Operational efficiency, customer retention, and cash flow are the name of the game in 2024. So says a survey of about 300 business leaders. And so say many of the PMOs making waves across industries in this time of great economic uncertainty.
If those are your goals too, you’re in good company. And you’re also in luck. Because we’ve identified five industry-leading PMOs who are knocking these goals out of the park.
Here’s who they are, why we’re keeping an eye on what they’re up to, and what they have to say about the top goals identified in our recent PunchUp Report.
Need some CIO inspiration? We’ve got that too. Check out our top CIO list—and find out how they’re knocking their metrics out of the park.
The ClickUp List of the Top PMOs of 2024
Summarize this article for me pleasePlaying Offense With Efficiency
Katitja Molele
Company: The Coca-Cola Company
Title: Innovation PMO Senior Manager
Katitja Molele is an experienced senior manager with a history that spans across industries—from engineering to consulting, banking to fast-moving consumer goods. For nearly three years, he’s been leading and managing the innovation portfolio for Coca-Cola Africa Operating, based in Johannesburg, South Africa.
When it comes to being proactive and flexible for the sake of efficiency, he explains the importance of teams working together toward the same problems.
Summarize this article for me pleaseInvesting in Technology
Mercedes Martinez Sanz
Company: Indra
Title: PMO Manager
Mercedes Martinez Sanz is a Madrid-based PMO Manager with deep project management experience and a background that encompasses software development projects and consultancy. A passionate advocate for both methodologies and standards, Mercedes served as a member of the Core Committee for the 5th Edition of the PMBOK Guide and has collaborated as a subject matter expert on other relevant projects.
She was also involved in the ISO 21500 Standard on Project Management and ISO 21502 on Project and Program Portfolio Management. She’s a member of the Board of Directors on the PMI Madrid Spain Chapter.
We’re impressed by her powerhouse background and her commitment to using new technology to create efficiencies and focus for her teams as she has previously explained at the Project Management Institute.
Summarize this article for me pleasePrioritizing Employee Engagement
Cathy Hoenig
Company: Rivian
Title: Senior Manager, People PMO
A seasoned project/program manager and PhD-holder, Cathy Hoenig’s experience with large, complex, cross-functional initiatives in tech and manufacturing has led her from the University of Phoenix to Boeing to Exemplis and finally Rivian, where she serves as Senior Manager and People PMO.
When it comes to prioritizing employee engagement, Cathy has some solid insights we can all learn a thing or two from. In a recent piece on How PMOs Can Scale a Change-Ready Culture, she explained how company culture and her PMO are linked.
It might sound straightforward, but this hyper-focus on directing culture is just the type of simple, elegant solution that makes a real impact. Since hiring Cathy in 2021, Rivian has nearly quadrupled its employee headcount.
Keeping up with that kind of growth requires simple, elegant solutions.
Summarize this article for me pleasePlanning for Long-term Customer Retention
Maggie Davis
Company: Convene
Title: Vice President, PMO
With a background spanning consumer retail, B2B software, hospitality, and commercial real estate, Maggie Davis was appointed PMO in 2022 and has been driving efficiency and championing strong teams at Convene ever since.
As she explained a few years ago, when it comes to customer retention, designing with the end user in mind is part of her secret sauce.
Allison Vendt
Company: Dropbox
Title: Senior Director, Global Head of People PMO, People Analytics, and Virtual First at Dropbox
Allison Vendt is an experienced leader, strategic thinker, and change management-focused professional leading Dropbox’s shift to Virtual First with a core team of eight. Her rise at Dropbox was preceded by time at The Forem and Stanford, as well as independent consulting.
She made it onto our radar both because we’re impressed with Dropbox’s shift and because her insights about customer retention she recently expressed at her organization.
In other words, every process change, task, problem framing, and goal should be approached with the knowledge that the end customer’s satisfaction and retention is the goal.
Summarize this article for me pleaseWhat Are Your Priorities?
As we get deeper into Q4 and all the typical yearly planning that comes with the shift to a new calendar year, it’s a great time to dig into what industry leaders have to say about strategic priorities like those above and assess if and how those priorities fit into your strategic landscape for 2024.
According to 300+ industry leaders, the top four priorities are:
- Playing offense with efficiency
- Investing in technology to consolidate, automate, and save resources
- Prioritizing employee engagement
- Planning for long-term customer retention
So, how will you incorporate them into your strategy? How do they tie to your organization’s unique vision? And what can you glean from the insights of the PMOs making industry waves?
The answers might start with following the folks above and digging into their insights. And if you haven’t already read the results of that 300+ leader survey, you’ll find those here–and ready to kick off some inspiration.
Everything you need to stay organized and get work done.
