Kerzner on Best Practices in Project Management with Dr. Harold Kerzner

About the Program

Which companies have achieved excellence in project management or are heading in the right direction?
What have these companies done to achieve excellence?
How do they intend to maintain excellence well into the 21st century?
What best practices are these companies using?

The inherent difference between those companies that have best practices and are excellent in project management and those that are average or even struggling, is the way they perform strategic planning for project management. Strategic planning is not simply a guess. It is a well thought out plan, continuously changing, and based upon discover and capture best practices in project management.

To help you identify best practices and provide some structure for excellence and strategic planning, you will be introduced to the Project Management Maturity Model (PMMM), which will provide you with a structured approach for strategic planning for excellence in project management. Throughout the presentation, reference will be made to those companies that have achieved some degree of excellence in project management. Some of the companies discussed include Hewlett-Packard, Computer Associates, Intel, Motorola, Sun Microsystems, Eli Lilly, Ericsson, Nortel, General Motors, Exel, Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, Humana, EDS, Lear, Johnson Controls, Walt Disney, Texas Instruments, Boeing, Westfield Group, Metzeler, and Swiss Re.

Learning Objectives

The lecture will specifically address the following issues:

The Project Management Maturity Model: The Project Management Maturity Model (PMMM) provides a framework by which a company can achieve excellence in project management in a relatively short period of time. The model also includes the principles of Enterprise Project Management and Engagement Project Management.

Engagement Project Management: Engagement Project Management describes the steps that must be accomplished to successfully leverage your project management skills to attract new customers and receive follow-on work from existing customers. Engagement Project Management sells complete solutions to customers, rather than products or services, and where your project management competency is viewed internally as a strategic competency and externally as a competitive advantage.

Enterprise Project Management: Enterprise Project Management shows some of the best practices to convert "pockets" of project management into an Enterprise Project Management organization. Emphasis is placed upon the establishment of a Project Management Office and a Best Practices Library.

Project Management Competency: This is a high level road map or strategic vision targeted to the senior levels of management. The ultimate goal is to become so good at project management that it becomes a strategic corporate competency and leads to a sustained competitive advantage.

Course Outline

Background

Excellence in project management: the early years
Project versus non-project-driven excellence
The resistance to excellence
The impact of recessions on excellence in project management
New processes driving excellence in project management

Success and excellence

Definition of success
Critical success factors versus critical process performance factors
Definition of failure
The role of customer satisfaction
The changing definition of success
Definition of excellence in project management
Quantifying success by measuring management support

The need for strategic planning for project management

Past view of project management
Present view of project management
Establishing the strategic plan for excellence
Using the success pyramid model
Using the journey model
Identifying and overcoming the barriers

The foundation of excellence

The life cycle maturity phases
Critical success factors
Recognizing the need for excellence

The project management maturity model (PMMM)

Level 1: Basic knowledge
Level 2: Common processes
Level 3: Singular methodology
Level 4: Benchmarking
Level 5: Continuous improvement

The driving forces for maturity and excellence

Capital projects
Customer expectations
Competitiveness
Executive understanding
New product development
Efficiency and effectiveness
Survival

Developing a project management methodology

The need for a standard methodology
Characteristics of world class methodologies
Structural characteristics
Using the right tools
Why we need world-class methodologies
Integrating the PMBOK® into the methodology

Defining reasonable objectives

Using the SMART rule
Listing the assumptions
Establishing expectations
Auditing the expectations
Predictions based upon soft versus hard data
Estimating accuracies
Use of continuous re-evaluation
Re-valuation of the assumptions and the expected benefits
Using the rolling wave concept

The project charter

Types of charters
When the charter is prepared
Who prepares the charter?
Charter life cycles

Achieving excellence using modern project management

Evolution
Project objectives
Definition of success
Velocity of change
Authority and job descriptions
Evaluation of team members
Accountability
Project manager's skills
Management style
Sponsorship
Problem resolution

Success versus failure

The definition of failure
The components of failure
Not all projects will be successful
When to give up

The hexagon of best practices in project management

Integrated processes
Culture
Management support
Training and education
Informal project management
Behavioral excellence

Excellence in integrated processes

Totally uncoupled processes
Partially coupled processes
Totally coupled processes
Integrated processes for the 21st century

Excellence in project risk management

Understanding risks
Why is risk management needed?
Customer’s knowledge versus risks

The change management process

The relationship between risk and change management
Managed versus unmanaged changes
Continuous changes versus enhancement projects
The cost of corrections

Excellence in developing a project management culture

Benchmarking a culture
Setting up a culture
Establishing values
Benefits of a good culture
Cultures can change
Example of cultures
Culture versus risk

Excellence in management support for projects

Role of senior management: executive sponsorship
Role of line management: accountability partnerships
Fragmented project management

Obtaining excellence with informal project management

Criteria for informal project management to work
Trust versus sponsorship
Trust versus empowerment
The cost of paperwork
The "traffic light" status reporting system
- Using color-coded reports
- Use of colors
- Types of reports

The Project Office (PO) / Center of Excellence (COE)

Characteristics of excellence in a Project Office
Differences between a Project Office and a Center of Excellence
Reporting level and structure
Types of project offices
The benefits of using a project office
Identifying the risks of using a project office
How to minimize the project office risks
The project office information systems: intellectual property
The project office mission statement
Networking project offices

Benchmarking for project management

Quantitative benchmarking
Qualitative benchmarking
Deciding whom to benchmark against
Deciding what to benchmark

Continuous improvement trends

Risk management
Portfolio management of projects
Capacity planning
Integrated project teams
Project management value added opportunities
Project postmortem analysis
The sustained competitive advantage

Integrated project teams (IPTs)

Results of effective IPTs
Results of ineffective IPTs
The importance of knowledge and authority
Chartering the IPT

Postmortem (lessons learned) analysis

Four critical questions
The postmortem pyramid
Learning from failures

Creating a best practices library

Definition of a best practice
Categories of best practices
Framework for creating a best practice library
When to assess best practices? (i.e. timing)

Contact

If you have questions or comments on the event please contact Joseph Zielinski by email at professionaldevelopment@pmi-lakeshore.org.