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Rolling out a new Project Portfolio Management (PPM) system should be a turning point. You expect better visibility, clearer decisions, and less firefighting. But often, after go-live, not much changes. Project data still lives in spreadsheets. Status updates are stuck in inboxes. And the tool you invested in starts collecting dust.It’s a common story. And from what I’ve seen working with clients across sectors, it usually comes down to one thing. Adoption. Or more accurately, the lack of it.

This isn’t about ticking the box on training or sending out a launch email. It’s about getting people to actually change how they work. That’s the hard part. But it’s also where the real value comes from.

Here are three things that may actually make a difference:

1. Make it About the Work, Not the Tool

If the system adds effort, people will dodge it. If it helps them get approvals faster, stay ahead of delivery issues, or lead their team with less guesswork they’ll lean in. Adoption happens when the system supports the work, not when it just tracks it.

2. Don’t Boil the Ocean—Solve Real Pain First

You don’t need a perfect end-state to get started. You need traction. Focus on visible pain points: resource bottlenecks, status report chaos, duplicated effort. Fix those, and your tool earns trust. At Sensei we always steer clients toward phased rollouts for this very reason. But in fast-paced environments, everything can feel critical, so it’s easy to try and solve everything at once. That’s the fastest way to get overwhelmed and deliver nothing well.

3. Make Leadership Visible—and Strategic

If leaders don’t use the tool, no one else will. Here’s the trick, don’t just ask them to “support the rollout” and give them a reason to care. Tie system visibility to something they want: better portfolio insight, clearer trade-offs, real-time risk visibility. When executives see how the tool helps them make better decisions, they’ll start using it and when they use it, everyone else follows. It shifts the perception from “PMO tool” to “how we run the business.” Culture follows what leaders model, not what they endorse in a slide deck.

Getting adoption right isn’t an afterthought. It’s what unlocks the return on your investment. If this sounds familiar and you’re trying to shift gears, Sensei can provide further insight.

Get in touch with us today!