12 June 2009

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Think Outside the Project with OPM3^®
Part 1 of a 5-part series

By Ginger Levin, DPA, PMP, PgMP

Worldwide, we are in the midst of an economic crisis. Fortunately, governments are working individually, and in many cases collectively, to combat this crisis as quickly as possible.

While project management is well-positioned to survive and even thrive in spite of the crisis, it is not immune. Your projects might be canceled. Your organizations might be downsizing or in bankruptcy. Your colleagues or peers might be out of work; working in positions that are not ones that truly are representative of their competencies, skills, and abilities; or wondering whether or not their projects will continue to be funded. Stress increases in everyone’s lives during these times.

It is difficult, therefore, to focus on the opportunities that these challenges present. But now is the time for each person, especially those in executive-level positions, to re-evaluate and refocus how projects and programs are organizational assets, and how best to use project management to regain and retain a competitive advantage even in this economic situation.

It is time to succinctly define the roles and responsibilities of the project manager, program manager and portfolio manager in each organization. Each project or program must be evaluated to determine whether or not it should be part of the organization’s portfolio, or whether existing resources are better deployed elsewhere. 

How can you best do this in your organization?

One approach is to follow PMI’s Organizational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3^®). This global standard can be used on a variety of levels, including evaluations of best practices in terms of projects, programs and portfolios. It also assesses whether these best practices are standardized, measured, controlled and continuously improved. And it emphasizes the various organizational enablers that should be in place to help achieve these best practices.

Many of you may view OPM3 as an effective approach to follow but one that is difficult to use. This is a misconception, because the ability to customize OPM3 makes it one that all organizations, and project and program managers, can use to ensure that best practices are in place and that the organization uses its valuable resources on the most critical projects and programs.

Performing an OPM3 assessment, followed by a prioritized improvement plan, especially can help the executives and portfolio managers to focus on delivering results and benefits to stakeholders. A structured approach then can be established, if required, to ensure that the portfolio contains those projects and programs that will enable the organization to obtain, regain and sustain a competitive advantage. It emphasizes the value that project management brings to the organization.

OPM3 further can assist program and project managers to see that they are following best practices as they work to ensure their products, services and results are delivered as planned, meeting and hopefully exceeding customer expectations.

OPM3’s ability to tie project results to business strategy makes it a valuable tool for any economic climate, but it’s especially valuable when the bottom line plays an even bigger role. In the following installments of this series, scheduled to run in the next four issues of Community Post, look for more information on the knowledge, assessment and improvement elements of OPM3.

Dr. Ginger Levin is passionate about project management, having worked in the field for more than 40 years.  She is a Doctor of Public Administration, PMP, PgMP, and a certified OPM3 Assessor and Consultant.  She is a project/program/portfolio management consultant and educator.   She can be reached at ginlevin@aol.com.

If you are interested in learning more about PMI’s Organizational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3), PMI SeminarsWorld^® offers a new OPM3 Fundamentals Course.

Learn the fundamental theories and skills of organizational project management in this two-day course designed to highlight the importance of best practices, capabilities, outcomes, key performance indicators and their relationship to business processes.