For project portfolio management to remain a viable tool for implementing strategy and PMO to continuously justify its establishment (to make savings on projects and as well as provide framework that will help organisation capitalize on the opportunities present in the dynamic market place), improvement of project management practice should be an on-going concern. There are some practices that organisation can achieve and apply to consistently get superior results when compared to others. For organisation to achieve and apply best project management practices, there is need to assess its current capability, competency an resources (its project management maturity level) and map out improvement process plan that will positively impact project management performance. Project Management Maturity Assessment, PMMA is a consultant-based proprietary interview tool to assess project management process maturity and project management practice maturity (Wysocki, 2010, p.592).
Below are couple of models that can be used to improve project management maturity level:
Organizational Project Management Maturity Model developed by Project Management Institute, PMI
PRINCE 2 Maturity Model
Portfolio, Programme and Project Management Maturity Model-
Most of these models except OPM3 have capability maturity model has its conceptual foundation, they define 5 levels of maturity (Wysocki, 2010, p.589)
P3M3 Maturity contains 3 individual maturity models (Portfolio management maturity model, programme management maturity model and project management maturity model) that focuses on seven process perspectives (management control, benefit management, financial management, stakeholder engagement, risk management, organisational governance and resource management). P3M3 contains 5 levels namely:
Level 1- awareness of process- initialization of the new process
Level 2- Repeatable process- continuous usage of the process
Level 3- Defined process- institutionalization of the process i.e deployment of the process organisation wide
Level 4- managed process- management of the process across the organisation and measurement of the performance of the process
Level 5- optimised process- Continuous improvement of the process to achieve optimisation.
After an organisation has determined its maturity level and its ready to move from one maturity level to another, its unavoidable for an organisation to go through some changes so that it will be able to perform at its desired maturity level. Change may be triggered by poor performance, change in organisational goals and changes in the knowledge and/or resource base of an organisation (CIPS, 2012, p.202). A change may be evolutionary or revolutionary as required by the present circumstances and what the organisation intend to achieve.
It is very important for an organisation to have a clear strategic intent that is- knowing the maturity level it want to achieve and what it takes to get to that level and perform excellently. It is also important for the change agent to be able to sell the change idea to all the stakeholders and get their buy-in. A change agent might be appointed to oversee/lead the entire change process. Change agent might decide to impose change, involve people that will be impacted by the change in decision making process etc.
Identification and availability of human resources that it will require for the change process to be successful. This might involve having to recruit people with special skill and/or train existing human resources to be able to operate at the desired level. It also important to determine if there is a fund available for the organisation to carry out the change process i.e.
Setting up of performance measures to determine the level of success or failure of the change process is quite important so that organisation can know if what its doing is properly aligned with the change motive or it has drifted.
Time is another key element that cannot be discarded; there should be a time frame for the organisation to achieve the desired maturity level so as to be able to capitalize on the opportunities that abound in the market place. A fast delivery product to market is a way an organisation can be profitable (becoming market leader).
Recognition of project portfolio management and a key tool to implementing strategy and establishment of a proper PMO ( i.e. appropriating the authority and responsibility to the PMO to handle projects organisation-wide was a smart move DFCU to implement strategy as well as deploy best practices in execution of projects) are the two most important actions taken by DFCU because it gives the platform for other actions to be carried out.. Projects can be centrally controlled and monitored leading to savings on project, develop project management competency, faster project turnover (learning curve).
Setting of goals for the project department is quite important for the project managers to know what they are working towards and it will them a clearer picture of how to tactically achieve the objectives. This was buttressed by CIO, who says "without effective strategic and tactical planning, we used to manage more of a project wish list than a true portfolio of key projects" (Kezner, 2010, p.285).
Having a goal gives clarity and furthermore, breaking down the goal helps in assigning different responsibilities to the project managers which in turn gives power and authority to each one of them to achieve the tasks assigned to him or her.
References
Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (2012) Corporate and Business Strategy. The Official CIPS Course Book. Lincolnshire, UK: Profex Publishing Limited.
Kezner, H. (2010). Project Management Best Practices: Achieving Global Excellence. 2nd ed. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Wysocki, R.K. (2009) Effective project management: traditional, agile, extreme. 5th ed. Indianapolis: Wiley Publishing.