The basic definition of a project is, 'a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product, service or result.' The project environment is very different.
Categories: project management
The pressure on project management professionals is building up to deliver value for money for demanding project stakeholders, despite of the adverse economic outlook. It was not until few years ago, project managers would be seen sitting with project team, project partners, sponsors, customers almost on a daily basis to plan > execute > monitor > re-plan > re-execute > re-monitor the project. Project managers would call every team member for a status meeting and would end up spending hours in collecting status, or discussing issues and other things in the call/meeting.
It was excessive involvement of project managers on tactical (routine) things (like setting up calls, organizing meetings, calling up stakeholders, etc) has been considered as waste of time by many (of course there would be some valid reasons, and benefits in few cases). For all practical purpose, we are limiting this discussion to productive time project manager can spend on meaningful project things rather than doing tactical or operational activities. Those tactical/operational activities can be quickly, easily and safely managed by robust project management tool.
It Is Not Only Project Manager’s Buddy But Entire Team’s Backbone
A robust project management software is meant to be used by entire project team, rather than project manager alone. The right set of tools will help project team to focus on their project activities and the same set of tools will allow project manager to identify, plan, track, monitor those project activities seamlessly; without struggling on tactical aspects.
Let’s look at 6 capabilities project manager looks for , in a Project Management Software to help him focus on right project management aspects.
Timeline along with critical path
In terms of project planning, there is lot of perceived fanciness about Microsoft Project but our experience is inverse. People struggle to use Microsoft Project and its advance functionality. The tool should have robust timeline functionality such as Gantt Chart along with critical path and baseline. Project manager should be able to create/update project plan, fairly easily: set up tasks, milestones, create dependency, set lead/lag time, etc.
Resource Assignment & Workload Management
Project manager should be able to assign project activities to project team members. Before s/he assigns project activities to specific team member, s/he should be able to view their workload in current project, overall workload across projects. The most grueling task for a project manager is to identify the right person at right time to perform a project activity. A robust project management tool will allow project manager: to easily identify such resource(s) and assign project task/milestone to them. The ease and quickness to do resource assignment is crucial for project manager.
Project Team Collaboration
When a project team evolves to a level where team members can identify problems, setbacks and work with other team members, cross-functional team, stakeholders to address those issues, and fix those issues. That’s the ideal level of team-collaboration any project manager can wish for. A good project management system will allow project team to collaborate seamlessly: be it task comments, issues comments, note, documents, discussion forum, emails, etc.
Issue and Risk Management
The ability to quickly skim through the list of pending issues, risks and decide the future course of action is important for a project manager. A good PM system should allow project team to highlight issues and risks (distinctly). Team members should be able to collaborate, discuss about issues, risks. And project issues and risks should get reflected in project portfolio dashboard and reports for project manager.
Auto Reminder for Task Due Date
Reminding team members to update task status, issue status, project risk status or meeting or timesheet is not project-manager’s job today. In a professional working environment, team members are responsible for updating things pending on their respective names. However we are humans and we tend to forget or postpone things. Organization doesn’t have to hire project manager to chase project team t collect project status.
A good online project management software sends automated reminder for tasks due date, issues, risk due date, project meeting and timesheet submission. Project manager should come into picture only in case of escalations.
Visual Dashboards & Reports
The most critical thing project manager need during project execution and project tracking is project report. A good PM system shows real time progress of projects in project portfolio dashboard and reports. As team members update task, issues, risks, change request, meetings, etc. it will get reflected in a project dashboard. Project manager does not need to manually enter individual task status and update project status collectively. System should take care of this. The ability to easily track project progress without contacting team members personally is important for project manager. He can channelize his energy in deciding the future course of the actions for project.
About Dhan
Dhan is co-founder of Zilicus that offers All-In-One project management software ZilicusPM for medium to large enterprise and everyone in SMB project teams.
Our Approach
With our approach, companies can expect high-value, high-impact solutions, and measurable, sustainable results.
services PMO services program & project managers project management training
PMO Services
PMO Deployment, Operation, and Enhancement
Project Review & Recovery
Project Portfolio Management (PPM)
Project Management Maturity Advancement
Organizational Change Management
Project Management Methodology Implementation
Demand Management
Project Management Mentors
Resource Management
Vendor Management
Project & Program Managers
We can provide you with highly experienced program and project managers; experts to help guide, lead, and support high-visibility initiatives.
PM Training & Development
PM College® provides corporate project management training and competency programs for clients around the world.
case studies initiatives we've delivered
By Project Initiatives
Agile (2)
Cost Reduction Initiatives (1)
Data Center Consolidation (1)
High-risk Capital Initiatives (1)
Infrastructure Program Management (1)
Manufacturing Facility Operations (1)
Mentoring (11)
Methodology (3)
New Product Development (1)
Organizational Change (5)
PMO Assessment (1)
PMO Deployment (3)
Process Improvement (6)
Program & Portfolio Management (9)
Project Audits (1)
Project Management Training (7)
Regulatory Compliance (1)
Resource Management (2)
Strategy Execution (1)
Systems Integration Deployment (1)
Troubled Project Recovery (4)
Vendor Management (2)
By Industry
Automotive (1)
Energy & Utilities (5)
Financial Services (2)
Human Resources (1)
Information Technology (5)
Insurance (4)
Manufacturing (6)
Pharma/Biotech (1)
Professional Services (2)
Research and Development (1)
Retail & Merchandise (1)
Security (1)
insights research, trends, best practices, and pmo of the year award
By topic
Benefits Realization (3)
Change Management (3)
IT Project Management (4)
Outsourcing Project Management (4)
Performance & Value Measurement (10)
Project Management Maturity (16)
Project Management Methodology (6)
Project Management Office (49)
Project Management Training (26)
Project Management Trends (42)
Project Manager Competency (18)
Project Portfolio Management (11)
Project Recovery (9)
Resource Management (4)
Strategy & Governance (13)
By type
Articles (44)
Books (17)
Brochures (2)
eNewsletters (11)
Events (4)
Research (21)
Webinars (18)
White Papers (19)
PMO of the Year速 Award
contact us get in touch call: 800.983.0388
Posted on 16 Aug 2012
The Project Management Maturity Model (PMMMSM) is a formal tool developed by PM Solutions and used to measure an organization's project management maturity.
Once the initial level of maturity and areas for improvement are identified, the PMMM provides a roadmap, outlining the necessary steps to take toward project management maturity advancement and performance improvement.
The Project Management Maturity Model Provides a Plan to Advance Project Management Improvement
First published in book form in 2002 and released in its second edition in 2007, the PMMM provides a logical path for progressive development and a strategic plan for advancing project management improvement within the organization. The PMMM follows the Software Engineering Institute's (SEI) Capability Maturity Model's (CMM®) five evolutionary maturity levels, and examines maturity development across ten knowledge areas in the Project Management Institute's (PMI®) A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide). The PMMM integrates both industry-leading standards for project and process management, the PMBOK® Guide and CMM, respectively, to provide a comprehensive, straightforward, and easy-to-follow plan for advancing organizational project management maturity.
Figure 1: PM Solutions' Project Management Maturity Model structure. The model has been updated to reflect the PMBOK® Guide, 5th edition.
['PMI' and 'PMBOK' are registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.]