Get on Track: How to Build, Run, and Level Up Your Program Management Office

by Paula Dieli

Don’t let your company run off the rails.A company spread across multiple internal organizations, projects, and time zones can be a little like a train without a conductor— moving, but prone to confusion, communication gaps, and at risk of veering off the rails. If your organization is beset by competing deadlines, inexpert strategies, and missed milestones, it’s time to invest in your own business a program management office. In this essential field guide to building, staffing, and running a top-notch PMO, software industry executive and program management specialist Paula Dieli shares essential tools, insights, and real-life case studies from major companies such as Zendesk, Adobe, and Macromedia.Aimed at both business leaders and program managers, you’ll learn everything you need to know about setting up a PMO—from creating schedules and managing issues, to running effective meetings, to building relationships and people skills. If you’re serious about meeting corporate objectives and creating an environment of continued success and achievement, a PMO isn’t just a it’s a critical component in ensuring you stay on track and hit your strategic goals—reliably, on time, and with finesse.

236 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 15, 2021

Reviews

[Marta Dominiak · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the impeccable book for everybody who is close to Program Management and works as Program or Portfolio Manager. Moreover, immensly good title to everybody who is going to build the top-notch PMO. Plenty of convenient and smart advices - all are laid out in a hilarious way but splendidly structured and crystal clear. It's much better than dozens of training sessions on popular learning platforms in terms of Program Management.

Be careful since it's attention-grabbing and adictive! :) I immensly recommend to eveyroby who is grooving on Program Management!

Marta Dominiak-Sporna
Technical Program Manager

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book for program managers.
I listened to the audio version. Well narrated.

[Erika RS · Rating 4 out of 5]

Get on Track by Paula Dieli is a practical guide to establishing and growing a Program Management Office (PMO). This is not a book for individuals looking to refine their tactical skills. Rather, it is targeted at leaders who are considering whether and how to establish a PMO. (Exactly the book I was looking for!)

Dieli presents a balanced mix of examples and guidelines. The writing is straightforward and fairly engaging. While the book covers a broad range of topics, none go especially deep, but that’s appropriate given its focus. While not groundbreaking, the book effectively reinforces best practices for formalizing program management structures.

The book is divided into three parts. It starts by defining program management, explaining when to introduce it, and emphasizing the importance of structuring and branding the PMO to align with organizational goals. This part covers funding models, stakeholder engagement, and ensuring program managers remain strategic rather than becoming administrative. I appreciate how the book emphasizes that a PMO shouldn’t be built too early—there needs to be a real need for program-level coordination before introducing the function. This part also goes into risk management, one of the most critical areas for a Program Manager to focus on.

Part II focuses on operating a PMO, including managing stakeholder relationships (including when folks are remote), high quality status updates, running effective meetings, and how to deal with challenging program scenarios. It highlights the importance of program managers proactively driving execution rather than just reporting status. I really appreciated the focus on Program Management as a strategic role; program managers should understand the business and drive business goals forward.

The final section explores skill development, career growth, and the evolving role of Program Managers. It outlines key skills like strategic thinking, influencing without authority, and managing ambiguity.

For those deciding whether to build a PMO and how to set it up for success, Get on Track is a useful read.

[Karen Catlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The handbook I wish I'd had earlier in my career!

Paula Dieli has written a comprehensive handbook on the discipline of program management. Whether you are starting a program management office, need to measure the effectiveness of program managers, hire and manage them, or level up your own skills as a hands-on program manager, you need this book. Get it today! --Karen Catlin, author of Better Allies

[Amanda Peacock · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was immensely helpful in understanding the struggles with PMO. While this area is new to the company I am working at, I myself as the leader of this group, will continue to reference this book as there are several key areas here to continue to always move our department forward. Amazing read!

[Diogo · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amazing book to introduce you to Program Management. This book was my onboarding and teacher. Good tips and relevant examples. Sometimes the author sounds arrogant, it's the only reason why I don't give it 5 stars. Highly recommend it.

[Vasundhara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lot of things mentioned were relatable. I made small notes like this is what I have been doing and I should stop doing this now or this is what xxx does and I better learn from their mistakes.

[Abby Siebert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very basic, but extremely helpful for understanding where to start w project management!

[Nikki Weigel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good Audible read/ listen. The PDFs don't add/ take away anything so you can fully just listen and learn.