PMOs often overcomplicate the basics. After 36 years in the field, James McCoy knows what truly drives success. It’s not about trendy methodologies or complex systems. The key lies in fostering clear communication and ensuring teams stay aligned. Forget the noise—focus on the fundamentals. James emphasizes simplicity, whether it’s using a straightforward red-yellow-green dashboard to track project health or navigating tricky cross-department collaboration. His solutions aren’t flashy but effective, grounded in clear communication, adaptability, and centralized tools. For James, the secret to a successful PMO is simple: keep people talking, keep them informed, and everything else will fall into place.
Simplifying Project Dashboards
James’s team uses a simple approach to track performance. “We look at projects through a weekly dashboard,” he says. Just three colors tell the story: red, yellow, green. Each project gets rated on the basics – schedule, budget, quality. No PhD required. They recently switched to a new enterprise-wide system. The transition wasn’t pretty. “What used to take five minutes now takes thirty,” James admits with a laugh. But instead of fighting it, they adapted. That’s what good PMOs do.
Managing Cross-Department Collaboration
Big companies mean big headaches. “The bigger the organization, the more collaboration’s needed,” James points out. “More business units, more personalities, more hidden agendas.” Translation: more chances for things to go sideways. His fix? Get everyone talking – and keep them talking. Instant messages for the urgent stuff. Emails for updates. Weekly sit-downs for the big picture. “No one’s better than the other,” he insists. That attitude keeps egos in check and projects moving. 
James’s seen plenty of tools come and go. “Technology consistently gets better, faster, and helps businesses,” he says. But he’s picky about what his team uses. Everything has to feed into one central system. That way, when something goes wrong (and something always goes wrong), they know exactly where to look. James turned around a past project that was bleeding talent and making clients angry. The secret wasn’t some fancy new tool. It was getting back to basics: clear communication, honest updates, and keeping everyone in the loop. A simple excel communication plan can be a great foundation to keep a project moving forward. James says “most problems are caused by faulty communications. Not holding a client accountable, or just saying yes to your team, avoiding conflict just causes scheduled delays and cost overruns”.
Unlike some old-school PMs, James is excited about AI. Not because it’ll take over, but because it might help fix project management’s biggest problem: people who can’t communicate. “Learning to communicate with AI can do nothing but help a project manager improve,” he argues. Think of it as training wheels for tough conversations. If you can learn to talk clearly to a machine, maybe you’ll do better with that grumpy VP.
Building a Strong Foundation
To strengthen their PMO, James highlights three key focus areas:
- Core Knowledge: “You need the core knowledge, like a PMP certification which is a gold standard that would give you kind of a core knowledge of all the knowledge areas.”
- Communication Skills: “Take courses around communications, whether that’s leadership courses, communication specific courses, difficult situations, just get yourself into uncomfortable situations where it challenges you to learn.”
- Technology Investment: “A strong PMO needs good systems and software. Technology investment is key for having a strong vision and reporting.”
James recalls a past project that was spiraling out of control. The team faced high turnover, numerous setbacks, and one dissatisfied client who was ready to walk away. His solution was simple but effective: maintain consistent communication and ensure everyone was aligned. As a result, the project moved forward to completion.
After three decades watching PMOs succeed and fail, James’s learned what matters. “Communication skills make and break strategic initiatives,” he says. Not complex tools and methodologies. Just people talking clearly to each other. Maybe that’s the secret. Stop making it complicated. Focus on the basics. Keep people talking and updated. Everything else is just details.
To learn more about James McCoy and his approach, check out his website or connect via LinkedIn.
