Why Your IMPACT Matters
If you are building or running a PMO, Strategy Delivery Office, or Transformation Office, your career depends upon understanding that in today’s results-driven world, it’s not enough to be good at your job — you need to be great at making an IMPACT.
This program will help you drive measurable value for the business and show the clear-cut advantage you bring to your organization’s leadership team.
You are not simply learning how to improve PMO processes. You are learning how to think, act, communicate, and lead more like a business leader so you can contribute to the conversations that matter most.
Who It's For
Whether you are stepping into the role for the first time or leading an established PMO, the program is designed to help you apply what you learn directly to the real work in front of you.
PMO leaders and directors
Leaders building a new PMO or strategy delivery function
Leaders responsible for elevating or transforming an existing PMO
PMO leaders who need greater influence, credibility, and visibility with executives
Leaders of Strategy Delivery Offices, Agile or Business Transformation Offices
Leaders running a PMO on their own as well as leaders responsible for larger PMO teams
When PMO Leaders Are Not Prepared for the Role
PMO leaders are often expected to do far more than manage project reporting, processes, and governance. They are expected to help leaders turn strategy into results, make better decisions, prioritize limited resources, influence across organizational boundaries, and demonstrate the value the PMO brings to the business.
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Yet many people step into PMO leadership because they were successful Project Managers, delivery leaders, or subject matter experts, without ever being taught how to lead a PMO as a business function.
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When PMO leaders are not prepared for that shift, they can end up working incredibly hard while the PMO is still viewed as administrative overhead. They may focus on outputs instead of outcomes, struggle to gain executive credibility, introduce processes that are not connected closely enough to business needs, or spend too much time reacting instead of leading strategically.
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The consequences affect both the PMO and the leader’s career.
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Strong PMO leaders become trusted business partners. They help executives make better decisions, connect strategy to delivery, create clarity around priorities, and demonstrate measurable organizational value.
This program helps PMO leaders develop the judgment, tools, business mindset, and leadership capability needed to make that transition.
This is not training you complete on nights and weekends and hope to use someday.
This is your job.
You are learning how to understand your organization, assess what is happening, make stronger decisions, build the right PMO capabilities, and demonstrate value to leadership.
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The program is designed so you can learn a concept, apply it directly to the PMO you are already responsible for, and keep moving.
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The core learning is self-paced, so you can use the recommended roadmap when you want structure or adjust the pace to fit your organization and workload.
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The goal is not to finish content quickly. The goal is to apply the learning well.
This program is an investment in your career.
You are not simply buying a course. You are investing in a practical system for building or elevating your PMO while strengthening your own leadership capability.
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The system gives you a proven path to follow, so you don’t have to figure out what to do from scratch. You can start applying it right away and focus on delivering value faster.
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The goal is not just to help you create better PMO processes. It is to help you think, act, communicate, and lead more like a business leader so you can contribute to the conversations that matter most.
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That means learning how to connect PMO work to business problems, organizational priorities, and measurable value.
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As you apply the system, you are not only strengthening the PMO. You are strengthening your own credibility, influence, and ability to become the strategic business partner your executives need.
Choose your path
Three ways to make your IMPACT
Start with the self-paced program, add hands-on coaching, and prove your capability with certification.
The IMPACT Engine System™ Journey
IES is an iterative value delivery framework designed to continuously elevate your team’s capabilities and services to accelerate the IMPACT of your organization’s strategy.
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Ready to make moves?
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Here are the calculated steps our program will guide you through on your journey from outputs to IMPACT, as outlined in The IMPACT Engine.
Develop the optimal IMPACT Driver mindset so you can unlock the secrets behind any challenges your organization should solve.
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Learn the best approach for establishing a strategy-delivery office that can show value quickly.
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Begin the mindset shifts you must make in order to prepare for the IMPACT Engine System™ Journey.
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Learn the pitfalls that so many strategy-delivery leaders fall into and how to avoid them.
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Create a Strategy Delivery Framework and Foundation workbook
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Develop strong stakeholder relationships and unlock their highest priorities so you deliver the highest-IMPACT solutions.
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Build your coalition of support while exploring opportunities to deliver IMPACT.
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Evaluate all organizational change aspects so that you are fully prepared to lead change without resistance.
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Craft a winning IMPACT Engine Recommendation that drives engagement and support.
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Create assessments of culture, organization, team, and self to understand where you are starting.
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Create interview and survey collection
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Conduct a series of organizational, team, cultural and personal assessments to understand your current state.
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Build credibility fast with high-IMPACT solutions and services that demonstrate your value.
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Confidently determine the best fit services for your organization’s needs.
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Establish a right-sized governance and portfolio model to oversee IMPACT delivery.
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Determine and hire the best IMPACT Engine talent to achieve your mission.
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Establish the most efficient processes, templates, and tools to achieve your desired outcomes.
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Develop metrics that will tell the story of how your organization is delivering IMPACT.
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Craft a winning IMPACT Engine proposal to begin your journey
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Develop a set of recommendations for your delivery proposal
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Create your IMPACT Engine services menu
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Build your IMPACT Engine governance model
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Define your IMPACT Engine talent requirements
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Establish your IMPACT Engine tools and process
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Create your high-value delivery roadmap to guide the organization toward greater IMPACT realization.
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​Build your IMPACT Engine business plan to set expectations on organization IMPACT.
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Establish your IMPACT Engine maturity framework – custom to your organizational needs.
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Develop your iterative IMPACT Engine road map of value delivery.
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Determine your value measurement plan and KPIs so IMPACT Engine value is clear.
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Confidently deliver your IMPACT Engine Delivery Proposal ongoing measurement plan.
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Build your business plan to set expectations.
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Document your IMPACT Engine proposal.
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Create your IMPACT Engine services delivery road map.
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Layout your IMPACT Engine maturity model.
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Establish your IMPACT Engine metrics framework.
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Deliver exceptional business results that strategically position your organization at the center of organizational value delivery.
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Understand how to incorporate smart organizational change management techniques.
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Establish a delivery-focused culture and mindset within the organization.
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Learn how to adapt your management style to the change capability and culture.
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Communicate IMPACT Engine that tells your story of undeniable business value.
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Continue a thoughtful iterative approach to services delivery and results measurement.
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Implement your organizational change management plan.
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Implement your marketing plan.
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Manage and monitor services delivery.
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Conduct your 30/90 assessments.
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Develop a nimble and adaptive value model so shifting business needs don’t derail success as you position the organization as the organizational Strategy Navigator™.
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Evaluate IMPACT Engine performance and progress to determine your next evolutionary step.
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Evolve your IMPACT Engine road map to suit a dynamic organizational environment.
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Earn your seat at the table as the Strategy Navigator™ by providing critical business insight and leadership.
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Get ahead of the game: predict where your organization should be next and get there before they ask.
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Evolve your IMPACT Engine services delivery road map
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Develop your strategy navigation system
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What You Get
Comprehensive Deliverables
Practical templates, tools, worksheets, and resources designed to help you apply the work directly to your organization.
Step-by-Step Guidance
A structured path that shows you what to do, in what order, why it matters, and how to move forward.
On-Demand Access
Work through the core learning at your own pace and return to the material as you apply it in the real world.
Guided Case Study
Practice the concepts through real-world scenarios before applying them to your own organization.
Coaching
IMPACT Accelerator Mastermind™
Looking for hands-on support from top global strategy delivery thought leaders?
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This optional coaching upgrade helps you become the strategic business partner your executives need with support from like-minded PMO and strategy delivery leaders and experienced coaches.
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With hands-on coaching, participants can:
Navigate the program with peer support and accountability
Collaborate with other strategy delivery leaders applying the IMPACT Engine System™
Build strategy delivery capability that fits their organization
Get real-time feedback on their progress
Get their strategy delivery questions answered by experienced industry thought leaders
Certification
IMPACT Engine Certifications™ for PMO Leaders
The IMPACT Engine System™ offers certification pathways for professionals who want to demonstrate their ability to apply the framework in real-world strategy delivery environments.
For PMO leaders working inside an organization, the Certified IMPACT Engine Leader™ credential is designed for leaders in a PMO, Strategy Delivery Office, or other business transformation function who have demonstrated their ability to apply the IMPACT Engine System™ in a real-world scenario.
There are also Practitioner and Consultant certification pathways for professionals with different roles and goals.
Meet Laura Barnard
Laura Barnard has spent more than 25 years building, running, and helping organizations strengthen PMOs and strategy delivery functions.
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She is the author of The IMPACT Engine and was named the 2021 Global PMO Influencer of the Year. Her work focuses on helping PMO leaders move beyond managing projects and processes to become strategic business partners who can demonstrate measurable organizational value.
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Laura’s training program and approach are intentionally practical. Participants do not simply learn PMO concepts and put them on a shelf. They learn what to do, why it matters, and how to apply it directly to the PMO or strategy delivery organization they are responsible for leading.
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Through the IMPACT Engine System™, Laura guides PMO leaders step by step through assessing their environment, defining the right capabilities, planning their roadmap, delivering value, and continuously evolving as the needs of the organization change.
Hear from our students
Strategy delivery leaders, becoming IMPACT drivers
It’s given me confidence and guidance through the challenges I face as a PMO leader of one. Today I work confidently with our leadership — and help coach others through the process.
Andrea Elkin
PMO Leader
Being in the IMPACT Engine PMO program has made an absolute difference in my life in terms of the headaches and the pain that I would have experienced going it alone.
Garfield Charles
PMO Leader
There’s such a wealth of information in the program itself — and then the coaching and support to uplevel fast. It’s given me everything I needed to build a new PMO.
Debbie VanScoyk
PMO Leader
What we believe
Principles woven through everything we teach.
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Outcomes over outputs
On time and on budget isn’t enough. Projects must produce measurable business results.
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People first
Strategy delivery is a human endeavor. Leadership, relationships, and trust are the real levers.
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Strategy must be executed
A strategy only matters if the organization can actually deliver it. We close that gap.
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Governance enables speed
The right structures don’t slow you down — they create the clarity that lets you move faster.
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Applied learning
Knowledge alone isn’t power. Everything is built to be used immediately, in your real situation.
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IMPACT is the point
Everything aims at one thing: helping you make a real, measurable, lasting difference.
Frequently Asked Questions
Definitely don’t wait.
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Those first weeks are when structured guidance can be most valuable. The program helps you understand who to talk to, what to ask, what to look for, and how to identify the issues that matter most before you start making changes.
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By the time you step into the role, the organization has usually been living with its challenges for months or years. Expectations may already be high on day one.
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Starting early helps you build credibility, understand priorities, and create momentum faster.
Yes. The core learning is self-paced.
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You can move through it quickly when the situation demands it or slow the pace down when you need more time to apply the work inside your organization.
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The goal is not to finish content quickly. It is to apply the learning well.
That is more common than you might think.
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Some participants lead large PMO teams. Others have only a few people. Many are a PMO of one, trying to figure out where to begin while also handling day-to-day project work.
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The program helps you prioritize what matters most, create a realistic plan, and focus your limited time on the work that will build credibility and create the greatest value.
Absolutely.
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The templates and deliverables are designed to be adapted to fit your organization and used internally as you build and run your PMO.
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If you are a consultant and want to use the materials across multiple client organizations, additional licensing or certification options may apply.
The self-paced IMPACT Engine System™ is delivered online so you can work through it at your own pace and apply the learning directly to your PMO.
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If you also participate in the IMPACT Accelerator Mastermind™, you will receive access to the coaching environment and participant community.
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The Mastermind is designed to create a supportive environment where participants can discuss real organizational situations while respecting the privacy of the people and organizations involved.
Yes.
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The IMPACT Engine System™ offers certification pathways for professionals who want to demonstrate their ability to apply the framework in real-world strategy delivery environments.
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For PMO leaders working inside an organization, the Certified IMPACT Engine Leader™ credential is designed for leaders in a PMO, Strategy Delivery Office, or other business transformation function who have demonstrated their ability to apply the IMPACT Engine System™ in a real-world scenario.
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There are also Practitioner and Consultant certification pathways for professionals with different roles and goals.
There are different ways to engage with the IMPACT Engine System™, including self-paced learning, coaching support, and certification pathways.
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The best fit depends on where you are in your PMO leadership journey, how much hands-on support you want, and what you are trying to accomplish.
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Book a Discovery Call and we’ll help you understand the current options and determine which path makes the most sense.
Many participants ask their employer to support or reimburse the investment, especially when the learning is directly tied to their current role and organizational priorities.
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Because the program is designed to be applied to real PMO work, it can be positioned as an investment in both the leader and the organization’s strategy delivery capability.
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We can also help participants think through how to make the business case internally.