Enterprise Project Management Maturity

By Noland Eidsmoe

The road to Project Management maturity is becoming well understood and accepted in the industry, but not so with Enterprise Project Management maturity. Enterprise Project Management (EPM) maturity is more concerned with the maturity of managing project management with its organizational and cultural development aspects. Exhibit 1 shows the levels of Enterprise Project Management maturity within an organization. EPM Maturity

LEVEL 5
16

17

Sustained High Performance

Portfolio Management High-Level Project Management Maturity

LEVEL 4
14

15

Project Manager Certification Program

13

PMO Enterprise Authority Advanced Project Managment Concepts

LEVEL 3
11

12

Enterprise Project Management Council

10 9 8 7 6

Project Management Methods and Standards Project Management Training Program

Enterprise Reporting Resource Management Tools, Processes, and Training

Project Charge Back System EPM Tools, Processes, and Training

LEVEL 2
5 4 3 2 1 Organizational Change Management Program Project Management Maturity Baselined PMO Chartered Executive Sponsorship

LEVEL 1

No EPM Project Planning/Low Level Project Management Maturity

Exhibit 1. Seventeen measures of Enterprise Project Management Maturity.

LEVEL 1 Level 1 of EPM maturity is characterized by the lack of Project Management maturity within the organization.

LEVEL 2 Level 2 of EPM maturity is characterized by the recognition of the need for an EPM program and by the implementation of many of the basic EPM components. 1. Executive Sponsorship. Without strong executive management support, a sustained EPM program is not possible because of the level of investment and organizational culture change required. 2. PMO Chartered. A successful EPM program cannot be implemented and sustained without a PMO organization (or Project Office). The PMO acts as the project manager of the EPM implementation and as the manager of the program once established. 3. Project Management Maturity Baselined. A Project Management maturity baseline provides a number of benefits: First, it provides objective evidence for executive management on the current state of project management within the organization; Second, it provides the metrics that improvements can be measured against; Third, it provides insight into the steps and priority of the steps to improve the maturity level; fourth, you will likely find pockets of excellence that can be standardized and used in the implementation; and fifth, it provides a forum for project mangers to express their feelings (usually frustration) on the current state of the project management program. 4. Organizational Change Management Program. For most companies, implementing an EPM program is implementing a new way of life. To control this change, the organizational changes must be fully considered in the overall plan. To overcome the resistance to change and established culture, new rules must be established, communicated, learned, measured, and enforced. 5. EPM Tools, Processes, and Training. The heart of the EPM program is the EPM class of software tools that are available today. You can not have a mature EPM program without a full set of EPM tools installed and used by project managers and team members that have been trained in their use and that supporting processes and standards have been put in place by the PMO. 6. Project Charge Back System. Once projects are planned and tracked with actual hours and costs, a charge back interface system can be developed to provide the information to the accounting system. For most cases, this is implemented to charge the cost of the projects to the departments that are the customers. Other times, it may be as a

tool for executives to get a handle on project costs. But in any case, it ups the level of program seriousness when project costs are being charged to clients. 7. Resource Management Tools, Processes, and Training. One of the big paybacks in the EPM program is the efficiency that can be gained in resource management, and the EPM system provides the project data that can be viewed at the enterprise level necessary to accomplish resource management. 8. Enterprise Reporting. The EPM program supports the collection of a large amount of data, but it cant be used properly until reporting needs are identified, additional data elements added to the toolset, and reports developed that satisfy these needs. Once reporting starts flowing from the system, organizational buy- in and maturity speed up. 9. Project Management Training Program. Many project managers became project managers by appointment because they were good as team leaders and there was a need for project managers. But as most of us know, the skill requirements for a project manager are a much different than that of functional supervisors. To increase the skill level of project managers, a PM training program should be initiated. 10. Project Management Methods and Standards The real core of the EPM program is the definition of project management processes that are to be used throughout the organization that provide a standardized approach and enables the view of all projects as a portfolio of projects.

LEVEL 3 Level 3 of EPM maturity adds the additional components necessary for a long-term sustainable EPM program and is the end of the EPM Project phase and the beginning of the EPM program phase. 11. Enterprise Project Management Council. A sustained EPM program is all about buy- in by the entire organization, which can only be achieved by enlisting the involvement of others beyond the PMO. This can be achieved by forming an EPM Council to act as the board of directors for the EPM program. At this stage, with many significant accomplishments behind it, the PMO should have demonstrated its clear leadership in EPM that justifies the reason for its being in charge of the EPM program and its clear leadership over the EPM Council. 12. Advanced Project Management Concepts. After the basic program components of EPM are in place, the program can be ratcheted up with advanced concepts such as Earned Value Management (EVM) for project control. Less mature organizations do not utilize EVM, mostly due to a lack of full understanding of the concepts and benefits and some perception that its a government thing.

13. PMO Enterprise Authority. After the basic EPM program components are in place and the PMO has demonstrated its ability to organize the program, the PMO can take on its long-term organizational role, which should be a wider range of responsibility than during the EPM implementation project.

LEVEL 4 Level 4 of EPM maturity is where a sustainable EPM program is operational and is also characterized by a high level of project management maturity along with a functioning project portfolio management process. 14. Project Management Certification Program. While a PM Training program is necessary to raise the maturity level of the project managers and the overall maturity level of project management in the organization, a certification program is necessary to sustain the maturity over the long run. 15. High-Level Project Management Maturity. An organization cannot have a high EPM maturity level without first having a high Project Management maturity level all the foundation elements as detailed in PMBOK must be in good shape. Once the Project Management maturity it baselined and the EPM program is implemented, the project management processes should mature from the initial low level where best practices are few and far between, to a high maturity level where best practices are rolled out and being optimized. 16. Portfolio Management. From an organization standpoint, having a high performance project management organization accomplishes little unless the right projects are worked. Portfolio management is a process the links the organizations projects to the organizations strategic planning to ensure that the projects completed are the projects needed to meet the strategic objectives.

LEVEL 5 Level 5 of EPM maturity is characterized by a sustained EPM program that results in high project performance. 17. Sustained High Performance. With a high level of project management maturity, EPM maturity, and portfolio management, the organization should be at a high level of performance, which is the final test of EPM maturity. Before embarking on the development of an EPM program, you need a clear vision of where you are and where you want to be in the Enterprise Project Management maturity spectrum. While many of the seventeen measures of maturity overlap in their implementation, there will be an overall progression of maturity.