Why is this important?

Projects are the main method used by organisations to effect change but they often fail to produce the intended effects.  The reasons for the failure of projects to deliver benefits includes insufficient resources, insufficient skills and experience, poorly defined objectives, priority changes, objectives that expand as the project progresses etc

Good project management is common sense but what is common sense is not always common practice.

There are proven techniques to improve this most vital of activities.  For example the PRINCE2 methodology.  There are also techniques to measure the level of overall project management within an organisation or department.

Why do projects fail?

A study in Computer Weekly found the following factors influenced the success of a project:

• Unrealistic time and/or resources - 75%
• Unclear project objectives - 71%
• Changing objectives - 61%
• Poor leadership skills - 61%
• Senior management support -  59%
• Poor management of suppliers - 44%
• Poor communication of project aims - 36%

The findings in this study are similar to most other surveys.  This suggests that the same errors are being repeated by project teams.  PRINCE2 offers a well-founded project management approach that can be applied to a wide range of projects, not only in the area of IT. 

What is PRINCE2?

PRINCE is an acronym for PRojects IN a Controlled Environment.  It started life in 1989 with the aim of improving the delivery of UK Government Projects.  Its scope was widened beyond IT projects when PRINCE2 was released in 1996.  PRINCE2 offers a complete, comprehensive and scalable way to manage a project.  The use of the PRINCE2 methodology improves the chances that your project will have a successful outcome.  Encompassed within its remit is:

• Role definitions
• Task list for the Project Manager and key staff
• Guidelines on product based planning
• Quality planning and quality reviews
• Guidelines for configuration management
• Guidelines for managing risk
• Change control procedures
• Outlines for forms and documents

PRINCE2 is made up three parts; components, techniques and processes:

Here is a one page PowerPoint slide show containing the process model for PRINCE2.  The slide show builds up one piece at a time to demonstrate how the main components, techniques and processes help you to manage your project.

What is project management maturity?

Maturity is a measure of how well an activity is carried out.  The Project Management Maturity Model (PMMM) is based on five levels of maturity:

         

PMMM helps organisations to assess how they measure up across all the activities in a project.  There are twenty one criteria that are examined and these include time, cost, procurement, risk, metrics, quality management, training and continuous improvement. 

The outcome of the assessment is an objective view of where an organisation is today.  Based on a target level of maturity, a further outcome is an action plan to move an organisation to its required level of maturity.

How we can help

Our PRINCE2 accredited consultants can either act as temporary project managers or work within an existing team to provide project support, help, guidance to avoid some possible project pitfalls.  We can also undertake objective assessments using the project management maturity model to show where an organisation is today in its project management and indicate the areas where improvements may be needed to reach the appropriate level for the organisation.