Process Improvement Versus Practice Improvement

  The effectiveness of project management in an organization is measured by two separate but related maturity variables.

  The first is the current maturity level of the process itself. The assessment of this maturity is based on an evaluation of the standardized and documented methodology for managing projects in place in the organization. The assessed maturity level will be a point estimate. For any one of the many processes that make up a project management methodology, their scope and impact on the organization will increase over time. This will happen as shortcomings in the initial version are discovered and fixed. Increases in scope will occur as the project management processes become more integrated into related business processes.
  The second variable is the maturity level of the practice of the process as evidenced by ongoing projects. This assessment will be done on projects recently completed and will be repeated at set intervals (such as quarterly). The assessed maturity level will be a distribution of values—one for each assessed project.
  There are two questions that can be answered from this data. The first is whether the current process maturity has reached the level established by the organization as the target level. If not, part of the effectiveness improvement will, of course, be to put initiatives in place to reach that target level.
  The second question is whether the current practice maturity is consistent with the process maturity. There are three situations that will be important to us as we examine current effectiveness.

a. Process Maturity Exceeds Practice Maturity

  This situation will occur when the organization has a process in place that has not yet been fully integrated into practice. There can be many reasons for this:
• the process may not have been successfully deployed into the organization.
• the process may not be sufficiently documented.
• the process may not be appropriately defined and has therefore been dismissed as not useful or misused by project teams.
• process training may not be effective.

Project reviews should be able to get to the root cause of this performance gap.

b. Process Maturity Equals Practice Maturity

  This suggests a healthy alignment between the process and how it is being practiced.

  Keep in mind that the practice maturity data will have been collected over several projects and presented as a distribution. Not all projects will have verified a practice equal to the process maturity level. Rather, some will be above and some will be below that level. In the aggregate, however, a reasonable person would conclude that the practice maturity mirrors the process maturity. The evidence to support this conclusion would be a distribution of practice maturity values around the process maturity. The smaller the variance of that distribution, the more aligned are the practice and process maturity.

c. Process Maturity Less Than Practice Maturity

This would seem to be an anomaly but it really is not.

 It is entirely possible that projects will display a practice maturity that is above the process maturity for at least the following reasons:

• the process maturity level has not been documented and deployed and several project managers have taken it upon themselves to practice at a maturity level that is called for.
• one or more members of project teams have brought practices with them from other organizations that exceed the process maturity level on one or more processes.

  These situations are likely to arise when the process maturity levels are lower compared to what the organization would expect them to be. As the process maturity levels increase, this phenomenon is less likely to occur. But while it does, there are best practices and lessons learned that can be gleaned from these projects. In fact, these best practices and lessons learned can become the input to improvement initiatives for the process itself.

Balancing People, Project Management Processes, and Technology

  Each of the 10 critical success factors tells us a great deal about the characteristics of effective project management processes, but they do not tell the whole story. In addition to the processes, an effective project management environment is also made up of people and the technology to support the processes and the people. The 10 critical success factors tell us that. Four are related to people, seven are related to process, and three are related to technology.

  The triad formed by people, project management processes, and technology forms a system that must be in balance if projects are to have any reasonable chance of succeeding .

  Figure below displays that triad.

 

  The figure shows several examples of how the three components can be related to one another. These are illustrated by data points A, B, C, and D. The closer the data point is to a vertex, the more developed or stronger that component is to the mix. Data point A is located at the center of gravity of the triangle and represents a system in balance.

   The People dimension shows a staff whose skill profile and experience level is in balance with the needs of the organization. 

  The Project management processes dimension shows that the organization has sufficiently developed and understood project management processes to meet the needs of the organization. 

  The Technology dimension shows that the organization has deployed the appropriate level of technology to support the project management processes that are in place and the people who use those processes. Data point B shows an organization that is tilted toward the Project management processes and Technology dimensions. 

  This organization will have sophisticated project management processes in place and the necessary supporting technology. They will not be effective, however, because they have not adequately prepared their people with the training and skills to effectively utilize the infrastructure. Furthermore, while the project management processes themselves may be entirely appropriate, the people may not be using them. This illustrates that a gap exists between one or more project management processes and the practice of those processes .

   Data point C shows an organization that is tilted toward the People and Project management processes dimensions. This clearly shows a failure on the part of the IT function to support the project management function and on the part of the project managers to proactively go after technologies to support their project work.

   Data point D shows an organization that is tilted toward the People and Technology dimensions. This is a fairly common occurrence. These organizations are technology rich and have hired smart people, but without the processes to support their business activities turnover will be high and business will suffer as a result.

Project success

There are 10 reasons for project success in the order of importance:

• Executive support;
• User involvement;
• Experienced project manager;
• Clear business objectives;
• Minimized scope;
• Standard software infrastructure;
• Firm basic requirements;
• Formal methodology;
• Reliable estimates;
• Skilled staff.

Seven of the 10 reasons relate to process. The remaining three (executive support , experienced project manager, and skilled staff) relate to the project, or more specifically to the alignment of the project manager and the team members to the project as well as the alignment of the project to the organization’s goals and objectives .

It will be helpful to review each of these 10 reasons especially as they relate to the quality of the project management process. The discussion below will focus on the practices and processes that must be part of a quality project management methodology. This will lay the foundation for our assessment of project management maturity .

1. Executive Support

Since this is the single-most important reason for project success, its absence is the main reason why projects fail. While some may think it is simple to get executive support, many would agree that it is not easily maintained. Changes in executive leadership, changing political scenes, and changing business priorities can easily result in the loss of that support. Because of this fragility, the project manager must be held to standards and practices that preserve rather than alienate the executive sponsor. Those standards and practices will be part of the communications management program that makes up the project management

methodology.

Executive management must have a stake in the outcome of the project. A well-devised project plan, along with project team commitment, will go a long way in gaining executive management buy-in. And if the executive becomes the leading spokesperson for the project, it is a sure sign of management buy-in. The executive should be a visionary, setting the agenda, arranging funding,Introduction to the Process Improvement Life Cycle 3 articulating objectives, and also be the champion and minesweeper, securing necessary resources and taking total ownership of the project. The executive should not be the project manager, or the function representative, or Santa Claus, or the technical officer. Executive support must go beyond their pet projects and extend to the project management methodology itself. Their endorsement of the methodology as the efficient and effective way to manage projects must be visible. They have to walk the talk!

2. User Involvement

The best way to assure user help and support when it is needed is to keep the user meaningfully involved in the project throughout its life cycle. That begins with functional specification, continues through planning and execution of the project, extends into change management and problem solving, and culminates with a well-defined acceptance criterion.

Even though a project is on time and within budget, it can fail if users’ expectations are not met. The project team must understand the users’ business and their needs and effectively communicate with them. The users need to provide constant information and feedback and can do so through formal (meetings) and informal methods established by the project team. There must be mutual respect between users and the project team. The “correct” users must be involved early and often in the project life cycle and they need to own the project. A function representative is the “voice” for all user departments and serves as the subject matter expert. There are many opportunities in the project management life cycle to meaningfully involve the user, your client. The extent to which your defined processes include the client is an indicator of project success.

3. Experienced Project Manager

Availability is not a skill! To appoint someone project manager simply because they are available is not a good management decision. Such behavior is probably rare but it should make us stop and think about exactly how we do appoint a person project manager. That decision should be based on a number of factors, which can be summarized in one observation: How well does their skill and competency profile match the characteristics of the project? The question cannot be answered unless we have a way of profiling projects, a way of profiling the skills and competencies of the project manager, and a way to measure the alignment of the two profiles. Business and technical knowledge, judgment, negotiation, organization, and good written and oral communication skills are desirable traits for a project manager. The ability to communicate with all the stakeholders and technical teams is necessary. Additionally, planning, tracking activities, tasks, and changes, or replanning to arrive at a goal are other skills a project manager should maintain. A project manager should decide what features and functions are part of the project, orchestrate all resources, focus on the goal and minimize diversions, and establish accountability, responsibility, and authenticity. A project manager should not be the executive sponsor, user, or functional representative, and should not overpromise or be a control freak.

4. Clear Business Objectives

Project management methodology must have a formal process for establishing clear business objectives. If you do not know where you are going, how will you know what to do and how will you know when you get there? Projects that start out without having this information are in trouble unless the methodology has a way of compensating for that lack of information. Traditional project management approaches do not have a way of compensating; the newer adaptive and terative approaches do. Since change is almost certain, the project management methodology must have a way of maintaining the objectives as they change and  way of adapting the project plan to those changes. veryone associated with a project must share the same vision. The vision must be clear, concise, and comprehensible. The goal(s) of the project must be known and enthusiastically supported by all. And goals must have measurable success factors. The project’s business objectives must map to the corporate vision. This ensures that those associated with a project know and understand the objectives, where they fit in, and how the project goals contribute to the corporate vision.

Despite all of the effort devoted to clearly defining project goals and objectives, these are not static and will change. You may have been very successful in working with your client to achieve that clarity, but it may not be long lasting. Business conditions will change, markets adjust to the economy and to new competition, and competitors will change. All of these factors lead to scope change in your project and place your project at risk. That means your project management process must have a solid change management process that is integrated into other business processes.

5. Minimized Scope

The trade-off here is that longer projects will incur more change and risk and less so for shorter projects. Change in scope brings about a change in the project plan and the increased risk that work completed earlier may no longer be of value. That means wasted dollars and wasted time. A large project can be decomposed into several interdependent smaller projects. Each smaller project should be justified based on the specific deliverables and business outcomes that will be produced. The extent to which the project management methodology considers this approach and includes processes for decomposition is a measure of its quality and maturity.

Major milestones in a project form the boundaries from one phase to the next. Adding some smaller milestones and monitoring their attainment is one of the keys to project success. The five key elements to effectively using project milestones are planning, top-down design, time boxing, tools, and management by objectives/accountability. Proper planning prevents problems. Start with a high level view then figure out the details. Time boxing involves set deadlines and a fixed amount of time. Using automated tools and templates can speed projects up. Milestones must be defined, understood, measurable, and quantifiable.

And each should have an assigned owner.

6. Standard Software Infrastructure

This factor speaks to the stability of the infrastructure over which your project work will be done. If that infrastructure is in flux, your project plan is at risk for radical change. That risk opens the possibility of missed deadlines, use of the wrong human resources, team members with the wrong skills, inability to meet the client’s requirements, and a host of related impacts. It is vital to use a language that is understood by all parties involved in a project. Infrastructure is defined as the underlying foundation or basic framework (as of a system or organization). Defining, understanding, and engaging standard business processes is fundamental to any company, and that includes ensuring a standard business infrastructure throughout the enterprise environment.

A standard technology infrastructure can facilitate the placement of new kinds of technology to support business initiatives. Selecting a robust and scalable infrastructure will enable businesses to profit and expand by harnessing the capabilities and promise of truly global electronic commerce.

7. Firm Basic Requirements

This is a no-brainer. Much of the discussion surrounding clear business objectives applies here. By way of analogy, you cannot start out on a journey unless you have some idea of where you intend to go. The better you can define that journey the more effective will be your initial choices of direction. The better you understand the client’s basic requirements, the better your plan will be for delivering an effective solution to meet all of their requirements.

Requirements management is the ongoing process of identifying, documenting, communication, tracking, and managing project requirements as well as changes to those requirements. The earlier an error is detected, the less costly it is to fix. A concise definition of the project vision should be written in business terms. Buy-in from the users and executives are paramount to project viability. Continuous reevaluation must occur. Identify all key stakeholders and include them in the requirements definition. Identify and document all risks

and formulate a plan to minimize them. Develop a clear statement of the business case. Define the project metrics, measurements, and milestones.

8. Formal Methodology

Project management methodologies that can be repeated are valuable to the organization. Repeatability creates standards, best practices, skill development, and a host of other benefits to the organization. Project management methodologies that are adaptable rather than rigid are valuable to the organization as well. The extent to which a project management methodology is standardized, documented, accepted and practiced, integrated into the business equation, and improved upon is a measure of its quality and maturity. The project management office (PMO) is part of the infrastructure that will help an organization align business and technical goals and increase the odds of project execution in organizations. It is a dedicated section of the organization that focuses on various aspects of project management and methodology. PMOs help to gain better control over processes and project outcomes, bring consistency to their implementations, standardize operations, control resource allocation, and handle customer interfacing. PMO staff members have project management experience and excellent communication skills.

9. Reliable Estimates

Historical estimated versus actual costs and durations are your best tools for producing new estimates of cost and time. The availability and maintenance of this historical information is a sign of the maturity of the project management process.

Reliable estimates can only come from honest and frank assessments. It is important to create realistic written specifications, prioritize needs, and work toward smaller milestones at frequent intervals. Managing change is another requirement in setting realistic expectations. A misalignment between expectations and deliverables often occurs if change is not managed.

10. Skilled Staff

There are two factors to consider here. The first is the skills inventory present in the staff and the extent to which it matches the demand for skills in the organization. The second is the extent to which the skills of the project team match the skill requirements of the project to which they have been assigned. Skilled staff is your most valuable asset. 

The five key elements to ensure competency are:

1. Identifying required competencies;

2. Providing a quality, relevant, and continuous training program;

3. Recruiting both internally and externally;

4. “Incentivizing” the staff;

5. Ensuring they are project-focused.

Building and maintaining a team involves collective participation from the entire team. Communication within a team is vital to a project’s success.

Stand Still and Go Backwards

   A professional athlete is good in part because of countless hours of practice.
   A professional athlete stays good because of countless hours of practice. The analogy to business is that a competitive business is good by constantly improving what it does. A competitive business stays good by constantly improving what it does. The analogy to project management is that to be good at project management requires the committed and organized effort of the entire organization, and to stay good at project management requires that continual effort.
   To ignore this warning is to sentence your business to a slippery slope that sooner or later will lead to failure. The first signs that your organization is on that slippery slope is a complacent attitude that creeps into everyday business life and project life that everything is fine, and that you have arrived at an exemplary practice of project management. In the final analysis, all organizations should look for ways to improve the quality and maturity of their project management processes. Before doing that it would be informative to look at the sources of problems regarding the process and its practice .

The Importance of Process Improvement

  The amount of effort put into the design and implementation of a process does not really matter; there is always room for improvement. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the technical professions. As new technologies emerge, new ways of doing things arise and we must change or die. In other words, an organization simply cannot stand still and expect project management to continue to function at expected levels of effectiveness. It must continuously improve processes or they will fall into misuse or no use at all.

Introduction to the Process Improvement Life Cycle

  Designing, documenting, and implementing a project management methodology is a major undertaking. It is met with several obstacles, including:

• Cultural and organizational barriers to change;

• Replacing existing project management habits;

• Rugged individualism of technical professionals.

  An organization will never reach the point where it is safe to say that all three of these obstacles have been neutralized. In fact, these obstacles will continuously plague projects for as long as there are projects to be plagued. Until very recently most organizations have not paid enough attention to these obstacles, which ushered in the beginning of the end for many of them. Once the methodology is introduced to the organization, however, its founding fathers claim success and the process of implementing a project management methodology officially ends. To be specific, reaching this point is just the end of the beginning. The strategy for the middle game involves direct confrontation with the above obstacles.

  Project failure rates are expected to decrease as a result of using the new methodology, but they do not. Project teams are supposed to use the new methodology, but they are not. The problem is often serious enough to require commissioning a project to find a solution and implement it. As organizations come to the conclusion that the time and cost expended to reach the point of full project management methodology implementation is an investment in the future, attitudes change. These organizations turn their attention towards protecting their investment, and so, programs at improving project management performance are sought. 

What is performance ?

Performance management is a relatively new concept to the field of management. 

Supervisors have conducted performance appraisals for years. Employees have attended training sessions for years. Organization members have worked long, hard hours for centuries. Processes, such as planning, budgeting, sales and billings have been carried out for years in organizations. But all too often, these activities are done mostly for the sake of doing them, not for contributing directly to the preferred results of the organization.

Performance management reminds us that being busy is not the same as producing results. It reminds us that training, strong commitment and lots of hard work alone are not results. The major contribution of performance management is its focus on achieving results -- useful products and services for customers inside and outside the organization. Performance management redirects our efforts away from busyness toward effectiveness.

Recently, organizations have been faced with challenges like never before. Increasing competition from businesses across the world has meant that all businesses must be much more careful about the choice of strategies to remain competitive. Everyone (and everything) in the organization must be doing what they're supposed to be doing to ensure strategies are implemented effectively.

This situation has put more focus on effectiveness, that systems and processes in the organization be applied in the right way to the right things: to achieve results. All of the results across the organization must continue to be aligned to achieve the overall results desired by the organization for it to survive and thrive. Only then it be said that the organization and its various parts are really performing.