Implementing PMBOK principles, using OPM3

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Implementing PMBOK principles, using OPM3 OPM3 as
an Organizational PM Roadmap Tomer Keidar, PMP,
NRCN Prof. Eli Abramov, PMP, NRCN
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Preface In the quest for improving our
organizational PM process we looked for a way to
create a better PM environment for our project
managers which will eventually improve our PM
success rate. We found what we look for it in the
OPM3 PMI standard, which is a very solid PM
knowledge base going beyond the borders of the
single project management. We conducted a first
OPM3 review, which resulted in an organizational
PM Roadmap which gave us a road map to see ahead
what actions must we take and what gaps must we
bridge. We than set our maturity level goal and
acted upon this roadmap plan. Two years later we
have conducted a similar OPM3 review. Results
where un-doubtable! We gained tremendous
improvement, in tens of percentages of more Best
Practices we now owned! Now we have another
improvement challenge one which will bring us
to the next PM maturity level!
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Improving our Organizational PM process As PM
practitioners, most of us encounter the need to
improve our organizational PM process no matter
whether we are talking about our whole
organization, a division or just one
department. Maybe some of us would have liked to
be in charge of project managers by themselves
nevertheless usually this is not the case. So we
must find a way to help our project managers
succeed by improving the PM infrastructure they
use. The key question is how? Or in other words -
What can we do in order to make it easier for our
project managers to manage? How can we make our
organization a "better place" to manage projects
in? In our organization, we found out that what
we needed was a roadmap, which will guide us and
show us a path for improvement one, which would
be both practical as well as easy to grasp one
which will unite our organizational PM knowledge
together with PM's best practices.
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The beginning of the road As the organizational
PMO, we encountered this problem, some years ago,
as we raised two main questions concerning our
organizational PM process Where do we want to
go? How can we go there? Our very first step was
finding the gaps between our own methodologies
and the best known common practices, which are
included in the PMBOK. We than started to fill in
these gaps by creating a new and better PM
process, which we later on composed into an
organizational body of knowledge, which included
a generic project checklist, a gated Work Flow, a
set of templates and a handbook containing all
the background knowledge we used. But still,
something was missing. We still lacked the long
range view, which would tell us what level do we
want to reach? And how could we get there? In
this point we got to learn about the OPM3
methodology - Organizational Project Management
Maturity Model.
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What is the OPM3? As all other PMI standards, so
was the OPM3 developed by a very large group of
PMI volunteering practitioners, who wanted to
create a PM maturity model, which will go beyond
the limits of the single project management. It
was the EPM time, and the new buzzwords where
PROGRAM and PORTFOLIO management. This OPM3
standard was not aiming at measuring project
success, whereas it was about improving
organizational processes and PM infrastructures.
The basic assumptions, backed by academic and
practice research, where that improving those PM
processes and infrastructures, would eventually
improve success rating. It was agreed upon that
the very basic common best practice should be the
PMBOK. OPM3 confronts you with two main
questions Which PM managerial level would like
to reach? (SMCI - Standard/ Measure/ Control/
Improve) And, to which extent of activity would
you like to implement this managerial level? (PPP
Project/ Program/ Portfolio) Covering OPM3's
principles is not in the scope of this paper.
Yet, before entering this road, one must
understand all basic model components (a first
hand lesson) Capabilities, Outcomes, KPI's.
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So how did we use it? We first gathered a well
experienced PM team, including delegates from all
divisions. Than we conducted this 151 Yes/No
questions review, as for each division and for
the entire organization. What we got as a result
was a list of all best practices we than
lacked. Only than, we decided which maturity
level do we want to reach in the first step
(SMCI) and to which extent (PPP). Than, we
analyzed our results both for each division as
well as for the whole organization. That analysis
report gave us the very same roadmap we quested.
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The Roadmap These are the main chapters of our
first OPM3 review analysis Implementing our PM
methodology and creating a unified
terminology Instructing and Knowledge sharing
including conducting workshops for knowledge
leaders and project managers Building our
knowledge center Personal guidance for
executives Management commitment and compensation
methods Portfolio management processes
development Measurements infrastructure and
culture Project management tools and techniques
These chapters where divided according to our
missing Best Practices (BP) in all maturity
levels we aimed for for example Project-
Standardize, Project-Measure, and so on. In the
end we got a very detailed work plan, guiding us
in what way can we overcome all missing
BP's. This work plan became our organizational PM
Roadmap that we acted upon.
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Measuring Success Two years later we have
conducted a similar OPM3 review, with most of the
participants from the first review. Results where
un-doubtable! We gained tremendous improvement,
in tens of percentages of more Best Practices we
now owned! Yet, this is not the end of the road
for us. Now we have another improvement challenge
one which will bring us to the next PM maturity
level!
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Conclusions and Lessons learned
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The Challenge Improving our organizational PM
Process Though a common goal, different
organizations tackle it in different ways, some
more and some less effective. Short to Mid term
solution is not enough. We wanted to look few
years ahead and set our goals high. We wanted to
build our own PM Roadmap. One which will cover
all managerial maturity levels as well as
different levels of managerial effort, beyond the
single project.
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Proposed Solution an OPM3 Roadmap No one
wants to invent the wheel therefore
implementing a methodology which is based on
hundred of worldwide practitioners knowledge, as
well as on the project management best known
common practice the PMBOK, was a very good path
for us to take. That was - OPM3. Results where
overwhelming in two years of PM Roadmap
implementation, we have managed to overcome most
of our BP gaps, both in the Project level as well
as in other Program and Portfolio levels.
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What does it mean? First of all, with the help
of the OPM3 results, we came to know where our PM
weaknesses really where. As a result we decided
what level of excellence we want to reach. In
that matter, OPM3 helped us defining our
goals. Nowadays, our organizational PMBOK based
body of knowledge became our own standard, every
project manager must stick to. Moreover, it is
well known that the best way for you to initiate
and plan a project would be using it. And last,
managers from all levels speak nowadays the same
PM terminology.
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What other challenges do we confront? Showing
the road is not enough. Some things are easier
said than done. For example, cross organizational
resource management is not an easy task to
implement, once your organization has more than
just projects to manage that is - mainly
operations and maintenance, which have different
way of management. Implementing PM measurements
culture as well, can not be done unless you have
a good ground to walk on. Only now, after we
determined and improved our standards, can we
continue to this next level, with top management
support. You can find an ocean of knowledge base
regarding OPM3 in www.PMI.org as well as in other
PM professional sites on the web. Yet, as we
learned and did, you better consult a PMI
certified R.E.P. to help you through. As we see
it, this would be the best way of action.
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Good luck in finding and implementing your PM
Roadmap!