Project Management and How It Relates to the Project Management Maturity Model - Essay Example

Project Management and how it relates to the Project Management Maturity Model. In order to elucidate the significance of project management maturity model, it is worthwhile to first of all come up with a definition of the term project management. According to the Project Management Book of Knowledge Guide (PMBOK), project management is defined as the application of knowhow, skills, tools and methodologies towards project undertakings in order to achieve the project requirements. Project management as a process is realized through the application and integration of project management functionalities of initiation, planning, execution, monitoring as well as evaluation and finally closure (PMBOK 34). Typically, as it has always been the norm, project management works efficiently when the direction and the scope of the project is well depicted and understood. Additionally, the process of project management works effectively when all the stakeholders reach a mutual consensus on aspects of objectivity and expectations. Equally important in project management is the need for a thorough understanding and assessment of the risks involved. All these benchmarking features in project management become achievable when the probability of success is assumed to be equally high. However, different companies no longer align themselves towards the above stated guidelines in the process of project management. Nowadays, different companies are undertaking different approaches towards the project management. Many reasons can be attributed to the shift from traditional project management approaches. One of the reasons in this paradigm shift is that more and more projects are becoming highly complex and hence require technical capabilities in order to achieve success. Moreover, the risks associated with achieving the breakthrough can be very significant and there is no total guarantee that the project will be successful and the projected value of completion will be arrived at effectively (Wysocki 175) In cases of market leadership position is desired, the planning of the project is further complicated by stiff competition as well as the need to minimize the schedule for an early introduction into the market. As a result, a majority of today’s projects are not clearly understood and are neither well defined. The rising costs, global economic disparities and competition within the market players continue to drive many companies to take more risks. Changes in project management have undergone significant milestones with regard to the entire practices as more industries embrace the art. However, a notable observation is that these companies share similar accomplishments with other companies during the benchmarking activities. One of interesting areas in project management is the project management maturity model, which is a vital component in strategic planning (Kerzner 45). Project management maturity model abbreviated as PMMM, can be elucidated as the foundation in achieving excellence in project management. Project management maturity model is a fundamental component of strategic planning that is significant in achieving distinction in any organization. By incorporating strategic planning in the project management maturity model, organizations are in a position to shorten the time frames of the entire project management. Strategic planning in project management is quite dissimilar from other variants of strategic planning. This is because it is an activity that is performed at the middle-level of management as opposed to the executive management. The executive management only comes into play in a supportive role and also in the provision of funds. The executive management ensures that all the recommendations made by middle level management do no result in unnecessary changes to the corporate culture (Kerzner 928). Many organizations are inclined in performing strategic planning on new services and products by laying out a well thought plan before execution. In project management, strategic planning in many organizations is done under trial and error concept. This approach has lead to recurrence of mistakes that could have been otherwise avoided if it were carried out using a favorable model. One such model is the project management maturity model, which has been used by many corporations in performing strategic planning in order to achieve excellence and maturity within favorable time frame. The project management maturity model is basically comprised of five levels with each level representing distinct degree of maturity (Kerzner 145). In level one which is called the common language, the organization becomes familiar with the importance of project management and the requirement for proper understanding of basic knowledge on project management. This is inclusive of all the accompanying terminologies and language used in project management. Level two, termed as common processes is whereby the organization is well acquainted with the common undertakings need of proper definition. These common processes can be developed at this level and can be further used in other projects to achieve success, a phenomenon called reproducibility. Additionally, this level is depicted by the ability of the organization to recognize and apply and support project management principles (Kerzner 49). Level three of the PMMM, is referred to as the singular methodology whereby the organization familiarizes that the concerted effort in combining all the corporate methodologies into a single methodology is the centre of the project management. This synergy also makes process control easier while employing a single methodology as compared to multiple mechanisms. Benchmarking forms the fourth level in the project management maturity model. In this level, there is the need of the organization to recognize constant maintenance of process improvement. Performed on continuous basis, benchmarking remains a critical pillar in maintaining a competitive advantage. The company has to identify whom and what to benchmark. Level five is called continuous improvement, and in this level of maturity, the organization assesses the data obtained through the benchmarking process. As a result, the organization must make a decision whether or not the information may augment the singular methodology (Kerzner 50). In my experience as a manager within an electrical substation, the project management maturity model was critical in setting up a project management office as well as centre of excellence in achieving full success in the organization. However, there was an overlap of the levels of maturity and as such; the task was not accomplished sequentially (Wysocki 159). Organizational strategy, also termed as strategic planning is a critical component in project management. Strategic planning when combined effectively with good project management mechanisms can limit the gaps on time frames, cost and quality. In addition to these undertakings, several decisions critical to the achievement of success in project management must be considered. For example, the marketing strategy should provide information on what products the organization has to offer and which markets will be functional. Experts within the information technology department must help in the design, conception, development and selection of support systems relevant to the project. Additionally, the senior management team should assist in the provision of satisfactory and qualified resources (Project Management Institute –PMBOK 243). Organizational strategy is beneficial in the realization of an organization’s excellence and should consider the following factors. The organizational strategy should ensure good working relationships among the employees and managers. Organizational strategy puts into consideration the different roles played by the different employees including the stakeholders. Effective goals in management of projects should be specific. Specific objectives in project management increase the probability of achieving a specific outcome or target. As a result, objectives should not be vaguely put across in the process of project management. Project objectives should depict how thriving the project has been or may be (Kerzner 129). In pursuit of the general objective, the project management may further splice the objective into specific objectives. This is normally accomplished in a stepwise manner so as to boost the chances of achieving the desirable outcome. In my tenure at an electrical substation, one such objective was to reduce complaints forwarded by consumers to 50%. In the case that the objectives are not formulated in a step wise manner, it may be difficult to develop insights so as to progress the project further. Objectiveness in project management should portray performance and quality usually, a terminal of the process. Additionally, an objective in management of projects is critical in ensuring good financial practices especially with regard to allocate budget. Objectives in project management should be timely in terms of time frames. Through this, the stages involved in the process are monitored and effectively undertaken within the specified dates (Wysocki 178). Communication in projects can be defined as the interchange of project related or relevant information with the prominence of creating agreement between the receiver and sender. Good communication is a fundamental factor that is relevant in project management. The team involved in the specific project must provide accurate information to the stakeholders within specified time frames. Members of the project team should avail relevant information in a variety of methods so as to meet the needs of the project stakeholders. Additionally, team members receive response and feedback from the stakeholders. Communication in project management entails general communication between the team members but is more encompassing. This procedure takes advantage of the work breakdown structure (WBS) as a framework. It also oriented towards the customer, is time limited, product focused and involves all levels of organization (Wysocki 218). The methods and rates of communication among the members and stakeholders may vary from one project to the other. An important consideration in project communication management is the project complexity. Projects that are perceived to be simple require minimal communication because it is usually one person team and only a single stakeholder involved. In the contrary, focused projects usually require additional communication planning and execution. However, such projects remain moderately straight-forward because only a few individuals are involved. Therefore, project communication management forms a critical component in the process of project management. This aspect of project management can be defined as the knowledge area that employs the processes required to ensure timely and appropriate production, collection, circulation, storage, reclamation and dissemination of the information (Kerzner 256). Project communication management covers the following five major processes. Firstly is the communication planning which seeks to determine information and the communication requirements of the stakeholders. The second process is information circulation thus making timely information readily available to the stakeholders and project members. Third is performance reporting which entails collecting and publishing performance information. This encompasses status reporting, progress extent and forecasting. Lastly is the administrative closure which involves generation, collection and circulation of the information to formalize project completion (Project Management Institute, PMBOK 87). Various tools and techniques are used in information distribution and include written and oral, listening and speaking. Others include internal communication within the project while it can also be external conveying the information to the consumers, media and public. Communication can be done formally via reports, briefings and informally via memos and ad hoc conversations. Communication methods can be vertical implying through the ranks in organization and horizontally within peers. Information retrieval mechanisms allows for the sharing of information by team members. This can be done in a variety of ways including manual filing systems, electronic databases, project management software as well as technically demanding systems. Information can be distributed via a number of ways including project meetings, hard copy document circulation, networked databases, fax, voice mails, electronic mails and video conferencing (Project Management Institute, PMBOK 97). Project stakeholders are persons or institutions who are actively involved in the project or whose significance may be negatively or positively impacted due to project execution or success upon completion. Stakeholders from an important aspect in project management because for instance, they are responsible for managing the projects. Stakeholders also comprise the immediate consumers or customers who use the project product. Stakeholders comprise of organizations whose employees are directly involved in the work of the project and are critical in its running. The stakeholders include sponsors or donor agencies that provide financial aid and resources towards the project (Project Management Institute, PMBOK 118). Quality in project management is defined as the processes required in ensuring that the project will gratify the necessities for which it was undertaken. Project quality management entails all the undertakings of the entire management function which formulate quality policy, goals and roles. Furthermore, quality management in a project carries out the implementation procedure through quality planning, control, assurance and quality improvisation in the quality system. In quality planning, the project identifies pertinent standards of quality feasible to the project and how to accomplish them. Quality planning makes use of benefit versus cost analysis so as to minimize time or work or rework hence higher productivity. This also reciprocates to lower operational costs and increased satisfaction among the stakeholders (Kerzner 213). Planning in project quality management entails benchmarking that basically involves comparative analysis of actual and forecasted practices. This is critical in generation of ideas and concepts for enhancement and standardization by which performance can be measured. Quality planning also includes designing of experiments and flow charts that portray relationships between the various elements of the project. Quality assurance as another component in quality management in projects assesses by and large project performance on regular basis so as to grant confidence that the project will accomplish relevant standards of quality. Quality assurance can be aided by the use of quality planning tools and techniques described above. This segment can be achieved through quality audits illustrating a structured review of other related quality management undertakings (Wysocki 288). Another critical component in project quality management is quality control which involves scrutiny of specific project outcomes to establish if they are in synchrony with relevant quality settings. Additionally, quality control seeks to point out mechanisms of alleviating causes of unsatisfactory performance or underperformance. Quality control is achieved by the use of inspection such as examinations, measurements and testing of the results. Additionally, quality control can be done through control charts, statistical sampling methods, Pareto diagrams, flow charts and trend analysis (Project Management Institute, PMBOK 112). Earned value analysis is the most commonly used technique in performance measurement. This method exists in various forms and it incorporates scope, cost and period measures so as to assist the project management team examine the performance. Earned value analysis entails the determination of three values in each activity. First, the earned value analysis determines the budget which is frequently called the budgeted cost of work scheduled (BCWS). This is the fraction of the consented approximate cost planned to be used on the doings during the project. Earned value analysis calculates the actual cost termed as actual cost of work performed (ACWP), the total of both direct and indirect costs incurred in accomplishing the activities of the project. The earned value analysis also approximates the earned value called the budgeted cost of work performed (BCWP). This is basically a percentage of the total budget equal to the percentage of the work actually accomplished. The above calculated values of earned value analysis are used in combination to offer measures of whether or not the work is being accomplished as initially prepared (Project Management Institute, PMBOK 91). Risk management is an essential responsibility of everyone involved in project management. Therefore, it is required of every member in the team to be careful so as to avoid potential failure. Probability of success in project management especially in organizations that are able to reach maturity and excellence levels can be found in an aspect called project risk management. This important component in project management entails processes that involve identification, analysis and response to the risks. Project risk management tends to increase positive results on the events undertaken while at the same time minimizing adverse happenings (Project Management Institute, PMBOK 180). Probability of success in an organization seeking to attain maturity can be elucidated in a number of processes. These include risk discovery that basically entails determination of the risks that are likely to have an effect on the project. In this process, each potential risk is identified and properly characterized in good documentation strategy. Quantification of the risks is yet another fundamental component in characterizing probability of success. This procedure involves an assessment of the risks and how thy associate in order to forecast possible outcomes of the project. Probability of success is also dependent on another aspect of project risk management called risk response improvement. This procedure attempts to exclusively define enhancements and maturity steps for opportunities and possible responses to hindrances. Within the project management process, the organization has to constantly employ risk response control mechanisms. This is because the nature of the risks may fluctuate during the entire process of project management (Wysocki 309). Risk identification can be carried out by the use of checklists that are traditionally organized by source of the risk. The etiology of the risks include project context, outputs from the processes undertaken, technology concerns and internal sources among members. In using various flowchart models, the probability of success in increased because the members are able to understand the causes and potential impacts of the risks. Risk oriented questioning with the stakeholders helps to discover new risks that may have not been previously identified. Additionally, probability of success can be quantified by using expected monetary value analysis. This analysis is further used in downstream applications on quantification of risks by use of decision trees. Other techniques in determining probability of success in an organization include simulation, statistical sums and verdicts from experts. In order to achieve success, it is essential for the organization to take major initiatives that provide unique opportunities of learning and knowledge acquisition. Another initiative is on the improvement of performance by everyone involved in the project in the organization. A different initiative would be an opportunity to come up with new and more effective working habits and practices (Wysocki 309). Works Cited Kerzner, H. (2009). Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Kerzner, H. (2011). Using the Project Management Maturity Model: Strategic Planning for Project Management. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons. Kerzner, H., Saladis, F., & Learning, I. I. (2011). Value-Driven Project Management. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Project Management Institute. (1996, January 10). Project. Retrieved May 9, 2012, from unipi: http://www.unipi.gr/akad_tmhm/biom_dioik_tech/files/pmbok.pdf Wysocki, R. K. (2010). Effective Project Management: Traditional, Adaptive, Extreme. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Read More