Stakeholder management isn't easy when your team is new to project management. Learn how one PMO leader made processes simple, scalable, and effective.
From Technicians to Project Managers: A Guide to Stakeholder Management in Growing Organizations
Most project management playbooks assume your stakeholders understand basic PM concepts. But what happens when your company is growing so fast that yesterday's field technicians are today's project leaders? That's the challenge Benjamin Halkum embraced when tasked with establishing a Project Management Office (PMO) at a rapidly expanding air conditioning and plumbing company.
"I understood coming here would be different," Halkum reflects. "I think it's good that I'm being allowed to create what we need to get to where we're going."
When Halkum started as an IT project manager, the company had never had formal project management. Now, just six months after establishing the PMO, he oversees 27 active projects – with a team of two.
"Being a good company in terms of promoting from within includes promoting call center employees, plumbers, and HVAC technicians to positions in the corporate office," Halkum notes. "While they're really good at what they come from, asking them to do the additional legwork of properly reporting on things is challenging."
Quick Win: Start with one simple requirement – like a weekly status update – and make it as straightforward as possible.
Halkum's solution? Simplify everything. "I'm trying to make this so easy anyone can do it," he shares. His weekly status update process requires just four elements:
Still, gathering these updates requires dedication. "I call it Chase Down Thursday," Halkum says. "I have to block every Thursday off for it."
Quick Win: Create a simple template that non-PM stakeholders can complete in under 5 minutes.
The proof is in the outcomes. One project implementing an SMS campaign generated $100,000 in revenue during pilot testing. Another initiative using AI in the call center eliminated the need for an entire department while improving quality assurance.
"The ones who have helped out and taken to this are seeing the benefits," Halkum explains. "Now we're actually having those teams reach out and ask, 'What can we do?'"
Quick Win: Document and share early wins to demonstrate the value of new processes to skeptical stakeholders.
For Halkum, technology is a key enabler of PMO success in a growing organization. "We're really starting to embrace AI a lot," he explains. By thoughtfully implementing new tools, his team can make project management more approachable while ensuring critical information gets captured and shared.
"Copilot has been a lifesaver in terms of meeting notes," he shares. "I haven't taken actual meeting notes in like three months now." But this is just the beginning of how technology can support emerging project leaders.
Quick Win: Use AI tools to reduce the administrative burden on new project managers, letting them focus on leadership and delivery.
While AI helps streamline operations, Halkum emphasizes keeping focus on what matters most. "For my PMO department, I implemented a system that used AI to build out initial project plans and schedules, allowing myself and my project managers to focus more on what AI can't—the human relationship."
This balanced approach has shown measurable results. AI implementation helped decrease call center hold times and improved field technician scheduling, allowing teams to handle more calls per day. But the goal isn't just efficiency – it's enabling people to do more meaningful work.
"I believe AI may kill some positions unfortunately, but it opens a huge door for new types of experts to arise," Halkum notes. The key is using technology to enhance, not replace, human capabilities.
Quick Win: Identify repetitive PM tasks that could be automated, freeing up time for relationship building and strategic thinking.
Six months in, Halkum's PMO had already hit its initial year-one goals. By balancing new technologies with practical processes, his team is transforming how the organization approaches project management.
Start small, celebrate wins, and keep pushing forward. As Halkum's experience shows, when you make project management accessible and demonstrate its value, even the most skeptical stakeholders can become advocates for better processes.
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