Project Management Maturity Practices Yield Improved Operational Efficiencies

Improved overall process maturity by 40%

Company

A multi-billion dollar strategy and technology consulting firm providing a broad range of services in strategy, operations, organization and change, information technology, systems engineering, and program management.

Challenge

Improve Project Management Maturity by Following Best Practices

The company’s internal IT organization realized that a plan needed to be put into place to mature its project management practices in order to improve efficiencies and complete projects faster. Rather than leap right into executing process improvement, professional development, or technological initiatives, IT leadership made the decision to use project management best practices to achieve their goal.

Solution

Set Objective Baseline Through Formal Organizational Maturity Assessment

The detailed improvement plan revealed several areas for immediate focus including:
  • Process
  • IT PMO
  • Training
  • Portfolio Management

In order to get an unbiased evaluation of their business practices relative to project management, the company engaged PM Solutions to conduct a formal organizational maturity assessment involving artifact reviews and in-person interviews with key personnel to determine existing best practices and areas for improvement. The results of this assessment served as the building blocks for the development of a detailed plan for improvement illustrating quick hits as well as short and longer-term strategies. The company wanted to treat project management maturity improvement as a project in itself to show to the entire organization that the practices it would soon be promoting were the same practices it was using to make the necessary improvements.

With a strong senior management commitment for this initiative, members of the organization’s IT team adopted the improvement plan recommendations and began executing them with guidance and support provided by senior consultants from PM Solutions.

Results

40% Increase in Project Management Maturity

Three years following the initial assessment, PM Solutions was invited back to re-assess the overall project management maturity of the IT organization to demonstrate improvement and set the course for the next several years. It was determined that the company had made such significant strides in the areas of project portfolio management and project management that their overall maturity rating had increased by 40%, exceeding the desired level detailed in the initial improvement plan. Of all areas assessed, the ones with most notable improvements in process maturity over the initial assessment rankings were:

  • Scope Management – 90%
  • Project Management Office (PMO) – 80%
  • Professional Development – 73%
  • Management Oversight – 67%

By performing the re-assessment, the company was able to document their improvement and justify the value project management has brought to their organization. For example, now that its new project portfolio management process is in place, the internal IT Project Management Office is able to ensure that its limited IT resources are allocated to the highest-value projects – the ones that best align with the organization’s overall business objectives.

The company continues to invest in improvements and has now begun efforts to further enhance its project management practices to allow for more agile practices when appropriate. A more robust database housing project workbooks is underway with a focus on periodic lessons learned workshops to proactively share knowledge.

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