Joining up people, processes and tools in the project focused organisation
- Introducing a complete view of PPM capability enhancement.Read more
Optimising strategic resource management to deliver step change improvement in organisational level PPM capability
Once an organisation has determined its corporate strategy, delivery is often best achieved using a programme and project management (PPM) approach. This requires capability in two key areas:
- People able to deliver the portfolio of programme and projects
- A clear and relevant PPM framework and supporting tools.
There are few organisations that have both in strong measure and fewer still who manage to realise the full potential of their PPM capability by matching the needs of their delivery portfolio with the individual capabilities of their people, and then support this arrangement to optimum effect on a systematic basis.
We believe that enhancement of organisational PPM capability can be broken into the 6 stages
shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1 - 6 stages of enhancing organisational PPM capabilityStage 1 - Develop consistent frameworks
Any form of capability enhancement requires a framework for improvement whether in terms of people or processes. The complexity of the chosen PPM process models depends heavily on organisational need: some organisations are very project-driven and need a sophisticated PPM framework, whereas others need greater simplicity, so methodologies and how they are applied must be chosen to suit. Senior managers should also determine an acceptable and appropriate level of skills framework to match to the agreed methodology.
Stage 2 – Measure capability and maturity
Members of the PPM community must be encouraged to assess themselves against the agreed framework in order to establish a baseline for further analysis and improvement. Adoption of a framework and approach may take time and assessment should ideally be integrated with an organisation's normal performance management process. Validation of this assessment is critical if the data collected is to be accurate. A maturity tool can also be highly beneficial for measuring the capability of a PPM community at a particular point in time in a consistent, controlled and repeatable manner.
Stage 3 – Analyse the gap
Once Stages1 and 2 are in place it is then possible to analyse the capability gap in each area by comparing current performance with expected standards.
Gap analysis for individuals requires a consistent set of job roles and a comparator for each. The job roles allow groupings of individuals to be assessed consistently regardless of their title or appointment, whereas comparators may be derived from industry benchmarks, management expectations and organisational averages. Shortcomings in suitability and usage of processes and tools is best achieved by examining uptake, effectiveness and fit with organisational culture.
Stage 4 – Develop a means to close the gap
The skills gap can be met through continual professional development (CPD) and a controlled recruitment process. For individuals this results in competent, confident practitioners with high morale and genuine awareness of their career path. At an organisational level, it results in a pool of resources with the collective capability and capacity to meet the demands of the portfolio.
Required changes to the PPM framework should be designed, refined and embedded in the business as soon as needs have been identified. This not only results in an improved and consistent approach to delivery but also promotes the use of consistent terminology, allows comparisons between approaches, and facilitates the movement of individuals between engagements.
Stage 5 – Manage and optimise performance
Enhanced levels of performance must be sustained and, ideally, optimised. This should be managed through CPD coordinated centrally, perhaps by HR or a PPM COE* , but delivered locally in a devolved way. This approach results in consistent and effective progress coupled with local ownership and a much more professional perception across the business of the PPM roles and career path.
Ownership and optimisation of PPM processes and tools is something that should be done centrally** if the organisation is to maintain a standard approach across its entire PPM community and ensure that performance gaps can be filled from an organisational perspective.
Stage 6 – Map PPM capability to the organisation's portfolio
The final stage of our 6 stage process is important in creating genuine organisational level PPM capability improvement. This involves bringing together the matching of capable individuals to organisations' most demanding roles and appointments and their ability to make use of a consistent, well-tailored PPM framework and associated tools. Hitherto these aspects have been discussed as largely parallel activities, and in many organisations this is where they stay, but real advantage can only be achieved by bringing the two together. We suggest this is a two step activity starting with the categorisation of both people and PPM initiatives followed by proactive planning to match supply and demand.
- Categorisation. Individuals can be categorised in a number of ways: eg by grade within their PPM career path, job title, competency level, experience, qualifications and accreditations. We have normally found it helpful to combine competency, qualifications and PPM experience. Whichever approach is used, the key is that it should be manageable, visible and consistently applied.
- The criteria for categorisation of programmes and projects will necessarily vary from organisation to organisation, but our experience is that all will include a mix of the following: strategic significance, business criticality, delivery risk, cost, political and/or public relations sensitivity, inter-dependencies with other projects and programmes, and the complexity of the stakeholder environment.
- Matching supply and demand. In many organisations this is the preserve of HR, although we would regard it as an operational management function. All too frequently we see few signs of it being done well. Wherever it is carried out, we advocate a 'pipeline' approach that provides clear visibility of who is employed in what capacity and when they will next be available for re-allocation to new roles. It should be evident that the process is circular in nature, in that existing capability can be matched to forecast demand, and known demand can also help shape future capability development. Inevitably there will be interdependencies to be managed between recruitment, personal development and pre-release functions as staff move on. We recommend that the single view of all delivery initiatives should sit in a central function (EPMO, COE or equivalent). This provides a coordinated picture of everything that is happening now, what stage each programme or project has reached, and of new initiatives planned for the future.
The key, in our view, is the allocation of the most capable people to the most demanding delivery initiatives, supported by similarly capable processes and tools deployed and understood across the organisation. Our overall model for enhancing organisational PPM capability was summarised in Figure 1. It is the join-up of these important dimensions and continual optimisation of the resultant capability in a supportive PPM culture that enables a genuine step-change improvement in organisational PPM capability.
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*A PPM COE or 'Centre of Excellence' is the equivalent of an Enterprise PMO (EPMO) 'owning' PPM capability and delivery at organisational level and thereby able to coordinate capability development for the PPM community from a position of knowledge.
**This is also often undertaken by the COE.
© 2011 Moorhouse.
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