Where the project world meets the PMO.
Four Core Labs on the capabilities that make a PMO valuable. Seven Forums on PMO practice in specific contexts. Find the question closest to your work.
Two ways to go deeper.
- 4
- Core Labs
- 7
- PMO Forums
- Core Labs
- Foundational PMO capabilities: value, strategic decision quality, service design and people.
- Forums
- PMO practice in specific cross-disciplinary contexts, from AI and Agile to Giga Projects and Government.
How to choose: start with a capability you want to strengthen, or with the context your PMO works in.
Proposed 2027 program · Final program to be confirmed in January 2027.
01 / Core capabilities
PMO Core Labs.
Four proposed themes, each with a proposed question and an example format. Questions and formats may change before confirmation.
01PMO Value
How can PMOs demonstrate credible contributions to the outcomes leaders value?
Why it matters. Value is judged by the people who fund and sponsor the PMO. The lab looks at evidence that connects PMO work to outcomes, not activity.
Value Clinic
For example, a participant brings a real case and the table works through how its value could be evidenced and communicated.
02Strategy & Leadership
How can PMOs improve the strategic decisions that shape portfolios and investment?
Why it matters. Portfolio decisions set what gets funded and stopped. The lab looks at how PMOs can improve the quality of those decisions, not only report on them.
The Boardroom
An illustrative boardroom-style discussion with leadership perspectives, subject to final format and participants.
03Design & Operations
Which services and operating choices enable a PMO to create value in its context?
Why it matters. No two organizations need the same PMO. The lab looks at which services fit a given context, and which ones to retire.
PMO Design Studio
For example, a facilitated PMO design exercise that tests services and operating-model choices against a real context.
04People & Careers
How do PMO professionals build the capabilities, influence and career opportunities their work demands?
Why it matters. PMO work depends on influence as much as method. The lab looks at the skills and paths that help PMO professionals grow.
Career Circles
For example, small peer circles where experienced and newer PMO professionals exchange perspectives.
02 / PMO in context
PMO × the wider world.
Seven proposed Forum themes for Montréal: what changes when PMO practice meets a specific field or setting.
Proposed Forum working session
PMO × AI
Proposed questionHow should AI reshape the PMO’s role in portfolio intelligence, judgment and decision-making?
- Why it matters for PMOs
- AI can produce forecasts, risk signals and summaries in seconds. The open question is where PMO judgment adds value, and who stays accountable for decisions informed by AI.
- A question to explore together
- Which portfolio decisions should AI inform, and which must remain human calls?
- Relevant if you work on
- portfolio analytics, reporting, governance of new tools
Proposed Forum working session
PMO × Agile
Proposed questionHow can PMOs enable portfolio coherence while preserving adaptability and team autonomy?
- Why it matters for PMOs
- Teams that plan in short cycles still need to fit a funded, prioritized portfolio. PMOs sit between team autonomy and enterprise commitments.
- A question to explore together
- What is the lightest governance that still keeps a portfolio coherent?
- Relevant if you work on
- agile at scale, product funding, quarterly planning
Proposed Forum working session
PMO × Change
Proposed questionHow can PMOs connect delivery with adoption and realized business value?
- Why it matters for PMOs
- Benefits arrive only when people use what projects deliver. Many PMOs track delivery closely and adoption barely at all.
- A question to explore together
- Where should a PMO's responsibility for adoption and benefits begin and end?
- Relevant if you work on
- change management, benefits realization, transformation
Proposed Forum working session
PMO × Sustainability
Proposed questionHow can sustainability meaningfully influence portfolio choices and outcomes?
- Why it matters for PMOs
- Sustainability goals increasingly shape investment criteria and reporting. PMOs can help turn commitments into portfolio choices that can be compared and tracked.
- A question to explore together
- How can sustainability criteria be weighed alongside cost, risk and return?
- Relevant if you work on
- ESG reporting, investment criteria, capital programs
Proposed Forum working session
PMO × Social Impact
Proposed questionHow can PMOs evaluate social impact beyond delivering projects on time?
- Why it matters for PMOs
- In mission-driven organizations, on time and on budget is not the same as making a difference. Measuring outcomes for people and communities calls for different evidence.
- A question to explore together
- What evidence of impact can a PMO realistically gather and use?
- Relevant if you work on
- nonprofits, development programs, foundations, public services
Proposed Forum working session
PMO × Giga Projects
Proposed questionHow can PMOs coordinate decisions, dependencies and risks across complex megaproject ecosystems?
- Why it matters for PMOs
- Megaprojects bring many owners, contractors, regulators and interfaces together. Decisions in one part of the ecosystem ripple through schedules, costs and risk elsewhere.
- A question to explore together
- How can a PMO create shared visibility of decisions and risks across organizations it does not control?
- Relevant if you work on
- infrastructure, energy, large capital programs, joint ventures
Proposed Forum working session
PMO × Government
Proposed questionHow can public-sector PMOs sustain value across policy priorities, accountability and political transitions?
- Why it matters for PMOs
- Public-sector portfolios run on budget cycles, oversight and changing political priorities. Continuity and accountability are part of the work.
- A question to explore together
- How can a public-sector PMO protect long-term value when priorities change?
- Relevant if you work on
- government, public agencies, regulated public programs
Some PMO Forums have started their work; others are still being consolidated. The proposed 2027 sessions aim to extend that conversation. They do not promise a playbook or publication from any session.
From a theme to a conversation
How the program comes to life.
- Questions from participants focus each theme before the event.
- Facilitated exchange at small tables, with room for different perspectives.
- Optional continuation through PMOGA for those who want to keep contributing.
An invitation, not an obligation
Shape the program.
Have a question for a forum, or experience you would like to bring to the tables? Tell us you would like to help shape a forum. Participation is optional, and every participant can raise questions at the tables. Facilitators and panelists take part by personal invitation.
PMO unCON · Montréal 2027