PPM tools are the backbone of effective project, programme, and portfolio management, but they come with their own challenges. A recent House of PMO survey highlights the most common pain points PMO professionals face and the tools they rely on most. While some issues—like usability and adoption—are longstanding frustrations, others—such as integration—seem to be fading into the background. So, how can PMOs overcome these hurdles and maximise the value of their PPM tools?
The Biggest PPM Challenges & How to Overcome Them
1. Usability – The Most Common Pain Point (39.1%)
Many PMO professionals struggle with PPM tools that are too complex, unintuitive, or difficult to navigate. If a tool requires a user manual the size of War and Peace, chances are people won’t use it properly.
What Best Practice Says:
- P3O Guidance stresses the importance of customising dashboards and reports to suit different audiences.
- House of PMO highlights that tools should support business needs, not dictate processes.
- Agile Approaches (e.g., Jira, ServiceNow) favour streamlined configurations, keeping interfaces simple and intuitive.
What PMOs Can Do:
One of the most effective ways to improve PPM tool usability is through custom dashboards and views. By reducing clutter and ensuring that each user only sees the information relevant to their role, teams can use the system more efficiently and focus on what truly matters. Instead of overwhelming users with unnecessary data, a well-structured dashboard provides clear, actionable insights.
Another key approach is leveraging low-code and no-code configurations, allowing PMOs to make adjustments to the tool’s interface and workflows without constantly relying on IT support. This flexibility enables teams to respond quickly to changing requirements, ensuring the tool remains aligned with the organisation’s evolving needs.
Finally, standardisation plays a crucial role in reducing complexity. By aligning workflows and templates with business processes, PMOs can ensure consistency across projects, making it easier for teams to adopt the tool and work more effectively. A standardised approach not only improves efficiency but also enhances reporting accuracy, enabling better decision-making at all levels of the organisation.
2. Adoption Challenges – Getting People to Use the Tool (34.8%)
You can buy the best PPM tool on the market, but if no one uses it, it’s a waste of money. Resistance to change, lack of training, and misalignment with business needs are common blockers.
What Best Practice Says:
- Kotter’s Change Management Model advises that PMOs need to create urgency, build a guiding coalition, and involve teams in tool adoption.
- PMI’s Organizational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3) stresses aligning tools with strategic goals.
- House of PMO Essentials recommends piloting before full-scale rollout.
What PMOs Can Do:
Successful adoption of a PPM tool begins with engaging stakeholders early in the process. Gaining buy-in from key teams before rolling out the tool ensures that those who will be using it feel involved and invested. When teams feel consulted rather than forced into using a new system, resistance to change decreases, making adoption smoother.
Providing tailored training is another critical factor in ensuring adoption. Generic, one-size-fits-all training often fails because different roles require different functionalities from the tool. Training should be structured around real-world use cases, focusing on how specific teams will interact with the system in their day-to-day work.
To reinforce adoption across the organisation, champion networks can be established to embed tool expertise within teams. Identifying key individuals to act as PPM tool champions provides an internal support system, making it easier for colleagues to ask questions and receive guidance from someone familiar.
3. Support, Cost & Feature Gaps (8.7%)
While support, cost, and missing features aren’t the most significant concerns, they still cause headaches. PPM tools can be expensive, and if they don’t deliver, budgets will come under scrutiny.
What Best Practice Says:
- Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Model: Looks beyond licensing costs—training, support, and integrations must be factored in.
- P3O’s Centre of Excellence (CoE): A centralised team to support tools, train users, and manage configurations.
- ITIL & Service Management Practices: Recommend clear service-level agreements (SLAs) with vendors to ensure ongoing support.
What PMOs Can Do:
Relying solely on vendor support often leads to delays and frustration. To overcome this, PMOs should establish an in-house support desk, training internal super-users who can provide immediate guidance and troubleshooting.
Cost is another area that requires ongoing attention. Instead of treating PPM tools as a fixed expense, organisations should review costs regularly to ensure they are delivering real value. If costs are rising but adoption or efficiency gains remain low, it may be time to renegotiate contracts or explore alternative solutions.
Rather than waiting for vendors to dictate updates, PMOs should prioritise features based on actual business needs and work proactively with vendors to shape future development.
4. Integration – Surprisingly NOT a Major Concern
In the past, integration was often a major roadblock for PMOs, but modern PPM tools are becoming much better at seamlessly connecting with other enterprise systems. However, many organisations still face challenges when it comes to legacy business systems.
What Best Practice Says:
- Modern PPM Tools (e.g., ServiceNow, Planview, Smartsheet, PowerApps) offer seamless integrations with platforms like Microsoft 365 and Jira.
- Hybrid PMO Model: Combining structured PPM tools with collaborative tools like Teams and SharePoint is now the standard.
What PMOs Can Do:
Older finance, HR, and ERP systems may not have built-in connectors, making integration more complex. PMOs must take a hybrid approach, ensuring that both modern and legacy systems feed into a single source of truth.
To overcome this, PMOs should prioritise leveraging API integrations wherever possible and ensure data flows seamlessly across platforms.
The Most Commonly Used PPM Tools
PMOs rely on a wide range of PPM tools, but a few consistently emerge as the most widely adopted. From the survey, ServiceNow, Planview, Clarity, and Smartsheet are among the most frequently used.
Other tools, such as Jira, Office 365, and PowerApps, are also popular for their flexibility and customisation options.
There is no universal solution that fits every organisation. The best PPM tool depends on factors such as organisational maturity, project complexity, and stakeholder requirements.
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