Do you need a PMO?

Leadership recognizes that execution isn't matching ambition. Projects slip, accountability isn't where it needs to be, and the same problems keep resurfacing. Someone says, “we need a PMO.” A function gets stood up. Templates get built. Steering committees get scheduled. Everyone waits for execution to improve.

About two years later, it gets dissolved. Too heavy, too disconnected, too theoretical for the pace of the business.

I have watched this cycle play out enough times to know the PMO isn't the problem. The way it's installed is.

Recent trends are framing 2026 as the year the PMO evolves. Less of a reporting function, more of an enterprise enablement engine, connecting strategy to execution and governing how AI shows up inside operations. So the case for project management capability inside your business is getting stronger, not weaker. The question isn't whether you need it. It's what version of it you build.

I am a big proponent of what I call PMO Light. Solid project management practices, made relatable. Less technical, less PMBOK, more language grounded in reality. Ownership stays with the leaders doing the work. The tools are simple and shared. Education happens in the rhythm of the business, not in a certification track. Governance is light, but real.

Here's how I think of it: a heavy PMO runs projects on behalf of the business. A light PMO teaches the business to execute.

The output is a business where project management is something every leader does competently, not something one team does on behalf of everyone else. That capability doesn't come from a function. It comes from a culture.

The operators who win in 2026 won't be the ones with the biggest PMO. They will be the ones with the most embedded project management culture. Build the culture. The function gets a lot easier after that.

Thanks for reading,
Sarah