From
PMO to
VMO
Connecting
Strategy to
Execution
Daniel Gagnon
Disciplined Agile Fellow, ICP-LEA, ICP-ORG, PMP, PMI-
ACP, CDAC, DASSM, CKP, PAL1,TKP, SPS, PSPOI, PSDI,
LSSYB, PSMI, Agile Leadership Journey Guide
March 17th, 2023

2
Daniel Gagnon
PMP, PMI-ACP, ICP-LEA, ICP-ORG, DAC, CKP,
TKP, PAL1, SPS, PSPOI, PSDI, LSSYB, PSMI
Organizational Agility Advisor
Disciplined Agile Fellow, Instructor
Trainer and Coach
• Enterprise Agile Practice Lead
• Enterprise Agile Methodology/Practice Lead
• Lean/Agile Coach
• Project and Portfolio Manager
Feb 2017 – July 2018
2009 - 2017
Teacher / Instructor 2010 - 2022
2018 - 2023: various clients
BDC, Hydro Québec, Cooperators,
Desjardins, BLG, Gouvernement du Québec,
Ville de Laval, Alvission GmbH, PMI (Global)
Whirlpool, Industrielle Alliance
Daniel Gagnon is an organizational agility
advisor, coach, and trainer with close to
three decades of diversified project
management and IT experience.
He is one of two PMI Disciplined Agile
Fellows in the world as well as an active
member of the DA advisory council; has
contributed snippets of thought to 3 books on
DA, and trained hundreds of learners around
the world at all levels of DA Certification.
Over the years, he has thus provided training
to more than 2,000 individuals in DA, Scrum,
SAFe, an ACP test preparation course, and the
Agile Leadership Journey for leaders and
executives.
His agile coaching and training engagements
over the past 13 years have been with diverse
clients ranging from the financial sector to
public utilities and government entities
(Federal, Provincial and Municipal). He has
coached at all levels, from executives to
teams and individual contributors.
Daniel describes himself as a passionate
servant leader and ethical disruptor.

PMOs
are
under
pressure
Leaving many
dedicated
professionals
feeling like
they’re running
for their lives …
or at least
careers

PMO “implements”
strategy elaborated
by “Upper
Management”
echelon
A familiar
design

Multiple PMOs (divisional, LOB) implement strategy
elaborated by Upper Management echelon
Another familiar
design

Business PMOs (PMLC) shadowed by IT PMOs (SDLC)
Or even …

These approaches were built for different
times

Not for today’s speed of change

Nor tomorrow’s

Upgrading the PMO to a VMO – Value
Management Office – is a step in the right
direction
From PMO to
VMO

The VMO bridges both the slabs
(hierarchical levels) and functional silos
of the organisation
From PMO to
VMO

It gathers executive team members, major
governance stakeholders, and value
stream managers in a single entity able to
…
From PMO to
VMO

… analyse, select and prioritise the work of the
entire enterprise in a constant combined
strategic/operational cycle subordinated to
true client needs
From PMO to
VMO

With unity of purpose, the members of the
VMO can adopt an emergent approach to
strategy rather than the fire-and-forget
approach of large-batch projects launched
within a yearly planning cycle
The VMO enables emergent
strategy

The
Transformation
Alignment
Canvas
Making the transition

Local,
one function
Project Value
stream
Multidisciplinary
team
Entreprise
Ways of working,
tools, methods
Governance,
management,
processes
Culture,
leadership,
vision
Scal
e
Impact
Engagement
Delivery
acceleration
Adaptability
Anticipation
Innovation

Local,
one function
Project Value
stream
Multidisciplinary
team
Entreprise
Ways of working,
tools, methods
Governance,
management,
processes
Culture,
leadership,
vision
Scal
e
Impact
Agile project management
IT-centric Agile teams
What the transformation
leaders had in mind
Spotify model
Product-based
Tribes
Servant-leadership
Customized agile delivery methods
What the agile center of
excellence had in mind

Local,
one function
Project Value
stream
Multidisciplinary
team
Entreprise
Ways of working,
tools, methods
Governance,
management,
processes
Culture,
leadership,
vision
Scal
e
Impact

Local,
one function
Project Value
stream
Multidisciplinary
team
Entreprise
Ways of working,
tools, methods
Governance,
management,
processes
Culture,
leadership,
vision
Scal
e
Impact
Product / Project
Teams
Execution
Executive committee
Determine strategic orientation, set
the yearly budget
Compliance
Regulatory /
Industry
Governance
PMO
Portfolio /
Program /
Project oversight
Transformation
Office
Digital
Agile
Change Management

Local,
one function
Project Value
stream
Multidisciplinary
team
Entreprise
Ways of working,
tools, methods
Governance,
management,
processes
Culture,
leadership,
vision
Scal
e
Impact

Local,
one function
Project Value
stream
Multidisciplinary
team
Entreprise
Ways of working,
tools, methods
Governance,
management,
processes
Culture,
leadership,
vision
Scal
e
Impact
VMO
Single Entity for Strategy, Prioritization, Adaptive
Governance and Execution
Product / Project Teams
Compliance
Transformatio
n
Office
Executive participation

Local,
one function
Project Value
stream
Multidisciplinary
team
Entreprise
Ways of working,
tools, methods
Governance,
management,
processes
Culture,
leadership,
vision
Scal
e
Impact
VMO
Single Entity for Strategy, Prioritization, Adaptive
Governance and Execution
Product / Project Teams
Compliance
Transformatio
n
Office
Executive participation
This is a
seductive
diagram …
… but it too is
wrong

Local,
one function
Project Value
stream
Multidisciplinary
team
Entreprise
Ways of working,
tools, methods
Governance,
management,
processes
Culture,
leadership,
vision
Scal
e
Impact
VMO
Single Entity for Strategy, Prioritization,
Adaptive Governance and Execution
Product / Project Teams
Compliance
Transformation
Office
Executive participation
Reality
will look
more like
this

Local,
one function
Project Value
stream
Multidisciplinary
team
Entreprise
Ways of working,
tools, methods
Governance,
management,
processes
Culture,
leadership,
vision
Scal
e
Impact
VMO
Single Entity for Strategy, Prioritization,
Adaptive Governance and Execution
Product / Project Teams
Compliance
Transformation
Office
Executive participation
The VMO is a
nexus of
cross-
functional
decision-
making, NOT
an all-
powerful
central
bureaucracy

The
Adaptive
Portfolio
Example subcomponent

Element
s of an
Adaptive
Portfolio

An Adaptive Portfolio
• Covers a wide risk profile
• Is co-created within the VMO
• Includes long and short-term initiatives
• Establishes value levers and uses them for
ongoing, just-in-time prioritisation
• Uses multiple criteria – Cost of Delay, risk of
doing and not doing, available skills, capability
to deliver

Other Helpful concepts
• Beyond Budgeting
• OKRs
• Throughput Accounting
• Context-driven execution lifecycles
• Ruthless pruning – ignore sunk costs
• Leadership training

Portfolio Kanban
Funnel Select Prioritize
Portfolio
Backlog
Continuous
Prioritized
Implementation

Robust prioritization is
ESSENTIAL

Project 4
M S
A G
J
Project 1
M S
A G
J
Project 3
M S
A G
J
Project 2
M S
A G
J
Project 5
M S
A G
J
People
Waiting for people Work

Project 4
M S
A G
J
Project 1
M S
A G
J
Project 3
M S
A G
J
Project 2
M S
A G
J
Project 5
M S
A G
J
Project 1
A G
Project 2
S J
Project 3
M G
Project 4
A J
Project 5
M S
People
Waiting for people Work
People
Waiting for people Work

Lightweight, trust-based
Governance
Inception Planning Execution Closure
Inception Construction Transition
Outcome-oriented checkpoints
Project Charter
Shared Stakeholder
Vision at
PORTFOLIO and
INITIATIVE levels
Solution approval
Proven
Architecture
Go / No Go
Go/No Go
Decisions
    
Traditional

An essential step
Leadership
Agility

The Paradox of Power
Before an organisation can “graduate” to having a
VMO, the paradox of power must be addressed
• The leaders making the current strategy decisions will not
necessarily see the WIIFM of diluting their power in a newly
enabled VMO
• Hence, power must be partially relinquished by the few in
order to be shared by the many (or the “more”)
• This will not always be an “easy sell”

The Paradox of Power
Some approaches have proven to work
• Demonstrating the power of trust with data
• Leadership mindset coaching and training
• Incremental progress: start with a controlled experiment
on one subdivision or LOB portfolio
• Support from the very top can be extremely helpful

W O R K
Executive Decision Executive Decision Executive Decision
W A S T E
The Power of Trust

W O R K
Local Autonomy Local Autonomy Local Autonomy
F L O W
The Power of Trust

Looking Ahead
First steps
towards a
VMO

• Involve all levels of the
organisation
• Proceed by Invitation
• Capitalize on the skills
in the current PMO
• Foster transparency and
trust
• Acknowledge that the
journey will take time

Thank
You
Background images:
DALL.E2

Helpful Resources