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When “The Process” Doesn’t Exist: Navigating Invisible Frameworks in Project Management

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Omar Jabbar Project Management and Digital Transformation Consultant| OGreen IT Service Inc. Ontario, Canada

What do you do when you're instructed to follow a process that no one can produce, explain, or locate? It’s a challenging scenario many PMs face, being held accountable for a workflow that’s “in place” but undocumented or still under development. Transparency breaks down, alignment suffers, and delivery risks increase. In these moments, raising visibility, requesting clarification in writing, and offering to help formalize the process can turn confusion into collaboration. How have you handled “phantom processes” in your projects?
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Sergio Luis Conte Helping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based Organizations Buenos Aires, Argentina
The process always exits implicit or explicit defined. But always exists. The key thing for PMs is to make it visible. If not then you will fail as PM.
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1 reply by Omar Jabbar
Mar 02, 2026 11:30 PM
Omar Jabbar
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I agree, but in complex PMO environments, bureaucracy and legacy controls are often structural issues rather than individual ones. A Project Manager cannot single-handedly reform institutional governance models.
However, strong Project Managers can still make an impact within their sphere by improving transparency, reinforcing accountability, and modeling the right behaviors. While you may not be able to fix the system overnight, you can elevate the standards within your program.
Sometimes, effective leadership is less about redesigning the PMO and more about navigating it strategically.
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Francisco Matheus Chagas
Community Champion
Project & PMO Manager | Research & Enterprise Mentor| GFB Holding South America, Brazil
I actually align with the stakeholders on the deliverable requirements and premises. Then I align the task deliverable product. It's like expectation management.
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Omar Jabbar Project Management and Digital Transformation Consultant| OGreen IT Service Inc. Ontario, Canada
Mar 02, 2026 5:22 PM
Replying to Sergio Luis Conte
...
The process always exits implicit or explicit defined. But always exists. The key thing for PMs is to make it visible. If not then you will fail as PM.
I agree, but in complex PMO environments, bureaucracy and legacy controls are often structural issues rather than individual ones. A Project Manager cannot single-handedly reform institutional governance models.
However, strong Project Managers can still make an impact within their sphere by improving transparency, reinforcing accountability, and modeling the right behaviors. While you may not be able to fix the system overnight, you can elevate the standards within your program.
Sometimes, effective leadership is less about redesigning the PMO and more about navigating it strategically.
avatar
Lissette Indhira Pimentel Sosa
Community Champion
Program Manager| HARPER SRL Santo Domingo / Distrito Nacional, Dominican Republic
In scenarios like this, I treat it as discovery work. I ask stakeholders to walk me through how decisions are actually made, who approves what, and what outputs are expected, then I document it and validate it back.
Most of the time, the process exists in people’s habits, not in writing. Making it explicit reduces ambiguity and shifts the conversation from blame to clarity.

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