PMaaS Thrives on Thought Leadership, Shared Resources

March 24, 2020 | by Bruce Miller

Online resources keep us connected, on the same page, as we work in virtual teams

It seems uncanny now, that I wrote this series on project management as a service (PMaaS) back in December, before the present health crisis made working together virtually a necessity in many industries. My first blog in the series explained how PM Solutions has long worked to perfect virtual project services and team learning. We're so grateful to be able to leverage this long exmperience for our clients today! In this second blog in the series, I talk about how having shared thought leadership resources provides a solid foundation for virtual project work.

While PM Solutions adheres to the recognized standards of the Project Management Institute (PMI) and Agile Best Practices, we have also developed our own Project Management Community of Practice (PMCoP), a library of processes, tools and templates—what we often refer to as our “Library of Accelerators’” because having these researched and field-tested tools at our fingertips speeds response time and implementation of plans.  Each of our employees applies these tools as needed on client projects or to enhance an existing client methodology.  We also adhere to the security requirements specific to each client and industry.

The PMCOP is a collection of tools and methods that represents our best practices—validated by research and tested in the field—for planning, managing, and delivering a wide variety of projects. The goal of the PMCOP is to provide repeatable, quality solutions that will result in successful projects and satisfied customers.

PMCOP has been developed so that it can be tailored to each project environment. At project startup, our project management consultants will tailor the methodology to align with the specific objectives and requirements of the project. The resulting concepts, tools, and techniques will be shared with each member of the project team and will become a way of life for the project staff. This will provide the structure, focus, and discipline needed to successfully deliver a project of any size or complexity.

The PMCOP includes tools and processes that allow for consistent, efficient, and effective project management. Additionally, our breadth and depth of knowledge and experience results in reduced risk, high quality performance and ultimately, the success of the project.

While PM Solutions has worked with and utilized many industry leading PM and PPM tools, including with MS Project, Primavera, Smartsheet, Sciforma, CA Clarity PPM, Planview, Jira and others, we intentionally remain “tool agnostic.”   Clients never have to wonder if we are trying to “sell” them a tool for our own benefit. We work with or recommend only tools that are either preferred by the client, or which offer the best fit for the culture and issues needing resolution.

PM Solutions partners with clients to recommend, develop, and deploy a planning forecasting approach that helps mitigate and minimize the instances of sudden project manager resource requests with little or no previous line of sight.  Based upon our experience, this may include tools and techniques we have already developed in our Library of Accelerators such as our Resource Utilization & Demand Management processes, including actual utilization versus estimated utilization. These indicate the efficient use of project resources, can also indicate the effectiveness of duration planning processes.

Another unique source of expertise we are able to leverage due to our triple foundation of research, consulting and training is the development of internal training, both for our resources and for the client. During the Discovery & Alignment phase, an initial three- to four-week time period onsite to fully assimilate, understand, and to allow PM Solutions to fully adopt the  client’s  culture, processes and tools, an instructional designer will translate these learnings into PM Solutions’ orientation and onboarding process for project management resources engaged with that client.

More information and links to all of our research can be found at www.pmsolutions.com.


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About the Author

Bruce Miller

In his role as president, Bruce Miller is responsible for leading the strategic direction and performance of the PM Solutions consulting division, PM College training division, and the research division (PM Solutions Research).

In his most recent role as Director, Xavier Leadership Center (XLC), Williams College of Business at Xavier University, Bruce led the growth of XLC’s executive education programs, helping individuals and organizations achieve the next levels in their professional development journeys. Having started his career with nearly a decade of business experience at GE, Bruce brings executive leadership experience from positions within both highly specialized and global professional development and professional services firms. His business experience is reinforced by an MBA from Xavier University.

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