Current industry updates, observations and commentaries PM Benchmarking Forum presented by Center for Business Practices - December 1-2, 2004 The PM Benchmarking Forum, offered by the Center for Business Practices, was held in early December 2004 as part of an on-going series of seminars designed to get project management best practices to practitioners and companies who are deploying project management principles.
The focus this time was best practices around selling project management throughout the organization, particularly at the senior management level. Key selling strategies included: using performance measures of project management value, key success factors at getting senior management buy-in, building effective business cases and change management techniques applied at the project and portfolio level.
Attendees included representatives from a range of industry sectors: FedEx, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 5th Third Bank of Cincinnati, General Electric, Kaiser Permanente, AT&T and Genentech, among others. Several of these provided their best practices – what worked, what didn’t work in their environment.
Key findings from the Forum:
Successful practices:
- communication is king
- standard approaches really work
- education and training provide structured curricula (entry level through advanced) for the project management community
- accountability to apply the constraint of a rigorous return on investment to all business cases at project conclusion
- portfolio and performance to verify that you are working on the right projects.
Conclusions:
- when selling project management to senior management, frame this discipline by relating it to business results (triple constraints – cost, scope and time), using business language
- set and manage senior management expectations of project management results
- frame project management benefits as related to solving business problems and getting results
- find the linkage of strategic management to project management by explaining the fit between project management and the organization
- emphasize the expanded role of PMO as project portfolio manager, risk manager, resource manager in accordance with the corporate direction.
Something to think about: Is Instant Messenger a good thing for your projects? Sending and receiving instant messages (IM) has certainly been a big thing at home (just speak to your kids). IM is now emerging as a major communications tool in the workplace. While many employees use IM for personal reasons, a growing number are thinking about its use for business purposes.
This kind of messaging was once limited to internal networks (LANs). With vast Internet accessibility at virtually every desktop, companies now find themselves serving up IM to their employees, sometimes unwittingly. These same companies are also awakening to the possibilities of IM'ing. Users now realize that IM can raise efficiencies, e.g., by replacing the need to run down the hall to someone's office to leave a post-it note on their PC, or by simply determining if someone is in their office.
So, is there a place for IM in your projects? Consider the possibilities – easy communication on important project issues with your project team (screen buddies) whether they are across the hall or across the globe; reminders of the upcoming meeting/teleconference call; a quick request for fresh ideas on something you are noodling. But we need to balance these efficiencies with the impact created by IM’ing: reduced face-to-face daily discourse, shorthand communication and spelling, or potential loss of the power of inquiry and debate.
Remember what you have been saying to your kids.
On Leadership and project management From the PMI 2005 Leadership in Project Management Annual:
"Leaders have the skills to set strategy, think laterally and lead by example." "If you can see where you're going, you can get there." "Creativity is not something one learns as much as it is an attitude one maintains." Trust and integrity begin in your personal life - it is what you stand for."
These powerful messages jump from the pages of this new publication from PMI. It is the strongest statement to date on the role leadership plays in effectively executed projects. From words like, "take charge", instinct", "innovative thought", it is clear that project management has emerged from the shadows of narrow focus on schedules and meetings to move towards its full potential. Our work in project management is not just about the end game of on-time and under budget. Project managers must speak the language and walk the walk of the corporate executive team. Project managers now understand their own strength and the strategic implications of their actions.
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