Project Management as a Strategic Competence (Microsoft Project Momentum 2010–EMEA), Nov-18

(Publicat en el meu blog professional: www.pgpsi.com)

Second, and last, day at Microsoft Project Momentum 2010, in Barcelona.

First session was “Project Management as a Strategic Competency”, in charge of Phillip R. Diab, MBA, PMP, and member or PMI (www.pmi.org), the Project Management Institute, from wich I am member, too.

First of all, speaker remarked

• In the 20th century, organizations grew larger than ever.
  They exploted new technologies and economies of scale.
• Typical companies are Functional organizations with Standardize job descriptions and repetitive, optimized operations.
• This have a price because decision authority was too far from execution, responsability was diffused,…

After that, presentation covered some aspects about Project Management

• Roots:
  • Focused on execution; long established in ‘projectized’ fileds (construction, chemical,transport,..
  • teams formed and dissolved for projects
  • as cost and complexitiy increased, formal methods evolved.
• Growth:
  • New techniques from operations research, cold war defense projects, 1960s space race
  • Information technology both served project management (sofware for critical path & network analysis, PERT,…)
  • and drvove Project Management as IT transformed business, it become a major field for project management itself

And challenges are, said Phillip, “Can a large organization bring its strategy and resources to bear?… to get new results with defines scope, cost, and schedule,…? from ad hoc groups without standardized tasks and job descriptions?

So, can a large organization recapture the common purpose, performance, and accountability of a small team?

When we talk about success in PM, we have to consider:

• Identify requirements
• Establish clear objectives
• Balance demands for scope, time, cost, quality
• Align with concerns and expectations of stakeholders
• Execute

600 executive worlwide surveyed by Economist information Unit answered:

• What skill is most important in your staff? Project Execution
• What capability does your organization mosst need? The ability to implement strategic change

And as Phillip remarked, “,,, two ways of saying the same thing, because strategic change is implemented through projects”

Diab recommended us the “Insights and Trends: Current Programme and Project Management Practices” (PriceWaterhouseCoopers survey, 2007) - http://compete.rs/files/06_PWC_Programme_and_Project_Management_Practices.pdf

• 80% of higher-performing projects use a certified project manager
• 50% of project failure is traced to poor (or no) project management
  • bad estimates/deadlines
  • scope changes
  • poor resource planning
• larger & more complex organizations extend project management to program and portfolio management

PM is a Strategic Competence, so companies should go to implement some actions like for example:

• Managers in all functions receive project management training
• All senior project managers must be PMI certified
• …