ADVISORY ARTICLE
By Jeff Oltmann
Oregon, USA
Some work is simply too big for a project. Success depends on multiple teams, decisions, and timelines fitting together. Even if each part is a standalone success, the overall result may still fail; the product can’t be used, the service doesn’t meet the client’s needs, or the intended benefits never materialize.
The problem isn’t primarily execution. It’s how to integrate across silos.
A common misdiagnosis
I’ve seen leaders try to manage the complexity by using a single, very large project. That rarely helps. Scope becomes unwieldy, dependencies multiply, and competing priorities overwhelm the project structure.
Alternatively, I’ve seen other leaders divide the work into smaller projects and ask teams to coordinate with each other ad-hoc. That usually breaks too—the coordination is informal, dependent on personal relationships, and fragile under pressure.
The real challenge is a lack of integration, and it shows up most clearly in the seams between projects.
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- Unmet dependencies cut across teams and schedules.
- Decisions optimize one effort while damaging another.
- Risks aren’t managed because no single project owns them.
Those aren’t problems that better project management alone will solve.
More…
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How to cite this article: Oltmann, J. (2026). How to Turn Organizational Silos into Results, PM World Journal, Vol. XV, Issue V, May. Available online at https://pmworldjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/pmwj164-May2026-Oltmann-Turn-Organizational-Silos-into-Results.pdf
About the Author
Jeff Oltmann
Oregon, USA
Jeff Oltmann helps organizations accelerate results through strategy deployment and project portfolio management. He consults, teaches, and leads forums for senior PMO leaders. He is principal at Synergy Professional Services (spspro.com) in Portland, Oregon and is on the faculty of the Division of Management at Oregon Health and Science University. He was previously on executive staff at IBM and is the founder of the Portfolio and Project Leaders Forum, a gathering of senior managers who lead project-based organizations (pplforum.org).
Jeff welcomes your questions and ideas. You can contact him at jeff@spspro.com or read previous articles at www.spspro.com/article-library.
