PM Commentary by Stacy Goff
PM Performance 2: In Part 1 of this introduction, we discussed the differences between classic PM Maturity Models and IPMA-USA’s PRO. In this Part 2, we acknowledge the contributions of the PRO project team, and the insights we gained from other Models.
The PRO Team
What is the source of all these insights, that produced such an innovative organizational project performance assessment? Our answer: It is our volunteer team of experienced PM consultants, savvy PM practitioners with vast experience in multiple organizations. They also have experience as organizational maturity model assessors, and Management Consultants. For example, our original model was the inspiration of the same William Duncan who changed PM around the World. He did so with his multi-year effort, leading the development of PMBOK® Guide, 1st edition. He now serves as architect for our tool and process that has the potential to do even more for organizations. A key point: One of our early research findings was that the best Organizational Assessment models are led by single-minded vision. That is as opposed to the compromises of a random committee.
Tim Jaques is a partner and consultant with Line of Sight, LLC, specializing in Government PM. Tim is the Project Manager for PRO. Tom Mochal, of the popular PM Consultancy TenStep, currently performs Assessments, and contributed greatly to PRO. He says he will be among the first to offer it to his customers. Brent Hansen, Scott Freauf and Nigel Blampied have “real jobs” With that experience, they gave us the perspective of corporations and government agencies that will benefit from PRO. These are all long-term, experienced Project Managers, and have served in many other notable PM Standards initiatives.
PM Performance 2: But Wait, There’s More!
But wait, there’s more, as they say. Dennis Milroy brought years of experience in the Military, another targeted beneficiary of improved PM Performance. Matt Piazza has a passion for the topic, but could not directly participate. So he built and managed the collaborative infrastructure we needed to get the project rolling. And, what if we offered a Standard, and no one showed up? Dino Eliadis, a Management Consultant with Marketing Expertise, has kept us focused on the business need. He helped us with our customer focus, and the marketability/manageability of our efforts.
Of course, there is still much work to be done. We are now enlisting more volunteers for the next stages. They include performing beta tests with clients, commenting on the Draft Standard, and helping with the PRO market rollout.
PM Performance 2: Learning From the Best Models
PRO does have some similarities to other organizational PM assessments. Our offering and most others require independent assessments. You can use our freely-available Performance Criteria to perform an organizational self-assessment, just as with the best of other models. But as with others, you need the rigor of trained, recognized assessors, to interpret the responses. More importantly, you need them to help you determine where the greatest opportunities for improvement exist.
PRO is following the lead of some of the best models we’ve researched in other ways, too. We intend to share the data that we collect with Universities, with their Doctoral and Masters Program candidates. This is a rich area of opportunity, both for Academic Research, and for organizational improvement. One excellent model that is also freely available, and has extensive interest in Academic Research and International Enterprises, is: MCPM, the Maturity by Project Category Model. It is developed by Mr. Darci Prado of Brazil, with support and assistance from our friend and member Russ Archibald. And, they engage 60 volunteers who are stars in their own fields, to help explain the outcomes in their areas of expertise. This tool is an inspiration for us in its data collection and analysis usefulness.
PM Performance 2: A Wealth Of Data
We encourage you to use the link above to see that wealth of data and interpretations of that data on the Model’s website. In a recent meeting with Mr. Prado, I saw wondrous use of the data that to this point we have only envisioned. Things like correlating Model Score against Project Success, across multiple different industries. Or examples of one of Russ Archibald’s favorite topics, Project Categories. The consequence of Mr. Prado’s easy-to-use and freely-available model, in addition to the wealth of research data coming from it, is huge! It is achieving a wide adoption rate, not only in Brazil and the USA, but also across Europe. It is also becoming increasingly available in multiple languages.
PRO is not quite as ambitious as Mr. Prado’s MPCM, but he already shows the potential of the approach we have taken: An easy-to-use tool, that is based on market needs, and is freely available in an open system, with the resulting data shared. PRO can help organizations and teams to improve, then demonstrate, Project and Program Management Performance in the USA.
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