Organizational Project Management Maturity Model Essay Example for Free

Organizational Project Management Maturity Model Essay 1. Introduction Successful implementation of a new organizational strategy can turn a good organization into a great one. Conversely, strategies that fail or generate poor results can quickly damage the organization’s reputation and brand, internally and externally. Effective strategy execution is the responsibility of all levels of management, who must be involved actively and consistently to orchestrate required organizational changes and to manage the portfolio of investments that underpin these change initiatives. The Organizational Project Management Maturity Model is a framework that provides an organization wide view of portfolio management, program management, and project management to support achieving best Practices within each of these domains. This holistic perspective is a powerful tool enabling successful execution of organizational strategies, portfolios, programs, and projects, especially when these transcend functional and hierarchical boundaries. Moreover, OPM3 global best Practices, applied to the execution of strategy, can drive superior and sustainable results. Effective strategy execution is the responsibility of the organization’s strategic planning and governance structures, which must be involved accurately and consistently to orchestrate required organizational changes. They manage the portfolio of investments that underpin these change initiatives. 2. Organizational project management Organizational project management is the systematic management of projects, programs and portfolios in allignment with the achievements of strategic goals. The concept of organizational project management is based on the idea that there is correlation between organization’s capabilities in project management, program management and portfolio management and its effectiveness implementing strategy. Organizational Project Management Project Portfolio Program Strategic Goals * Project – A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result. * Program – A group of realated projects managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits and control not available from managing them individually. * Portfolio – Acolloection of projects or programs and other work that are grouped together to facilitate effective management to meet strategic business objectives. 3. OPM3 Model OPM3 is an acronym for the Organizational Project Management Maturity Model, a standard wich is developed under the stewardship of the project management institute. The purpose of this standard is to provide a way for organizations to understand organizational project management and to measure their maturity against a comprehensive and broad based set of organizational project management best practices. OPM3 also helps organizations to increase their organizational project management maturity to plan for improvement. 4.1. Primary physical parts of the standard There are three parts; i. Narrative text – presents the OPM3 foundational concepts, with various appendices and glossary ii. Self assessment – provide a tool in support of the assessment step out lined in OPM3 iii. Directories – contain data on nearly 600 organizational project management best practices and their constituent capabilities 4.2. OPM3 Stages There are four sequential stages of process improvement; STANDARDIZE| MEASURE| CONTROL| CONTINUOUSLY IMPROVEMENT| 4. How does the OPM3 work? OPM3 offers the key to organizational project management maturity with three interlocking elements; i. The KNOWLEDGE element lets organizations uncover hundreds of Best Practices and shows them how to use the information available in OPM3. ii. The self ASSESSMENT element is an interactive database tool that lets organizations evaluate their current situation and identify their areas in need of improvement should an organization decided to embark on the path to higher maturity. iii. The IMPROVEMENT element will help map out the steps needed to achieve their goals. * KNOWLEDGE element which drives Assessment * ASSESSMENT element which in turn drives Improvement * IMPROVEMENT element. 5. Benefits of OPM3 to the organization I. It bridges the gap between strategy and individual project. II. It provides a comprehensive body of knowledge regarding what constitutes best practices in organizational project management. III. By using OPM3, an organization can determine exactly which organizational project management best practices and capabilities it does and does not have. IV. If the organization decides to pursue improvements, OPM3 provides guidance on prioritizing and planning. 6. What kind of commitment is required to launch OPM3 in an organization? The process of applying OPM3 in an organization is difficult to quantify. It depends on factors such as the size, complexity and initial maturity of the organization, the thoroughness of the assessment, the nature of the organization’s strategic objectives, and the level of resources available also impact any estimate. However, the assessment portion of such an initiative is most likely to take from several weeks to several months. Should an organization decide to embark upon improvements, the planning and implementation steps are likely to take longer, depending on how many best practices and related capabilities an organization decides to work on at one time. 7. Importance of OPM3 to the project management profession The Project Manager Competency Development Framework is the standard to guide the professional development of project of project managers and those aspiring to be project managers. OPM3 is the first iteration of a standard for organizations. It has the potential to create a new environment for those who are working in the project management profession, by illuminating the important link between projects and organizational strategy and the importance of organizational support to project management practices. The information in OPM3 is based on very broad based input from project management practitioners and consultants. 8. Summary The current global economic climate has ushered in an era of uncertainty that throws the importance of Organizational Project Management (OPM) maturity into sharp relief. It is critical for organizations to renew their ability to create cost efficiencies, economies of scale and agility to adapt to the changing business environment through projects. Companies need the organizational capability to choose the right projects, manage costs, and innovate. They need the organizational capability to delivery projects successfully, consistently, and predictably. The Project Management Institutes OPM3 Standard was developed with input from thousands of project practitioners and represents best practices in Project, Program, and Portfolio Management. OPM3 incorporates the PMIs PMBOK Guide, the most widely adopted standard for managing individual projects, and expands this into the domains of Program Management and Portfolio Management. OPM3 emphasizes choosing the right projects to advance organizational strategies and implementing the processes, structures, and behaviors necessary to deliver projects successfully, consistently, and predictabl y. Standardization of project work methods lays the foundation for achieving higher levels of maturity and excellence to create the organizational agility and resilience you need in todays marketplace. Leading organizations of all types and sizes across multiple industries are adopting OPM3 to transform their ability to close the gap between strategic intent and tactical outcomes through successful project selection and delivery. The preferred method for implementing OPM3 begins with an OPM3 Assessment by a PMI certified OPM3 Professional. 9. References * Project Management Institute, Inc. (2003). Organizational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3). Organizational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3). 1 (1), 1-195. * Project Management Institute, Inc. (2004). An executives guide to OPM3. An executives guide to OPM3. 1 (1), 1-5.