lerianstudio/ring:using-pmo-team

Using Ring PMO Team

The ring-pmo-team plugin provides 6 specialized PMO agents for portfolio-level management. Use them via Task tool with subagent_type: "ring:agent-name".

See CLAUDE.md and ring:using-ring for canonical workflow requirements and ORCHESTRATOR principle. This skill introduces pmo-team-specific agents.

Remember: Follow the ORCHESTRATOR principle from ring:using-ring. Dispatch agents to handle complexity; don't operate tools directly.

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Domain Distinction: PMO vs PM

| Team | Focus | Scope | |------|-------|-------| | ring-pm-team | Single feature planning | PRD, TRD, task breakdown for ONE feature | | ring-pmo-team | Portfolio governance | Multi-project coordination, resources, executive reporting |

Use PMO when:

• Managing multiple projects simultaneously
• Planning resources across projects
• Reporting to executives on portfolio status
• Assessing portfolio-level risks
• Conducting governance reviews

Use PM when:

• Planning a single feature
• Creating PRD/TRD for one initiative
• Breaking down one feature into tasks

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Blocker Criteria - STOP and Report

ALWAYS pause and report blocker for:

| Decision Type | Examples | Action | |--------------|----------|--------| | Portfolio Prioritization | Which project gets resources first | STOP. Report trade-offs. Wait for executive decision. | | Resource Conflict | Same person needed on multiple projects | STOP. Document conflict. Wait for management decision. | | Strategic Alignment | Project doesn't fit current strategy | STOP. Escalate with analysis. Wait for guidance. | | Budget Reallocation | Moving funds between projects | STOP. Prepare options. Wait for financial approval. | | Project Termination | Recommend stopping a project | STOP. Document rationale. Wait for sponsor decision. |

You CANNOT make strategic or resource decisions autonomously. STOP and ask.

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Common Misconceptions - REJECTED

| Misconception | Reality | |--------------|---------| | "I can assess portfolio health myself" | ORCHESTRATOR principle: dispatch portfolio-manager specialist. This is NON-NEGOTIABLE. | | "Resource planning is simple math" | Resource planning requires context, skills matrix, team dynamics. MUST dispatch resource-planner. | | "Risk is just a list" | Portfolio risk requires aggregation, correlation, impact analysis. MUST dispatch risk-analyst. | | "I know governance rules" | Governance specialists have gate frameworks loaded. MUST dispatch governance-specialist. | | "Executive reports are just summaries" | Executive reporting requires right abstraction level, action focus. MUST dispatch executive-reporter. |

Self-sufficiency bias check: If you're tempted to perform PMO tasks directly, ask:

1. Is there a specialist for this? (Check the 6 specialists below)
2. Would a specialist apply portfolio-level frameworks I might miss?
3. Am I avoiding dispatch because it feels like "overhead"?

If ANY answer is yes → You MUST DISPATCH the specialist. This is NON-NEGOTIABLE.

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Anti-Rationalization Table

If you catch yourself thinking ANY of these, STOP:

| Rationalization | Why It's WRONG | Required Action | |-----------------|----------------|-----------------| | "This portfolio is small, no need for specialist" | Size doesn't determine complexity. Standards always apply. | DISPATCH specialist | | "I already know the projects" | Your knowledge ≠ systematic PMO analysis. | DISPATCH specialist | | "Executive just wants a quick update" | Quick ≠ shallow. Executives expect quality regardless of speed. | DISPATCH specialist | | "Risk assessment is obvious" | Obvious risks are the ones you miss. Systematic analysis required. | DISPATCH specialist | | "Governance is bureaucracy" | Governance prevents failures. Gates exist for reasons. | DISPATCH specialist | | "Resources are clearly available" | Availability claims require validation against all commitments. | DISPATCH specialist |

See shared-patterns/anti-rationalization.md for universal anti-rationalizations.

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Cannot Be Overridden

These requirements are NON-NEGOTIABLE:

| Requirement | Why It Cannot Be Waived | |-------------|------------------------| | Dispatch to specialist | Specialists have PMO frameworks loaded, you don't | | Evidence-based reporting | Opinions are not PMO outputs. Data is required. | | Gate compliance | Gates prevent project failures. Skipping creates risk. | | Risk documentation | Undocumented risks cannot be managed. | | Stakeholder communication | Silent PMO = failed PMO. Communication is mandatory. |

User cannot override these. Executive pressure cannot override these. "Urgent" cannot override these.

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Pressure Resistance

When facing pressure to bypass PMO process:

| User Says | Your Response | |-----------|---------------| | "CEO wants the report now, skip the analysis" | "Executive urgency increases need for accuracy. I'll expedite but cannot skip validation. Proceeding with accelerated full analysis." | | "Just approve this project, we need to start" | "Approval without analysis creates downstream problems. PMO analysis protects the project. Completing analysis now." | | "Don't include that risk, it will worry the sponsor" | "Accurate risk reporting is non-negotiable. Suppressing risks creates larger problems. I'll report with appropriate context and mitigation." | | "Resources are fine, trust the team leads" | "Trust and verify. Resource validation prevents surprises. Confirming with utilization data." | | "Skip governance, we're agile" | "Agile requires MORE governance discipline, not less. Lightweight gates, not no gates. Applying appropriate governance." |

See shared-patterns/pressure-resistance.md for universal pressure scenarios.

Critical Reminder:

• Urgency ≠ Permission to bypass - Urgent projects need MORE PMO oversight
• Authority ≠ Permission to bypass - Executives expect PMO rigor
• Agile ≠ No governance - Agile has governance, just different cadence

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Emergency Response Protocol

Critical situations DO NOT bypass PMO process. Here's why:

| Scenario | Wrong Approach | Correct Approach | |----------|----------------|------------------| | Board meeting tomorrow | "Skip analysis, give estimates" | Dispatch specialist with URGENT flag, deliver quality in compressed time | | Project in crisis | "Just fix it, report later" | Dispatch risk-analyst to assess, governance-specialist for intervention options | | Budget deadline Friday | "Approve everything pending" | Dispatch portfolio-manager for prioritized recommendations |

Emergency Dispatch Template:

Task tool:
  subagent_type: "ring:portfolio-manager"
  prompt: "URGENT: [context]. [specific request]"

IMPORTANT:

• Specialist dispatch takes 10-20 minutes, NOT hours
• Rushed PMO decisions often create NEW problems
• Specialists ensure crisis decisions don't violate governance
• This is NON-NEGOTIABLE even under board pressure

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6 PMO Specialists

| Agent | Specializations | Use When | |-------|-----------------|----------| | portfolio-manager | Multi-project coordination, strategic alignment, portfolio health, prioritization | Portfolio reviews, project prioritization, capacity assessment | | resource-planner | Capacity planning, skills matrix, allocation optimization, conflict resolution | Resource allocation, capacity planning, team assignments | | governance-specialist | Gate reviews, compliance, process adherence, audit readiness | Gate approvals, process compliance, governance audits | | risk-analyst | RAID logs, risk aggregation, mitigation planning, portfolio risk | Risk assessments, RAID management, mitigation strategies | | executive-reporter | Portfolio status dashboards, project summaries, board packages (PMO focus) | Portfolio/project status reports, board communications | | delivery-reporter | Git analysis, squad delivery showcases, visual HTML presentations (engineering focus) | Squad delivery reports, release summaries, client showcases |

Dispatch template:

Task tool:
  subagent_type: "ring:{agent-name}"
  prompt: "{Your specific request with context}"

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When to Use PMO Specialists vs Other Teams

Use PMO Specialists for:

• Portfolio-level analysis and decisions
• Resource planning across multiple projects
• Governance and gate reviews
• Executive and board reporting
• Portfolio risk management

Use PM Team (ring-pm-team) for:

• Single feature planning
• PRD/TRD creation
• Task breakdown for one feature
• Feature-level research

Use Dev Team (ring-dev-team) for:

• Code implementation
• Technical architecture
• DevOps and infrastructure
• Quality assurance

Teams work together: PMO provides portfolio context → PM plans features → Dev implements code.

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Dispatching Multiple Specialists

If you need multiple specialists (e.g., portfolio-manager + risk-analyst), dispatch in parallel (single message, multiple Task calls):

CORRECT:
Task #1: ring:portfolio-manager
Task #2: ring:risk-analyst
(Both run in parallel)

WRONG:
Task #1: ring:portfolio-manager
(Wait for response)
Task #2: ring:risk-analyst
(Sequential = 2x slower)

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ORCHESTRATOR Principle

Remember:

• You're the orchestrator - Dispatch specialists, don't analyze directly
• Don't read PMO frameworks yourself - Dispatch to specialist, they know their domain
• Combine with other plugins - PMO + PM + Dev = complete delivery lifecycle

Good Example (ORCHESTRATOR):

"I need portfolio status. Let me dispatch ring:portfolio-manager to analyze."

Bad Example (OPERATOR):

"I'll manually review each project and create a summary myself."

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Available in This Plugin

Agents: See "6 PMO Specialists" table above.

Skills:

• using-pmo-team (this) - Introduction and dispatch guide
• portfolio-planning - Portfolio strategy and planning
• resource-allocation - Resource and capacity management
• risk-management - Portfolio risk management
• project-health-check - Individual project health assessment
• dependency-mapping - Cross-project dependency analysis
• executive-reporting - Executive communication for portfolio/project status (PMO focus)
• delivery-reporting - Visual executive presentations of squad deliveries from Git analysis (engineering focus)
• ring:pmo-retrospective - Portfolio retrospectives and lessons learned

Commands:

• /portfolio-review - Conduct portfolio review
• /executive-summary - Generate executive summary (PMO/project status)
• /delivery-report - Generate visual delivery report from Git repositories (squad deliveries)
• /dependency-analysis - Analyze cross-project dependencies

Note: Missing agents? Check .claude-plugin/marketplace.json for ring-pmo-team plugin.

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PMO Workflows

| Workflow | Entry Point | Output | |----------|-------------|--------| | Portfolio Review | /portfolio-review | docs/pmo/{date}/portfolio-status.md | | Executive Report (PMO) | /executive-summary | docs/pmo/{date}/executive-summary.md | | Delivery Report (Squad) | /delivery-report | docs/pmo/delivery-reports/{date}/delivery-report-{date}.html | | Dependency Analysis | /dependency-analysis | docs/pmo/{date}/dependency-map.md |

Report Type Selection Guide

Two types of executive reports available:

| Aspect | /executive-summary | /delivery-report | |--------|---------------------|-------------------| | Focus | Portfolio/project status (PMO view) | Squad deliveries (eng+product view) | | Data Source | PMO data (RAG status, SPI, CPI) | Git repositories (tags, PRs, commits) | | Output Format | Markdown dashboard | Visual HTML slides | | Metrics | Projects on track, budget, resources | Releases, PRs, commits, velocity | | Audience | Portfolio executives, board | Engineering/product executives | | Update | "How is the portfolio doing?" | "What did the squad deliver?" | | Agent | ring:executive-reporter | ring:delivery-reporter |

Use /executive-summary for:

• Portfolio health dashboards
• Project status updates (RAG, SPI, CPI)
• Board packages with governance focus
• Resource and budget tracking

Use /delivery-report for:

• Squad delivery showcases
• Engineering/product presentations
• Quarterly release summaries
• Client-facing delivery reports

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Integration with Other Plugins

• ring-default - ORCHESTRATOR principle for ALL agents
• ring-pm-team - Single feature planning (PMO → PM handoff)
• ring-dev-team - Development execution (PM → Dev handoff)
• ring-finops-team - Financial/regulatory compliance

Dispatch based on your need:

• Portfolio oversight → ring-pmo-team
• Feature planning → ring-pm-team
• Code development → ring-dev-team
• Financial compliance → ring-finops-team