Agreement must change behavior
PMO Partners President Michael McLeod distinguishes between supporting a plan in a meeting and acting on it afterward. Favorite projects and hidden agendas can redirect resources even when executives appear united. In the firm’s research, only a quarter of executives said their teams explicitly agree on what they will avoid pursuing.
Make the sequence unmistakable
A team with spare capacity may advance an unapproved initiative until it needs help from a constrained function. The resulting frustration was predictable, but expectations were never made clear.
McLeod describes an internal example: data and security readiness needed to precede broader AI work, yet enthusiastic employees continued AI projects until they required unavailable IT support. Leaders must communicate both the priority and the work being deferred. A credible portfolio includes those boundaries, and executives must honor them themselves.