Not every organization is willing to support a Project Management Office (PMO), but that doesn't mean that you can't get better control over the projects being launched within the organization. When a PMO is not possible, introduce project management best practices into the organization to allow for increased effectiveness and efficiencies in getting projects completed—regardless of their complexity.
This paper will focus on a step-by-step process to incorporate project management best practices into an organization that does not desire, or support, a PMO. The process will include how to introduce the concept of best practices and the value of them, not solely for the organization but also, and maybe even more importantly, for the project managers and their teams. With a focus on the individual, as well as the organization, increased buy-in to move forward without a directive from the top down is possible, and allows for best practices in how projects are managed within an organization.
Introduction
The Project Management Institute's 2014 Pulse of the Profession® noted that “the percentage of organizations that report having a PMO remains flat at 69%” (p. 14). For too many project managers there is the belief that if a PMO is not supported within the organization, then the organization is at an impasse. This is simply not true. There is the ability for project managers to come together within the organization to establish best practices—consistent standards, processes, and procedures—for how it will complete assigned projects.
First, let's define two terms: best practice and project management offices (PMOs.)
Best practices are “a method or technique that has consistently shown results superior to those achieved with other means, and that is used as a benchmark. Best practices can evolve to become better as improvements are discovered” (Wikipedia, para. 1).
A project management office (PMO) “is a group or department within a business, agency or enterprise that defines and maintains standards for project management within the organization. The PMO strives to standardize and introduce economies of repetition in the execution of projects” (Wikipedia, para. 1).
The use of a variety of best practices in project management facilitatesthe same benefits as having all of the organization's projects overseen by a PMO. Often times the use of best practices is seen as a softer approach to fully implementing a PMO. Yes, buy-in and support from the top is still needed to be successful, but that support is often a bit easier to obtain when the conversation is about improving how projects are managed rather than setting up a PMO. This paper will review best practices for developing and implementing best practices that will help projet managers be more effective and consistent in many key areas, including:
- Assigning team resources
- Developing project plans
- Reporting on status and regular communications
- Managing changes to projects
- Capturing and applying lessons learned
- Formalizing project closure procedures
These are all key areas that are often managed by a PMO, but which can certainly be overseen by a group of project managers without having a PMO in place. It is simply a matter of having best practices, processes, and procedures in place that are followed by everyone who manages projects—regardless of the size or complexity of the project.
Of key importance in moving forward with establishing best practices, it is essential to socialize the effort throughout the organization to get the buy-in, commitment, and support needed to be successful. One project manager taking on establishing best practices for his project may be successful in how he runs his projects, but unless he can get other project managers on board with what he is trying to accomplish, that success will not carry through to all projects launched in the organization. There will be no consistency.
This paper will focus on moving ahead with establishing and rolling out best practices in an organization when a PMO is not supported using a simple step-by-step process, as shown in Exhibit 1.
Exhibit 1: Step-by-Step process to implement and roll out best practices
When an organization is hesitant to put standards, processes, and procedures in place for how projects will be managed, it doesn't mean that the project manager is out of options. Rather, through identifying champions and taking a “softer” approach, best practices (effectively, standards, processes, and procedures) can be incorporated, allowing for increased success of projects and better control over projects by the project managers and their teams.
A Five Step Process to Incorporating Project Management Best Practices into the Organization
The five steps shown in Exhibit 1 enable for project managers to take better control of their projects through sharing best practices for how those projects are managed. While certainly a top down approach may allow for a quicker roll out and adoption of the best practices, simply because that top down directive doesn't exist doesn't mean that best practices cannot be established. Think about it. We are all utilizing best practices every day in how we get our work done. If not, we wouldn't be accomplishing anything! The goal is to share those best practices with other project managers and project management team members to ensure consistency across the board in how projects are managed,which, after all, is the purpose of a PMO.
The step-by-step process in Exhibit 1 demonstrates the beginnings of a PMO within the organization. Oracle's white paper on project management office best practices (2009) highlights 5 levels of maturity around project management and the work of the PMO at each level (p. 2). Each level increases the reach of the PMO until, at level 5, the PMO is mature and enterprise-wide and continuously improves upon the project management practices within the organization. Developing best practices and sharing them with other project management teams within the organization to increase consistency in how projects are managed increases efficiency and establishes methods for managing projects(level 1); promotes repeatable processes and procedures (level 2); and standardizes project management within the organization (the beginning of level 3).
Let's look at each step in more detail, specifically focusing on what is accomplished in each step. We'll look at each of these steps from the viewpoint of a project manager attempting to lead an initiative to incorporate best practices in how projects are managed within the organization.
Step 1: Make the Business Case and Socialize
In the early stages, the business case should be made to peers rather than the executives. Part of making the business case is spreading the word about the need for best practices in order to get others interested in the initiative.
In order for a project manager to undertake an initiative of establishing and rolling out best practices, the first step is ensuring that there are relationships in place with the project manager's peers and project teams throughout the organization. You can't possibly make the case for such an initiative, and expect to get support, if you haven't developed relationships beforehand. So we'll assume that relationships are in place and the project manager looking to kick off such an initiative has the ability to reach out to his peers and get their support and buy-in. The project manager who leads an effort to introduce project management best practices must be one who is seen as a leader in the organization, with influence throughout the organization. This requires having a presence among peers—having strong working relationships with others.
There are a number of ways for the project manager to share his desire to establish, implement, and share best practices in managing projects, including:
- One-on-one meetings with peer project managers (over coffee or going out for lunch)
- With his own project teams
- Via an email or a project portal
The goal is to talk about the success of current projects and how projects could be even more successful. Highlight in this first step of the process the value of all projects being run the same way and specifically the ease in which project team members move from one project to another. If all projects are run the same way by each project manager, project team members more quickly adapt to a new project and a new project manager. Individuals don't have to learn how a particular project manager works, as each project manager utilizes the same best practices to accomplish initiatives. If all projects run the same way, project managers are more easily able to support each other.
The business case for getting consensus to move forward with sharing best practices should focus on two areas:
- The benefits to the organization as a whole
- The benefits to the individual project managers and their teams
Of most importance here will be the focus on the individual project managers and their teams. Benefits may include the ability to:
- Share information more easily
- Share project resources more easily
- Get project teams up to speed quicker
- Reduce challenges to projects
- Ensure consistency from project to project
- Better manage stakeholders through applying consistency in how projects are managed
As part of step 1, the project manager leading the effort will want an idea of how projects are currently being completed:
- What best practices or processes are being used by peer project managers today to accomplish projects?
- Where do similarities exist and what are the differences?
For the project manager who regularly keeps up with his peers, this information is likely already known to some degree but further conversations with peers will further develop where commonalities and differences exist.
.. .which takes us to step 2 in the process.
Step 2: Develop Best Practices
Step 2 is done in collaboration and partnership with the other project managers. In a team meeting, review information gathered about how projects are currently being completed: What processes, procedures, and best practices are being used by project managers in the organization? What tools and templates are being used for projects being conducted within the organization? Look for similarities and marked differences in the way projects are managed. Where similarities exist, simple tweaking of a best practice and sharing it with other project managers makes for easy buy-in to move forward with shared best practices. Think of these as “quick wins” gain even more support for the development of best practices; the differences will require more collaboration to reach consensus. Take the best of each individual project manager's process or best practice to develop something that will work for all.
Use this time with other project managers to come up with:
- A list of current (whether informal or formal) best practices and processes already in use
- A list of project resources which might help in implementing shared best practices
I am always interested in learning what other people's successes are, as well as their challenges, in getting their projects completed. The challenges particularly help to highlight the need for best practices for consistency and efficiency. In reviewing the successes, you begin to see the use of standardized processes underlie those successes. In reviewing challenges, you will begin to see how best practices might have addressed issues or solved problems that occurred on past projects.
Depending on the organization, it may be of value to get project team members involved in the discussions on shared best practices. Of special interest will be those project team members that move from project to project regularly, as they likely have their own best practices for getting project work completed, as well as for managing differences in styles between project managers.
Start with establishing common best practices in those key areas noted earlier in this paper:
- Assigning team resources
- Developing project plans
- Reporting on status and regular communications
- Managing changes to projects
- Management of project risks
- Capturing and applying lessons learned
- Formal project closure procedures
I have personally found it of value to start a conversation around best practices by asking others how the work can be done more effectively and efficiently and with less stress and frustration. I might ask, for example, how projects have worked at other organizations in which fellow project managers have belonged in order to understand what is going well in the current organization and where improvements can be made.
Once agreement has been reached in how these areas in the bulleted list above will be managed consistently among all project teams, share the information with other project managers who may not have been involved in the process as well as project team members and key stakeholders and sponsors within the organization.
Consider also industry best practices that might be utilized effectively within the organization. Of course you won't be able to use them “as is”: best practices must be tailored to work effectively within your organization and industry.
Sharing the conversation with key stakeholders and sponsors benefits the organization, rather than the individual, in establishing and following best practices for how projects are managed. Benefits to the organization include:
- Consistency for project team members moving from project to project, enabling them to get up to speed much quicker which enables for getting the work of the project done sooner
- Consistency for stakeholders who work with a variety of project managers, enabling stakeholders to understand how projects are accomplished within the organization and not having to re-learn how to work with a different project manager
- Establishing consistency if resources must be moved from one project to another, or if a project manager must replace or assist another project manager on a project
- Enabling better management and oversight of vendors and enabling vendors to more easily partner with project teams within the organization to meet project goals.
If a project portal is used within the organization, this is the place to host all project management tools and templates and documented best practices to share with others. Use this portal to gain buy-in and support from project managers and project team members, as well as key stakeholders, asking for input on best practices to be used, implemented, and shared.
Once best practices, processes, and procedures for working on projects have been documented and agreed upon by all project managers within the organization, document them, include them on the portal, and pilot test with an upcoming project.
Step 3: Pilot Test and Evaluate
When selecting a project for pilot testing the best practices, processes, and procedures established by the project managers, consider the following:
- Select a project that is not too simple but also not too complex, in which many of the best practices established and agreed upon can be utilized.
- Select a project that will not run over a 6-9 month time period.
- Select a project that has a project manager and project team members who have been involved in the development of the best practices.
- Select a project in which the sponsor and other key stakeholders have been apprised of the establishment of shared best practices among the project management group and who are supportive of the effort.
Ideally, there will be a support team assisting the project team running the pilot test of the established best practices to provide them guidance and provide back up in using the newly established best practices. This support team is also responsible for documenting what is working with the established best practices and where tweaks must be made to increase the effectiveness, or to correct issues that arise. As with any established standards, changes will need to be made once they are actually tried out in a real life situation.
At the end of the pilot test, capture what's worked and where changes are needed to improve the process. It bears stating that any best practice must be flexible. Best practices will need to be adapted based on project size and complexity. For example, a simpler communication plan may be used for smaller, less complex projects, but there will also be a template available for more robust communication plans for more complex projects.
Once the best practices have been adjusted based on the pilot run, schedule a meeting with key project sponsors and stakeholders to share the results of the pilot test and ask for their support in rolling out the best practices to all project teams.
Step 4: Roll Out to All Project Teams
The roll out to all project teams should include a number of ways to enable them to learn how to utilize the new best practices. Many of these will require support of management, but at this point, once you have proven the value through a pilot test, support is easier to achieve.
Consider any of the following ways to introduce the new project management best practices:
- Via lunch and learn sessions or over coffee in a morning session
- Via the project portal
- Via email or a project newsletter
- Via project team meetings
When selling it during roll out, focus on the benefits to the individual project managers and project team members. How does it help them do a better job managing their initiatives? How does it reduce stress and frustration around projects? How can utilizing shared best practices improve the success of their projects? How will utilizing shared best practices address challenges that have been identified?
The project portal should function as a support structure for all project managers utilizing best practices— a place where they can get access to templates and tools, as well as learn how to use them. Use the pilot test project as an example project within the portal for those teams utilizing the best practices. It enables them to reference back to a real project to see what was done. Certainly capture the lessons learned from the pilot project to help others utilizing the best practices.
Once the best practices have been used by other project managers and their teams, be sure that the original group who finetuned the best practices, as well as a support team check in regularly to see how it is going. Adjustments may need to be made as the best practices continue to be used.
…which leads us to step 5.
Step 5: Refine Regularly (Continuous Improvement)
Regularly have meetings with other project managers and project team members to evaluate the success of the best practices, processes, and procedures developed for use by project teams. Consider establishing a best practice working team comprised of a variety of project managers and a variety of team members who work on projects regularly. Ask: What's working? What's not? How have teams adjusted, or tweaked, best practices in order to utilize them more easily depending on a particular project situation? What other best practices do they recommend? All this data should be captured and shared.
Best practices are not best forever! They will change as ways of doing projects change and as rules and regulations change within particular industries. Best practices will also change as the organization evolves, when new project managers are hired, or when those using the best practices uncovers better ways to do the same work.
Consider quarterly or twice annual get-togethers with project managers and key project team members to review current best practices and determine what changes might be made to continue to refine those best practices.
Summary
The Project Management Institute has written a number of white papers and Pulse of the Profession® research papers that discuss the value of PMOs within organizations. And too often I have heard project managers note that their organizations don't support project management and see the value of it and therefore will never support a PMO. While, without a doubt, getting buy-in for a PMO from the high levels of the organization facilitates rolling out best practices, the project managers can still move forward without a top-down directive.
Rather than waiting for something to happen, improve how projects get accomplished within the organization through working with peer project managers and project teams to establish best practices for project management. As the best practices are applied, it will be noticed at the top levels of the organization. You are well on your way to establishing a PMO in the organization!
The five steps for establishing best practices will work in any organization, in any industry. Based on your particular organization, you may need to spend more or less time getting started on working with other project managers to establish common best practices. We all have ways of working—our own processes and best practices. The most successful project managers who undertake an initiative of working with others to establish common best practices will use a combination of everyone's best practices to develop common best practices that work for all.
It bears repeating here that having strong working relationships and influence throughout the organization is essential to be successful in undertaking such an initiative. You need to be seen as a key resource and leader within the organization to successfully lead a project of establishing project management best practices.
