All projects report green until milestones fail
Address the cause before treating the recommendation as approval-ready.
Decision Guide
PMO Control Decision Guide
Decide whether the organization needs reporting improvement, a project recovery intervention or a full PMO control tower.
Questions · Evidence · Red flags · Executive output
Questions to ask
Do not approve until the answers are traceable.
Each answer should identify its source, owner, confidence level and impact on the decision.
01. Which decisions are delayed because information is fragmented?
Document the answer, assumptions and validation action.
02. Are milestones supported by evidence or narrative confidence?
Document the answer, assumptions and validation action.
03. How are risks, issues and dependencies escalated?
Document the answer, assumptions and validation action.
04. Who owns decision closure?
Document the answer, assumptions and validation action.
05. Does the portfolio use one trusted baseline?
Document the answer, assumptions and validation action.
06. Which governance forums create action versus reporting overhead?
Document the answer, assumptions and validation action.
07. Is the problem process, capability, data or authority?
Document the answer, assumptions and validation action.
Evidence pack
Minimum evidence to collect.
EvidencePortfolio baseline and commitments
Check recency, completeness and ownership.
EvidenceDecision, risk, issue and action logs
Check recency, completeness and ownership.
EvidenceGovernance calendar and terms of reference
Check recency, completeness and ownership.
EvidenceMilestone evidence and dependency map
Check recency, completeness and ownership.
EvidenceExecutive reporting needs
Check recency, completeness and ownership.
Red flags
Signals that should trigger a review.
Decision logs are missing or not aged
Address the cause before treating the recommendation as approval-ready.
Critical dependencies sit outside portfolio reporting
Address the cause before treating the recommendation as approval-ready.
Governance meetings have no action closure mechanism
Address the cause before treating the recommendation as approval-ready.
The PMO is measured by report production
Address the cause before treating the recommendation as approval-ready.
Executive output
The decision should produce more than verbal approval.
01Decision and scope
What is approved, deferred or excluded.
02Assumptions and risks
Remaining uncertainty and control actions.
03Roadmap and owners
Sequence, owners, milestones and dependencies.
04Governance cadence
Reviews, KPIs, escalation and exit criteria.
Related solution
PMO Control Tower
The guide helps prepare the decision. A formal recommendation requires context-specific scope, evidence and validation.