Project Management Maturity Model

In today’s ever changing technical landscape, companies and government agencies continuously pivot to meet their mission needs. As an organization matures and evolves, it is necessary to re-evaluate processes and structures to take advantage of industry best practices and continually improve operations. Many organizations choose to establish a repeatable structure for managing projects, such as a Program Management Organization (PMO) to govern and oversee project processes ensuring that all related projects are compliant and operating efficiently. A mature PMO will allow an organization to capitalize on knowledge learned over time and maximize efficiencies.

Research shows that by segmenting work streams into discreet projects, and applying focused and dedicated efforts to managing those projects, there is a greater chance of success. To maximize efficiencies an organization must optimize project management processes, this is where the Project Management Maturity Model can be used to help with continuous improvement.

UNDERSTANDING THE NEED

Government agencies face a unique set of challenges which differ from the private sector and increase their susceptibility to critical risks that can derail projects. As documented in the Government Extension to the PMBOK, government agencies face the following challenges:

· Stakeholders that have competing projects and objectives with limited resources.

· Functional managers not versed in project management processes and methodologies.

· Legislative mandates.

· Budgets that are approved once a year, but require planning two years in advance.

Given these challenges and the added complexity of growing requirements, flat fiscal funding, and frequent personnel shifts, it is more important to mature processes so that can handle increased workload. Technical project management skills such as release, change, schedule, and risk management often lag behind other technical delivery capabilities. Often senior leadership is unaware of the process maturity of their organization and without constant assessment, and development of a roadmap, progress is often overlooked. Programs that are symptomatic of immature processes generally identify with the following traits:

· Inconsistent application of processes amongst projects and operations.

· Communication challenges across different projects or misalignment of strategic goals.

· Incomplete information to base important programmatic decisions.

· Challenges identifying artifacts for audit purposes or contract enforcement.

Organizations need to put tools and structures in place that allow them to systematically plan and track performance improvements. These tools and structures must be built from the ground up and institutionalized to create the building blocks for a strong foundation. Development of these skills and processes provide a foundation to manage successful projects supporting strategic goals and initiatives.

PROPOSED SOLUTION

When an organization makes the transition into a Center of Excellence with their project management practices there are a number of areas where they will begin to see improvements. The organization will begin to focus on optimizing their management process to account for changing needs as well as align their strategic goals to their organizational goals. Some of the efficiencies that they will begin to experience include:

· Establish corporate standards using project management methodologies, processes, tools, templates, as well as education and training.

· Manage continuous improvement and cross departmental collaboration to align to strategic business goals.

· Manage intake and authorization processes for new business opportunities.

· Develop or utilize program and portfolio management systems that allow the organization to not only track existing progress, but help with strategic forecasting and planning.

· Establish metrics and KPIs that will allow the organization to qualitatively track their progress as it relates to the overall business mission.

The initial stage of this maturity process is to develop a roadmap for improvement and this begins with the initial baseline of an organization’s process and procedures. This is established to document the current operating processes that are being followed, and establish the overall starting point. Once this assessment has been performed, the team will work together to create the roadmap and develop the plan to help mature the detailed processes, and how they will transition from one level to another. As an organization continues to adopt and institutionalize new processes they will review the roadmap and baseline, and assess if there is an increase in overall organizational process efficiencies. To help solidify this process they should review the checklists that are developed for each of the various levels, and validate if their organization meets the criteria for advancing to the next level.

In order to begin to increase the overall maturity of existing project management processes there are a number of steps that make up part of the process. At its core the process includes three primary elements: Knowledge, Assessment, and Improvement. The Knowledge element consists of reading and reviewing initial requirements and scope, and then gathering project documentation. Once the information is gathered then an Assessment is performed on documentation as well as face to face interviews. In the Assessment stage the team will begin to evaluate existing processes as they compare to industry standards, and then develop a roadmap to mature processes areas that need enhancements. The Improvement portion of the process will focus on the roadmap for change, and work to address weaknesses in best practices not currently being addressed.

Once an overall Assessment has been performed then the organization will be mapped to a Maturity Ranking and Level / Process. This initial Assessment will serve as an overall baseline for the maturity process. The diagram below illustrates the various level within the overall Maturity Model.

Figure 1 — Project Management Maturity Model

The idea of mapping and monitoring maturity is a concept used increasingly to map logical ways to improve an organization’s PMO services. As an organization continues to mature they begin to institutionalize their processes, to ensure they are repeatable. They begin to maximize their efficiencies, and look for constant ways to improve.

The idea of mapping and monitoring maturity is a concept used increasingly to map logical ways to improve an organization’s PMO services. As an organization continues to mature they begin to institutionalize their processes, to ensure they are repeatable. They begin to maximize their efficiencies, and look for constant ways to improve.

BENEFITS

Performing an assessment to establish a baseline project management maturity level sets the direction and is a first step in implementing cultural change. Over time an organization will continue to institutionalize their process and transition to a Center of Excellence. This results in increased alignment between strategic business goals and execution, with the following benefits:

· Better efficiencies when delivery products and services.

· Greater collaboration between business and IT.

· Documented repeatable project management processes, and a formalized methodology, that have institutionalized within the organization.

· Stronger governance which include performance reporting and monitoring.

· Shift on organizational culture that focuses on continuous improvement.