The work in practice
The judgement behind the work.
These are drawn from real programs. Three times the obvious explanation was wrong, and what it took to see it.
01
When the people were not the problem
The offshore team was not delivering enough throughput. That much was true. The conclusion everyone jumped to was that the team itself was the problem. More capability was needed. More oversight. More pressure.
Before accepting that, I went and spent time with the team. What I found was more interesting than the numbers being reported. The people were capable. They were working hard. But they had become disconnected from the outcome. They were completing tasks without understanding the value of what they were contributing to.
So instead of treating it as a performance problem, I treated it as an engagement problem. I spent time helping the team understand the purpose of the work, creating ownership, recognising achievements, and building a sense of pride in delivery. A little healthy competition between teams helped as well. As engagement improved, throughput improved.
The metric mattered. Understanding what sat behind the metric mattered more.
02
When the System Integration Testing delay was only the symptom
The System Integration Testing cycles kept slipping. The immediate response was predictable: testing needed to move faster. But when the same problem appears repeatedly, it is usually worth asking whether you are looking at the symptom rather than the cause.
When I dug into the detail, testing itself was not the issue. The real constraint sat elsewhere. Defects were not being resolved quickly enough. Throughput across the delivery process was too low. Teams were working hard, but there was no consistent cadence driving issues through to closure. The slipping test cycles were simply where the problem became visible.
So we stopped focusing on the dates and focused on the flow of work. Once the underlying bottlenecks were addressed, the testing cycles stabilised.
In delivery, the visible problem is not always the real problem.
03
When the foundations were built first
A PMO is only effective when the foundations underneath it are already clear. Too many programs establish a PMO and then spend valuable time deciding how it should operate. Templates are created. Governance is defined. Delivery methods are debated. Reporting structures evolve as the program progresses. On a large program, that uncertainty creates unnecessary drag.
My approach was to put the foundation in place before the pressure arrived. The delivery method was defined. The templates were ready. Governance expectations were clear. Planning, reporting and decision making were already in place.
When the program accelerated, the PMO did not need to work out how to function. It already had the structure, rhythm and standards to support the work, so the team could focus on delivery rather than inventing the basics under pressure.
The work that makes a program move with confidence is often done before the pressure arrives.