In today's fast-changing business world, PMOs can no longer be content with simply managing timelines, budgets, and scope. Organizations now expect PMOs to drive innovation, enable agility, and contribute to value creation at a strategic level. But how exactly does a PMO support innovation without losing structure, discipline, and accountability?
In this edition of our PMO Leadership Series, I sat down with Jamna Jabbar - PgMP®,PMP® —an award-winning project leader and the Head of PMO at British Council UAE—to explore this very question. What followed was an eye-opening conversation about building and running innovation portfolios inside complex organizations, learning through failure, redefining value delivery, and developing an adaptive framework that blends agile, lean startup, and design thinking.
This post captures the full story, strategies, and mindset shifts that emerged from our discussion.
The Shift from Traditional Delivery to Innovation Leadership
Jamna started her career as a software engineer in India and later transitioned into project and program management roles in Dubai. Over the years, she worked across diverse industries—from shipping and education to events and media—gaining a deep appreciation for both IT and business-side transformation.
When she joined the British Council, her mandate was crystal clear: lead innovation programs using AI, AR/VR, and other emerging technologies. It was a departure from her past project delivery experience, but one that ultimately helped her earn a promotion to Head of PMO—after delivering a globally launched, award-winning product.
"I had read about innovation frameworks, but I had to learn the hard way. What worked in traditional PMOs didn’t work here. I had to change."
Rethinking the PMO Mindset
Jamna quickly realized that applying conventional project management approaches to innovation projects led to conflict, resistance, and subpar outcomes. Innovation, by nature, thrives on ambiguity. Traditional delivery models, on the other hand, expect clarity.
To succeed, she had to unlearn the instinct to control scope and timelines early—and instead embrace experimentation and learning.
"Innovation is about validating assumptions. Sometimes the outcome is failure—and that’s okay, as long as we learn from it."
Building the Innovation Framework
Jamna developed a comprehensive framework that guided the delivery of innovative ideas across global markets. Here’s how it works:
📌 Seven Checkpoints (Stage Gates, Redefined)
- Idea Checkpoint: Validate strategic fit and alignment with portfolio goals.
- Value Proposition Design: Conduct market research, customer interviews, and competitor analysis to define customer pain points and desired gains.
- Proof of Concept (POC): Build early-stage models to test key assumptions.
- Business Case Development: Use insights from the POC to prepare a defensible case focused on ROI, feasibility, and strategic alignment.
- Prototype Development & Testing: Launch working models with target user groups and collect NPS scores, usage data, and feedback.
- MVP Readiness & Go-to-Market: Finalize scope, build adoption plans, and prepare the product for global release.
- Global Readiness & Transition: Handoff to operations with a robust benefit sustainment plan and localized launch support.
Each phase was designed to reduce uncertainty while still supporting agile delivery. Every checkpoint required teams to present evidence, not just completed documents. Success was defined by validated assumptions—not compliance.
Governance That Supports Learning, Not Just Control
The traditional PMO "gatekeeper" model was replaced with collaborative, cross-functional panels. Legal, finance, marketing, product, and delivery leads jointly evaluated evidence at each phase.
“Our gates weren’t about checklist compliance. They were about: ‘Do we have enough data to justify the next step?’”
This governance structure created shared ownership and removed bottlenecks—critical in a global organization operating in 80+ countries with regulatory constraints.
Managing Risk Through Innovation Reserves
Instead of approving massive budgets upfront, Jamna introduced the concept of an Innovation Reserve—a dedicated fund for experimentation.
- Early phases used limited investment to test concepts.
- Only when POC and prototype results showed viability did full funding get approved for execution.
- This kept stakeholders comfortable with the "price of learning" and minimized financial exposure.
"If we spend 10% to avoid wasting the other 90%, that’s a smart trade."
Metrics That Actually Matter
Traditional project KPIs like “on time, on budget” were not enough.
Jamna's Framework Used Three Layers of Metrics:
- Program Management Metrics: Budget/schedule variance (with flexibility for innovation uncertainty).
- Benefit Metrics: Customer acquisition, retention, revenue impact, NPS, etc.
- Change Management Metrics: Internal team adoption, training effectiveness, readiness to support new products.
This approach allowed PMO teams to track value, not just delivery. They focused on what truly mattered—whether the innovation was delivering measurable business outcomes.
Tracking and Sustaining Benefits
One of the standout parts of Jamna’s approach was her focus on benefits realization—long after the project ended.
- Each initiative had a benefit tracker with month-by-month ROI targets.
- Accountability remained with the business, but PMO supported the tracking.
- Benefits were reported to governance panels every three months post-launch.
This made sure projects didn’t just launch—they delivered.
The Role of Agile, Lean, and Design Thinking
Jamna’s framework is deeply hybrid, drawing from multiple disciplines:
- Agile/Scrum: Used for team execution with daily standups, user stories, sprints.
- Lean Startup: Helps test hypotheses quickly and with minimal waste.
- Design Thinking: Informs early-stage problem validation and customer empathy.
She also implemented tools like Strategyzer for value proposition design and lean canvases.
“We didn’t just go agile. We went agile with structure—so leadership could stay in control while teams could experiment safely.”
The Challenges of Scaling Innovation
Jamna openly shared the challenges she faced:
- Teams resisted MVPs due to prior failures.
- Some regions didn't understand how to promote or support experimental products.
- Lack of product thinking and business acumen slowed down progress.
Her solution? Train PMO teams in design thinking, business modeling, agile, and change leadership. Success required shifting not just process—but mindset.
Practical Advice for PMO Leaders
Jamna’s closing recommendations for PMO leaders looking to support innovation:
- Establish an Innovation Reserve—with leadership buy-in.
- Start with a Lighthouse Project—a small win that proves the model.
- Create a Separate Innovation Governance Stream—not just bolt-ons to your existing steering committee.
- Define Success Criteria Beforehand—viability, desirability, feasibility.
- Invest in Capability Building—PMOs must speak the language of product and business.
- Celebrate Learning—failures are fine if they’re fast and useful.
Final Thoughts: PMOs Must Evolve
This conversation left me energized and inspired. Jamna’s work is proof that PMOs can—and should—go beyond tracking deliverables. They can be enablers of innovation, custodians of business value, and leaders of change.
If you're looking to reimagine your PMO, I hope this article gives you the clarity, courage, and tactical ideas to take the first step.
🔗 Get Involved
Follow Jamna Jabbar on LinkedIn to learn more about her innovation framework and upcoming webinars.
Looking to transform your PMO? Reach out to us at JBF Consulting for a free PMO Diagnostic.
If you missed the conversation with Jamna, you can watch it here:
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