From PMO Chaos to Clarity | How Visibility Powers Transformation with smart/sync

What really causes transformation to go off track? It’s rarely a bad idea or a flawed ambition. More often, it’s something subtler, something that creeps in quietly but undermines everything: a lack of visibility. 

Without clear sightlines, how it’s tracking, where the risks are, whether it’s landing well with your people, you’re left relying on hope. And hope, as Paul Dunlop, Director of Delivery and Services at smart/tasking, puts it, is not a strategy. 

“Visibility is ensuring you’re working on firm ground. People need to see progress – and they need to believe it’s real.” 

We sat down with Paul Dunlop to talk about why visibility is often the missing link in successful change, and how smart/sync can help bring clarity and control, not just to transformation, but to any kind of delivery. 

A hidden barrier to successful change 

Most businesses know how to ‘do’ transformation. They bring in programme managers, set up governance structures, create timelines and action plans. But underneath the surface, things often unravel. 

One of the most common pitfalls Paul sees is organisations trying to save money by handing responsibility for change to internal staff who simply don’t have the right experience or capacity. 

“They’re trying to run a transformation with people who already have a day job. Halfway through, it’s all falling apart, and by then, the hole is deeper than when they started,” notes Paul. 

This often happens because there’s no single, reliable view of progress. Leaders don’t see the warning signs early. Teams operate on assumptions, stakeholders misalign, and the knock-on effects ripple outwards. 

“Failing to have clarity on the approach is dangerous,” comments Paul. “Assumptions – good and bad – come to a head. Expectations aren’t aligned, and performance suffers.” 

Structure isn’t enough – you need sight 

PMOs (Project Management Offices) are designed to bring structure. But structure alone isn’t enough, especially if it depends on outdated processes. 

“We’ve seen so many PMOs where you can’t get what you need,” says Paul. “One person owns the plan. They send out notes and updates that are already out of date by the time they reach others. You end up with piecemeal information that doesn’t feel like it’s in control.” 

How smart/sync puts PMOs back in control  

smart/sync is a real-time reporting and tracking tool built by experts to support delivery in every form. While it’s often used to bring clarity to complex transformation projects, it’s just as powerful for BAU delivery, operational oversight, or anything that needs reliable visibility. 

It’s not a dashboard for the sake of dashboards. It’s a fully customisable platform shaped around what your stakeholders need to see. 

“What makes smart/sync different is that the reporting isn’t based on our standard,” Paul notes. “It’s based on the client’s expectations, and this is where its real value lies.” 

With smart/sync, everyone from senior sponsors to delivery teams can access a single, always-up-to-date view of what’s happening. From onboarding to resource planning, KPIs to risk, the data is live, layered, interactive and trusted. 

“People can log in and question the data on the spot,” says Paul. “They’re not waiting for someone to send a report or tell them what’s going on, they can see it whenever they like.” 

In one example, the smart/tasking team ran a full Resource Management Office through smart/sync, giving a client real-time visibility of every stage of recruitment, onboarding, and delivery. 

“When we’re talking specifically about change – it’s that clarity, that access to status as things progress, that makes transformation stick,” says Paul. “That’s where success comes from.” 

What visibility unlocks 

While a lack of visibility leads to drift and frustration, having it embedded can be genuinely transformative. It speeds up decision-making, reduces duplicated effort, rebuilds trust between delivery teams and leadership, and makes programme governance more responsive, because risks can be flagged and addressed in real time, not in retrospect. 

It also supports alignment at every level. With smart/sync, the project team isn’t operating from a different version of the truth than the board or the sponsor. Everyone’s looking at the same picture, with confidence in the data. 

“You don’t need different flavours of reporting. You just need one version of the truth,” comments Paul. “Once you’ve got that, smart/sync becomes your encyclopaedia, or your ChatGPT. You ask it, and it tells you the answer. Right now.” 

More than a tool – a smarter way to lead 

At its core, smart/sync is about cutting through complexity. Paul describes it as the brain behind confident delivery - connecting information, teams and decisions. 

“In this modern world, data is the bloodline of business,” says Paul. “smart/sync is what makes that data accessible, usable, and valuable, so you can act on it when it matters most.” 

It’s about real-time access, yes, but more than that, it’s about alignment. And confidence. Because once you’ve got true visibility, you can lead.