU REPORTING INSTRUCTIONS

Aug 17, 2020 • 26min
061: From PMO to Strategy Implementation Office with Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez
Welcome to the PMO Strategies Podcast + Blog, where PMO leaders become IMPACT Drivers!
PMI Talent Triangle: Business Acumen (Strategic and Business Management)
Today, I'm talking with PMO IMPACT Summit Speaker, Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez, about PMOs moving toward this concept of the Strategy Implementation Office. Recently, Gartner claimed that 80% of today’s Project Management tasks will be eliminated by 2030 as Artificial Intelligence takes over. Will 80% of today’s PMO tasks will most likely also disappear too?
In this episode, you’ll learn:
How the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted project management
Why PMOs are struggling and what do we need to do differently
What the Project Economy is all about
Why what we’re doing now isn't working
How PMOs and PMO leaders can adapt to these disruptions
Meisterplan is a project portfolio management tool that lets companies create realistic and achievable portfolios. With Meisterplan, you can see project details, capacity, and financials all in one dashboard. Start making better project portfolios with a free 30-day trial.
LEARN MORE
Thanks for taking the time to check out the podcast!
I welcome your feedback and insights!
I’d love to know what you think and if you love it, please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast player. Please leave a comment below to share your thoughts. See you online!
Warmly,
Laura Barnard
GET NOTIFIED ABOUT NEW EPISODES
TELL US WHAT YOU WANT TO LEARN
PDU REPORTING INSTRUCTIONS

Aug 10, 2020 • 46min
060: The Diverse and Equitable PMO with Sherry James
Welcome to the PMO Strategies Podcast + Blog, where PMO leaders become IMPACT Drivers!
PMI Talent Triangle: Power Skills (Leadership)
In this episode, we’re talking with Sherry James about why a diverse and equitable PMO will be the PMO that thrives in the future. Today's environment is different for all of us. It is important to ensure that our teams are diverse in thought to best support our organizations. For many organizations, the Diversity and Inclusion training is a part of your onboarding process and that’s where the conversation ends.
I think it’s critical that we look at how we as IMPACT Drivers are creating a more inclusive and diverse environment in our PMOs and project teams, not just in times of high racial tension or media focus, but ALL THE TIME, and to the great benefit of our organizations. We have a unique opportunity to lead (and be recognized for this leadership role) the charge in our organizations to help them become more diverse, inclusive and equitable and in this podcast episode we’re going to explore what you can do and how to get started.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
Why diversity and inclusion is critical in PMOs
Why you WANT to be asked to drive this in your organization
How to have that first difficult conversation
How to educate ourselves and our teams
How to make the habits that shift the culture
Make sure to link to her page to dive deeper with Sherry and learn more about mental health, diversity, and inclusion you can learn more here: https://www.sherryjamespmp.com
To join her weekly IGTV show "With Your Mind in Mind" and her weekly IG Lives on Wednesdays at 7pm CST "Uncomfortable Conversations" https://www.instagram.com/sherryjamespmp/
Sherry James is joining us as a speaker for this year’s PMO IMPACT Summit, so make sure to say hi to her in the mobile app and community!
Cora PPM contains a comprehensive suite of functionality that provides the strategic capabilities to optimize capacity, analyze scenarios, track benefits, inform all stakeholders, and integrate across the enterprise. Acting as the bedrock for delivering major transformation programs.
LEARN MORE
Thanks for taking the time to check out the podcast!
I welcome your feedback and insights!
I’d love to know what you think and if you love it, please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast player. Please leave a comment below to share your thoughts. See you online!
Warmly,
Laura Barnard
GET NOTIFIED ABOUT NEW EPISODES
TELL US WHAT YOU WANT TO LEARN
PDU REPORTING INSTRUCTIONS

Aug 3, 2020 • 42min
059: Agile PPM with Tim Short
Welcome to the PMO Strategies Podcast + Blog, where PMO leaders become IMPACT Drivers!
PMI Talent Triangle: Business Acumen (Strategic and Business Management)
This is a fun episode with Tim Short, Senior Vice President of Global Operations for KeyedIn. Tim and I talk about our long histories in PMOs and project management and the evolution we've seen for PMOs and project management. Back in the 90s, we saw projects managed in a much more step-by-step approach.
Today, organizations must embrace organizational agility and learn to shift quickly as the needs of our customers are shifting. This creates an opportunity to embrace both big "A" Agile and little "a" agile in ways that are helping organizations thrive.
And this is where the PMO comes in...
In this episode, you’ll learn:
the difference between big "A" and little "a" agile
what Agile portfolio management looks like
the opportunity for PMOs to earn their seat at the table
how to easily start using PPM for your Agile projects
how new ways of working support Agile PPM
how PMO leaders can influence their executives' mindsets
Tim Short is joining us as a speaker for this year’s PMO IMPACT Summit, so make sure to say hi to him in the mobile app and community!
Learn more from KeyedIn:
Change-Management-in-the-Modern-Era-Whitepaper - Courtney McClay
Transform Visibility and Alignment
Strategy-Led PPM for Business Outcome Focused PMOs.
Place the right bets, turn quickly, and deliver faster with this innovative approach to top-down portfolio and capacity planning with KeyedIn.
Looking at adopting a more agile method due to the on-going crisis?
Concepts like iterative development, continuous improvement, and prioritizing a dynamic backlog, when applied to portfolio management can deliver a host of compelling benefits that KeyedIn brings to life.
LEARN MORE
Thanks for taking the time to check out the podcast!
I welcome your feedback and insights!
I’d love to know what you think and if you love it, please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast player. Please leave a comment below to share your thoughts. See you online!
Warmly,
Laura Barnard
GET NOTIFIED ABOUT NEW EPISODES
TELL US WHAT YOU WANT TO LEARN
PDU REPORTING INSTRUCTIONS

Jul 27, 2020 • 28min
058: Courageous Cultures with Karin Hurt and David Dye
Welcome to the PMO Strategies Podcast + Blog, where PMO leaders become IMPACT Drivers!
PMI Talent Triangle: Power Skills (Leadership)
This is a very exciting epidsode! My friends Karin Hurt and David Dye have just released their new book Courageous Cultures: How to Build Teams of Micro-Innovators, Problem Solvers and Customer Advocates. In this episode, I sat down with these two to talk about ways you can create a more inclusive environment for ideas and ensure your teams feel heard and are able to contribute to supporting your project and PMO goals. We also talked about some great ways you can ask the right questions of your business leaders, sponsors, and stakeholders to ensure that you get actionable ideas that will help you direct your PMO services.
Join us in this episode to learn:
What is it that keeps people from speaking up and solving more problems
How can leaders create a culture that promotes contribution instead of safe silence
What should you say to a leader who is overwhelmed with ideas - but they are bad ideas or irrelevant
What leaders can do to cultivate more ideas
When you’re the one who has a great idea and you want to get it heard
Karin and David are joining us as a speaker for this year’s PMO IMPACT Summit, so make sure to say to them in the mobile app and community!
Meisterplan enables you to answer “What-If?” questions, identify and resolve resource constraints in just a few clicks, and see the impact of changes to your project portfolio in real-time. Start making better project portfolios with a free 30-day trial.
LEARN MORE
Thanks for taking the time to check out the podcast!
I welcome your feedback and insights!
I’d love to know what you think and if you love it, please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast player. Please leave a comment below to share your thoughts. See you online!
Warmly,
Laura Barnard
GET NOTIFIED ABOUT NEW EPISODES
TELL US WHAT YOU WANT TO LEARN
PDU REPORTING INSTRUCTIONS

Jul 20, 2020 • 32min
057: The Difference Between Adaptability, Agility and Agile with Angela Bunner
Welcome to the PMO Strategies Podcast + Blog, where PMO leaders become IMPACT Drivers!
This week, we’re talking about adaptability, agility, and big “A” Agile. There are a lot of terms floating around these days that all seem to mean something similar. I’ve got Angela Bunner, VP Customer Experience at Clarizen, here with me to help clarify these terms and put them in context for the PMO.
In our current environment, we’re all facing a lot of VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) and this can put a strain on IMPACT Drivers. Our ability to drive IMPACT from here forward will depend heavily on our ability to embrace agility, be more flexible and adaptable than we have ever been, AND incorporate Agile ways of working into our work.
Join us in this episode to learn:
how our ability to adapt will determine if we thrive
what it takes to become adaptable
the difference between agility and Agile
what industries are benefiting from these capabilities
what you should do first
Angela is joining us as a speaker for this year’s PMO IMPACT Summit, so make sure to say hi to her in the mobile app and community!
Learn more from Clarizen:
Clarizen-Product-Overview-Datasheet
PMI Talent Triangle: Ways of Working (Technical)
Imagine it, achieve it, and make an impact with Clarizen’s enterprise collaborative work management solution.
Clarizen offers the only adaptive solution on the market for enterprise collaborative work management. Their solution enables you to work in whatever manner you want – whether waterfall, agile, or a combination of the two. Companies find immense value in the visibility the solution brings across many workstreams at a company – regardless of where the work is being done. People quickly turn ideas into strategies, plans, and actions to adapt and respond faster to market changes.
Project leaders can move faster with better data, eliminate work chaos with complete transparency, and work smarter with better results.
LEARN MORE
Thanks for taking the time to check out the podcast!
I welcome your feedback and insights!
I’d love to know what you think and if you love it, please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast player. Please leave a comment below to share your thoughts. See you online!
Warmly,
Laura Barnard
GET NOTIFIED ABOUT NEW EPISODES
TELL US WHAT YOU WANT TO LEARN
PDU REPORTING INSTRUCTIONS

Jul 13, 2020 • 19min
056: Elevating Your PM Career with David Barrett
Welcome to the PMO Strategies Podcast + Blog, where PMO leaders become IMPACT Drivers!
My colleague and PMO IMPACT Summit David Barrett joins us today to talk about what it takes to take YOUR career to the next level. If you've been curious how your business leaders think about project management and the PMO, your role in the organization, and what they're looking for in the next generation of project leaders - the ones that will get tapped when the next big project needs to be done.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
what we have to do to get to the next level
how to stand out and be chosen for the next big project
what you might be doing that is standing in your way
what senior management looking for in a good PM
how to be that superstar your leaders are looking for
David is joining us as a speaker for this year’s PMO IMPACT Summit, so make sure to say hi to him in the mobile app and community!
PMI Talent Triangle: Power Skills (Leadership)
Cora PPM contains a comprehensive suite of functionality that provides the strategic capabilities to optimize capacity, analyze scenarios, track benefits, inform all stakeholders, and integrate across the enterprise. Acting as the bedrock for delivering major transformation programs.
LEARN MORE
Thanks for taking the time to check out the podcast!
I welcome your feedback and insights!
I’d love to know what you think and if you love it, please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast player. Please leave a comment below to share your thoughts. See you online!
Warmly,
Laura Barnard
GET NOTIFIED ABOUT NEW EPISODES
TELL US WHAT YOU WANT TO LEARN
PDU REPORTING INSTRUCTIONS