The PMO Invite List
Okay. You’ve identified what a PMO is and what it isn’t and the value of a PMO, taken the time to understand common PMO models, and started to get organized around how you’re going to build out the PMO.
Now, let’s talk about the PMO governance meeting and, in particular, who belongs in the room and who doesn’t.
There are many ways to address the invite list, and anyone who has ever been in a PMO, whether as a leader, presenter, or silent participant, will have an opinion. So, from our end, we’ll say this: There are no universally correct or incorrect answers. There’s nuance.
As we work our way through this list, keep in mind we’re speaking in roles, not titles. Every organization labels positions differently. Focus on the seat at the table, not the exact job title. Depending on your company’s size, what it produces, and how it’s organized, the positions within it will be titled differently. Your president might be someone else’s CEO, and your director of sales might be another company's president of customer outreach.
It’s all lingo. Even if we use titles, we’ll do our best to make it clear who in your organization we’re talking about. Let’s get started.
Who to Invite
Yourself: You’re leading it. Treat it as a priority.
Project Managers/Program Managers/Portfolio Managers: These are the team members who are running the projects and programs the PMO oversees. These are the people who will report on project status, bring risks and challenges to the table, and run the projects day to day. This is the group that should do most of the talking.
Product Owners, Product Managers, Product Leads, Executive Sponsors, Acquisition Editors: These are the individuals who envisioned the product and put together the associated business plan. They represent the customer, and they’re ultimately responsible for the project or product’s success or failure. These individuals may be the most important to have participating in your PMO, because when priority conflicts arise (and they will), they need to be part of the solution; if they’re feeling left out of the process, you’ve just created another headache for you and your team. Remember: The PMO is your opportunity to break down silos.
Functional Team Leads: These are the people who lead the various teams working on the projects. They’re not the doers, but they represent the doers. Team leads should attend these meetings with questions from their team members readied and walk away with notes about project status and priority updates. They’re there so they can share out project status with their reports.
Invite as Optional
The Big Kahuna: This might be your CEO, president, VP, or your division’s most senior director. They don’t really need to be there (and if we’re talking about a larger organization, it’s likely they shouldn’t be there), but visibility matters. Their occasional presence reinforces that project delivery matters at the highest level. If you record the meetings, they’ll also be able to watch the recording or review the meeting notes at their convenience.
Sales representative and Marketing representative: No, Sales and Marketing don’t need to attend en masse, but you might want one rep from each group who is responsible for reporting back to their team. Why? The PMO is a silo-breaker. Are there risk or delays? Sales and Marketing need to know. Are there updates to project scope? Again, Sales and Marketing need to know. All that said, if the room is getting too crowded, Sales and Marketing can also be looped in after the fact.
Finance representative: Unless you’re working for a very small organization, let’s not waste the CFO’s time. That said, you might want someone from Finance there to weigh in on roadmap decisions that impact revenue targets. The Finance rep may not be needed for every meeting, but they’ll be helpful for strategic conversations.
Who to Keep Off the Invite List
Every project team member: You invited the functional team leaders, so you don’t need every individual team member to take up a seat. This is the group that makes the magic happen; protect their time.
Stakeholders who only need updates: This gets back to the sales and marketing discussion above. If stakeholders only need updates and aren’t part of any decision-making process, don’t invite them. Make sure they receive updates, but keep them out of the room.
A PMO meeting is about putting the right decision-makers together. Get the invite list right, and the PMO works. Get it wrong, and it becomes a waste of time.
If you need help designing your invite list, reach out! Stoic Projectworks can help.
