Breaking the Cycle of Overload: How PMOs Move from Firefighting to Strategic Leadership
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About this webinar
Leadership says “just get it done”, but the portfolio is already overloaded. What if the firefighting starts with the decisions being made above delivery?
When executives pull in different directions, priorities are unclear and too much work is started at once, even capable teams struggle to deliver. Fixing that takes more than asking the PMO to work harder or asking leadership for more resources.
Join Stuart Easton, Rebecca Reynolds, Mike Hannan and Dr Frederic Casagrande for a candid panel conversation about the gap between executive intent and delivery reality, and how PMO and portfolio leaders can help close it.
In this discussion, you’ll explore:
- Why competing executive priorities can leave delivery teams pulled in different directions.
- How starting too much work can slow completion rather than increase results.
- Why governance and communication problems can be mistaken for project execution problems.
- How to use questions about outcomes and root causes to move beyond complaints and requests for more resources.
- How to make the business consequences of overload visible to executives, even when hierarchy and culture make those conversations difficult.
- Ways to gain leadership attention, from small, visible improvements to a case for change or support from an outside voice.
Want to explore two of the issues raised in the discussion? Read why starting more work can slow project flow, or Rebecca Reynolds’s deeper look at the constraints that budget and headcount figures can miss.
Speakers
Frederic Casagrande is a strategic leader with 25+ years in project, program, and portfolio management. He has directed multi-billion-dollar portfolios, led diverse teams, and delivered transformation across sectors from nuclear energy to technology. An award-winning PMO leader, he is recognized for bridging strategy and execution and developing project management talent.
Rebecca Reynolds is a reinvention expert, systems innovator, and author with over 30 years of experience guiding leaders and organizations through large-scale transformation. She has developed and applied innovative models for advancing change capability across government, non-profits, and communities. Her new book, Thresholds of Change: The Way Through Transformational Times, distills her proven approach to navigating disruption with clarity and confidence.
Mike Hannan is a thought leader, best-selling author, and speaker on Project Portfolio Performance Improvement. With 25+ years of experience, he helps organizations—from Fortune 500s to start-ups—boost project flow, ROI, and strategic impact through practical, engaging insights.
Stuart helps PMO and portfolio leaders build strategy-aligned portfolios and prove ROI. A guest lecturer on project prioritization at the University of Oxford, he speaks widely on killing pet projects, focusing investment on value, and using decision science (AHP) to make clear, defensible choices.
