Many organizations have invested in having a consultancy design and implement a methodology, followed this up with training to qualified staff (many of whom may have moved on) and yet they still don't see the return on investment which was written into the business case. Furthermore, they may find they deliver some initiatives well while others are complete flops, and they don't know why. P3M3® is designed to enable organizations to understand their current level of maturity and highlight areas that would give them the most value and performance improvement in the short and long terms.
This purpose of this post is to provide an introduction to P3M3®.
Firstly, lets un-encode P3M3®. It stands for Portfolio, Programme and Project Management Maturity Model. It was first released in 2006 and is recently fully updated to take into account the latest knowledge and best practice in portfolio, programme and project management.
The P3M3® is an enhanced version of the Project Management Maturity Model itself, based on the process maturity framework that evolved into the Software Engineering Institute's (SEI) Capability Maturity Model (CMM). The SEI experience between 1986 to 1991 indicated that maturity questionnaires provide a simple tool for identifying areas where an organization's processes may need improvement, but unfortunately the questionnaire was often regarded as ‘the model’ rather than as a vehicle for exploring process maturity issues.
BENEFITS Of USING P3M3®
In a competitive world, an organization will be constantly on the lookout for strategic advantages and striving for efficiency and quality in performance and delivery. With P3M3® they can easily assess their organization's current capabilities, identify where they want to be in the future and implement the necessary improvements in a clear and structured way, with measurable results.
Whatever the size or nature of the organization, as its maturity increases and its processes and capabilities improve, they will be able to reap the benefits in many ways, including:It acts as a health check of strengths and weaknesses judged against an objective standard, not just against other organizations
It helps organizations to decide what level of performance capability they need to achieve in order to meet their business needs
It focuses on the organization's maturity rather than specific initiatives
It recognizes achievements from investment
It justifies investment in portfolio, programme and project management infrastructure
It provides a roadmap for continual progression and improvement.
Other, more tangible, benefits include:Increased productivity, with shorter cycle times
Greater time and cost predictability
Fewer defects, leading to higher-quality outcomes and a lower cost of quality
Improved customer satisfaction
Enhanced employee morale.
To gain the maximum benefit from using P3M3®, performance improvement should be seen as a long-term process, although it is possible to achieve short-term performance gains by using P3M3® to identify and correct performance weaknesses.
So, whether an organization wants a quick health check of the organization's strengths and weaknesses against a benchmark standard, or a more detailed and wide-ranging assessment with a full development plan, P3M3® is an indispensable tool. It is flexible, so it can be used in many ways, with a broader or narrower focus, according to the organization's business needs.
P3M3® - THE MODEL
The P3M3® contains three models that enable independent assessment. There are no interdependencies between the models, which allows for independent assessment in any of the specific disciplines. For example, an organization's programme management capabilities may be more evolved than its project management capabilities. The models are:
Portfolio Management Maturity Model (PfM3) defines a portfolio as the totality of an organization's investment (or segment thereof) in the changes required to achieve its strategic objectives. Portfolio management is a co-ordinated collection of strategic processes and decisions which enable the most effective balance of organizational change and business as usual/operations
Programme Management Maturity Model (PgM3) defines a programme as a temporary, flexible organization created to co-ordinate, direct and oversee the implementation of a set of related projects and activities in order to deliver outcomes and benefits related to the organization's strategic objectives. A programme is likely to have a lifespan of several years. During a programme lifecycle, projects are initiated, executed, and closed. Programmes provide an umbrella under which these projects can be co-ordinated. The programme integrates the projects so that it can deliver an outcome greater than the sum of its parts.
Project Management Maturity Model (PjM3) defines project management as a unique set of co-ordinated activities, with definite start and finishing points, undertaken by an individual or team to meet specific objectives within defined time, cost and performance parameters as specified in the business case.
Similar to the SEI-CMM, the Portfolio, Programme and Project Management Maturity Model® (P3M3®) is described by a five level maturity framework. These levels constitute the structural components that comprise the P3M3®.
MATURITY LEVELS
Level 1 - Awareness of process
The organization is able to recognize programmes and projects but has little structured approach to dealing with them.
Level 2 - Repeatable process
There may be areas that are beginning to use standard approaches to programmes and projects but there is no consistency of approach across the organization.
Level 3 - Defined process
There will be a consistent set of standards being used by all programmes and projects across the organization with clear ownership.
Level 4 - Managed process
The organization monitors and measures its process efficiency, with active interventions to improve the way it delivers based largely on evidence or performance based information. The organization will be focusing on optimization of its quantitatively managed process to take into account changing business needs and external factors. It will be anticipating future capacity demands and capability requirements to meet the delivery challenge, e.g. through portfolio analysis.
Level 5 - Optimized process
The organization will be focusing on optimization of its quantitatively managed process to take into account changing business needs and external factors. It will be anticipating future capacity demands and capability requirements to meet the delivery challenge, e.g. through portfolio analysis.
PROCESS PERSPECTIVES
P3M3® focuses on seven Process Perspectives, which exist in all three models and can be assessed at all five Maturity Levels.
Management Control assesses how well the organization maintains control of the initiatives currently ‘in flight’.
Benefits Management assesses how well the organization defines, tracks and ensures achievement of performance improvement from the investment.
Financial Management assesses how well the organization manages and controls the investment through business cases and budgetary control.
Stakeholder Management assesses how well the initiatives engage with and communicate with the external environment to minimize the negative implications engagement can achieve.
Organizational Governance assesses how well the organization controls the initiation and alignment of its investments with the corporate strategy.
Risk Management assesses how well the organization focuses on and mitigates the impact of threats and the leveraging of opportunities.
Resource Management assesses how well the organization develops its own talent and utilizes the opportunities from the supply chain to overcome peaks and troughs.
Embedded within the Process Perspectives are a number of attributes.
These attributes are the basis on which the organization should assess its current maturity and make plans to improve.
Specific Attributes relate only to a particular Process Perspective, and
Generic Attributes are common to all Process Perspectives at a given Maturity Level, and include planning, information management, and training and development.
USING P3M3®
P3M3® can be used in many ways, for example:To understand they key practices in effective portfolio, programme and project management processes
To identify the key practices that need to be embedded within an organization for it to achieve the next Maturity Level
To understand and improve an organization's capability to manage its portfolio, programmes and projects more effectively
By client organizations, to assess the risks that might arise from process capability issues within service providers managing their programmes and projects
By the Cabinet Office, user groups and Accredited Consultancy Organizations (ACOs) as the basis for developing maturity questionnaires.
P3M3® also has the flexibility to be refined and expanded as best practice evolves within portfolio, programme and project management. This can be accommodated by new or amended key process areas at specific levels within the model.
CAUSES OF FAILURE
The Cabinet Office has carried out extensive research into the common causes of programme and project failure and how those causes actually impact on outcomes. The causes of failure can be grouped into the following categories.Design and definition failures, where the scope of the change and the required outcomes and/or outputs are not clearly defined
Decision-making failures, where there are inadequate levels of sponsorship and commitment to the change - i.e. there is no person in authority able to resolve issues
Discipline failures, such as weak (or no) arrangements for risk management and an inability to manage changes in project requirements
Supplier management failures, such as a lack of understanding of suppliers' commercial imperatives, poor management and inappropriate contractual set-ups
People failures, such as disconnection between the programme/project and stakeholders, lack of ownership, and cultural issues.