The case study of “Creating a Methodology” involved president John Compton who had been frustrated after the executive staff failed to come up with a project management methodology for a period of one year. One of the reasons for this was that the executive staff feared the implications for such a methodology as they would lose their authority and power. A consultant had been brought in and provided details about how the company would have implemented its project management methodology. The aim of this paper is to analyze the enterprise project management methodology (EPM), the constructs of the project management office (PMO), the requirements of the EPM and associated life cycles, analyze the project management methodology, and to relate these concepts with the case study.
The enterprise project management methodology can be divided into different sections that include the enterprise, the project management, and the methodology. The enterprise involves the business, project management involves achieving project objectives with the given monetary, time, and technological resources, and methodology involves a system of practices (Kerzner, 2017). The EPM thus involves a system of guidelines, tools, and standards used by a business to track, measure the success, and complete a project (Rasnacis & Berzisa, 2017). The constructs of an EPM is used to provide a comprehensive approach to project management. The EPM can be used to realize effective management through breaking down of a project into portions that are actionable in order to achieve the required results. There are five elements of the EPM that can be established from the case of John Compton which include establishing the life cycle phases, choosing a methodology on procedures or policies, identifying what can be salvaged from checklists and templates, having a means to capture best practices using an EPM, and an educational and training approach.
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Project Management Office (PMO)
The PMO is made of a team from each of the different departments that establishes the standards for the project. The role of the PMO is not to simply monitor different projects but to control the guidelines required in strategic planning and control the intellectual property. The PMO may thus support employees as they undertake their projects through the use of previous documentations, lessons from previous projects, and the training of employees. The PMO would be crucial in implementing the EPM and would provide a framework for the running of all the projects.
From the given case study, the PMO had been formulated after a consultant had been hired to highlight the benefits of an EPM. The PMO was made of experienced project managers in different methodologies but did not have a consistent methodology for their work. Their work was to formalize an EPM that would be beneficial to the company. However, it was difficult to formulate and maintain such a structure since most of the project managers in the PMO had been resistant. The PMO in the given scenario had been ineffective in the formulation of the EPM.
Key Requirements of EPM
There are several elements in the EPM that are included in the case study. The first element involves the decision on the six project life cycles and it involves having the right amount of processes to avoid wastage of time in check-up meetings. Another element was having the right approach through the informal process of templates, checklists, guidelines, and forms. This was identified as right approach as it would be advantageous for the project managers and the clients. The next element involved having standardized documentation that project managers can choose from. Such an approach was in accordance with the PMBOK guide that establishes templates that managers can choose from. This would be critical in providing project managers the flexibility to choose what works best for a given project. The next element involved having check lists or forms that capture the best practices of the EPM system. While such forms can be effective, they have to be clear and specific for each project. A one-day training would also function as a key element to learn about the EPM guidelines. Such a training would be good but would have to be continuous as the company incorporates different changes.
Project Management Methodology and Global Organizations
There are different aspects of the project management methodology that can be unique to global organizations. The methodology should put into consideration different factors such as virtual teams, political involvement, multiple systems of governance, and cultural differences (Kerzner, 2017). The EPM may thus require modification so as to accommodate the different countries and business that the business is involved in. For instance, when establishing virtual teams, the team may require to engage in video technology and distance communication strategies. Additionally, cultural consideration may have to consider several factors such as language differences (Abyad, 2017). A methodology should be established that can support such a shift in project management.
Summary of Project Management System
It was identified that the project management system (PMS) can offer support to the EPM in the case study. The PMS would contain adequate information such as the planning, approval, initiation, execution, scheduling, monitoring, closure, and control of the project. This can assist in supporting the EPM through the analysis of the different critical elements and thus support the success of the project. It can also be used to provide more information to the EPM and create a process to streamline similar projects. Such a system would have been helpful in the given scenario.
Conclusion
The case study showed that the implementation of an EPM can come with several challenges and it is the role of the executives to realize its success. From the given case, it was established that there several constructs of an EPM that should be established through the different life cycle phases. The establishment of a PMO was used to facilitate the success of the EPM. The organization is on the right track and should have the PMO actively working on creating the project management methodology.
References
Abyad, A. (2017). Globalization challenges in project management. Middle East Journal of Business , 55 (5478), 1-10.
Kerzner, H. (2017). Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling . John Wiley & Sons.
Rasnacis, A., & Berzisa, S. (2017). Method for adaptation and implementation of agile project management methodology. Procedia Computer Science , 104 , 43-50.
