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Member You - Portfolio, Programme and Project Management Maturity Model - a Guide to Improving Performance
When you create your power points or walk over to the nearby diner or coffee shop for a quick informal chat with an investor, remember the following:1. Focus and niches are still very much in. Broad brush and shot gun approaches are out.2. Your strategy needs to relate to your competition. If you differ dramatically you must have a defensible reason for doing things differently and it must be supported by customer validation.3. Depth in all areas - technology, domain, implementation, business development and recruitment - is required. Miss one and you will have some tough questions to answer.4. Your sales pipeline needs to be well defined and well presented. Other than strategy and focus, investors need to understand how your cash flow projections tie back to actual proposals sitting in front of customers.5. You need to maintain a balance in presenting the soul of the firm and your cash generation function.For us a typical investor visit takes two full days from the entire team. The follow up, if and when it occurs takes another week of serious bandwidth. Will it be worth it? I don't know.Conclusion: If you run a business that makes money and has the promise of keeping on making money, finding investors is not difficult. Finding the right color of money with the right term sheet is.
The P3M3 describes the portfolio, programme and project-related activities within process areas that contribute to achieving a successful project outcome. The levels described within the P3M3 indicate how key process areas can be structured hierarchically to define a progression of capability which an organisation can use to set goals and plan their improvement journey.
The levels facilitate organisational transitions from an immature state to become a mature and capable organisation with an objective basis for judging quality and solving programme and project issues.
The distinct yet connected disciplines of portfolio, programme and project management are nested within the P3M3 model:
Portfolio, Programme and Project Management Maturity (P3M3) Federal 941 Payroll Tax Payment GuidelinesProgramme and Project Management Maturity (P2M3) Project Management Maturity (P1M3)
Many business owners don’t realize how important it is to get payroll tax payments made on time. If a late payment is made, once the IRS catches up to it, the penalties are quite stiff: 10% off the top, plus interest. Try earning that at a bank today! Resist the temptation to pay late, because it’s not a money saver, it’s a money loser. Plus, penalties are not deductible.Quick Tip: the IRS uses the term “tax deposit” to mean “tax payment”, and uses the term “monthly depositor” or “semi-weekly depositor” to mean “monthly payer” or “semi-weekly payer”, respectively.Determine Your Payment ScheduleBefore you can determine when the tax payment is due, you must first determine if you are a monthly depositor, or a semi-weekly depositor. Which type you are has nothing to do with when or how often you pay your employees. In order to determine which schedule you are on, examine the payroll records during the “lookback period”. This period always runs from July 1 to June 30. For 2006, the “lookback period” runs from July 1, 2004 – June 30, 2005. If the amount you withheld for 941 taxes is $50,000 or less, you are a monthly depositor. If the amount during that period is more than $50,000, you are a semi-weekly depositor.Monthly DepositorIf you are a monthly depositor, you will pay the taxes by the 15th of the next month. For example, for 941 taxes withheld during August 2006, the payment was due on Friday, September 15. If the 15th falls on a weekend or Federal holiday, the payment is due the next business day.Semi-Weekly DepositorIf the payday falls on a Wednesday, Thursday, and/or Friday, the deposit is due on or before the following Wednesday. If the payday falls on a Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and/or Tuesday, the deposit is due on or before the following Friday.The $100,000 RuleRegardless of which type of depositor you are, if 941 withholdings reach $100,000 or
The 1990’s saw a dramatic increase in the number of people with the job title Project Manager as organisations addressed the problem of an ever changing world through Managing by Projects. Many organisations adopted the PRINCE2™ method as a means to gain some consistency of project management approach across their now swelling ranks of project managers.
With both an increasing need for Project Managers and an increasing number of people claiming to be Project Managers, many organisations based their recruitment and development strategies on certification of project management competence. Having a PRINCE2™ Practitioner certificate became an indication of competence (even though it is only an indicator of knowledge).
Experience has shown that successful implementation of a project management method requires more than just training your project managers. A successful organisation requires processes, technology, policies and standards for project management - which also need to be integrated with other management systems for them to work effectively and efficiently.
In the absence of an organisation wide project infrastructure, project results depend entirely on the availability of certain high performing individuals. This does not necessarily provide the basis for long-term or consistent project performance.
However, such infrastructure doesn’t establish itself overnight. It may take several years; it may take a programme of change to institutionalise. Therefore it is not surprising that the more advanced organisations are now asking themselves, “Where have we got to and what more do we need to do?”
This is where maturity modelling can help. Project and programme management maturity models describe the project and programme related activities within Key Process Areas (KPAs) that contribute to achieving successful outcomes.
A good model, such as the OGC’s P3M3, recognises not only the project management activities being carried out at the individual project level, but also those activities within an organisation that build and maintain a programme and project infrastructure of effective project approaches and management practices.
By undertaking a maturity assessment against an industry standard model, such as P3M3, an organisation will be able to verify what they have achieved, where their strengths and weaknesses are, and then identify a prioritised action plan to take them to an improved level of capability.
What Are Maturity Models?
“A maturity model is a structured collection of elements that describe characteristics of effective processes. A maturity model provides:
A maturity model can be used as a benchmark for assessing different organizations for equivalent comparison.” - Wikipedia
The Software Engineering Institute (SEI) developed the first Capability Maturity Model® (CMM®) back in the 1980s. This was a result of research that indicated the quality of software applications were directly related to the quality of the processes used to develop them.
CMM® was originally intended as a government tool to evaluate the ability of contractors to deliver a software project. Though it originates from the software development industry it is widely used as a general model of the maturity of processes (e.g. Project and Programme Management).
Maturity models have five levels:
1. Initial (chaotic, ad hoc, heroic) - the starting point for use of a new process.
2. Repeatable (process discipline) - the process is used repeatedly.
3. Defined (institutionalised) - the process is defined/confirmed as a standard business process.
4. Managed (quantified) - process management and measurement takes place.
5. Optimising (process improvement) - deliberate process optimisation/improvement.
Portfolio, Programme and Project Management Maturity Model (P3M3)
The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) is a department within the UK Government with a remit to help public sector organisations improve their efficiency, gain better value for money from procurements and deliver improved success from programmes and projects. They are the owners of PRINCE2™, Managing Successful Programmes (MSP), Management of Risk (M_o_R®) and the IT best practice framework, ITIL®.
In 2003 the OGC released their first draft of a Portfolio, Programme and Project Management Maturity Model (P3M3). The model was refined and formally published in February 2006 after incorporating latest maturity modelling practices and after consultation with interested consultants, practitioners and their accreditation partner APM Group.
The P3M3 describes the portfolio, programme and project-related activities within process areas that contribute to achieving a successful project outcome. The levels described within the P3M3 indicate how key process areas can be structured hierarchically to define a progression of capability which an organisation can use to set goals and plan their improvement journey.
The levels facilitate organisational transitions from an immature state to become a mature and capable organisation with an objective basis for judging quality and solving programme and project issues.
The distinct yet connected disciplines of portfolio, programme and project management are nested within the P3M3 model:
Portfolio, Programme and Project Management Maturity (P3M3) Collaborating For Leveraged IncomeProgramme and Project Management Maturity (P2M3) Project Management Maturity (P1M3)
Who doesn’t love a sale? Grand Opening sales, Clearance sales, and others that I’ve never taken advantage of -- Midnight sales! We all love to get quality for a lesser price. Bargains have become part of the American lifestyle and with it the added bonus of bragging rights… “I bought the exact same car but I paid less than you did”.Sales are good for the business owner too. It brings in needed cash flow while clearing the shelves for new merchandise, but what about the Going-Out-Of-Business sale? You will find bargains hard to pass up because these sales mean the business has dried up and the owner can no longer keep his door open. Sadly, this owner will not be generating any more revenue: his cash flow will stop!Realizing that the rich get richer by setting up leveraged income, let’s look at this for the moment: in the workforce we consider “being promoted” as earning more and working less. With this mindset today, if you want to earn more and work less you’re going to have to start creating income that does not require your direct involvement -- leveraged or residual income!Leveraged income differs from linear income (the money you make by working 40 hours in exchange for a paycheck). Doctors and lawyers earn a higher linear income than say, a salesman or pizza chef. But in fact we all have a maximum of 24 hours a day which limits the amount of money even professionals can personally generate. They can up their hourly fee but if suddenly they are unable to work their cash flow stops too.Linear income is trading your time for money. Leveraged income is your money working for you. With the right business you set in motion a chain of events that duplicates your income over and over again. In the perfect scenario this continues without end.Think of the author of a best-seller… his residual income is generated by the sale of his popular book over and over again – often going into reprint status, or the composer of a song thatabsence of an organisation wide project infrastructure, project results depend entirely on the availability of certain high performing individuals. This does not necessarily provide the basis for long-term or consistent project performance.However, such infrastructure doesn’t establish itself overnight. It may take several years; it may take a programme of change to institutionalise. Therefore it is not surprising that the more advanced organisations are now asking themselves, “Where have we got to and what more do we need to do?”
This is where maturity modelling can help. Project and programme management maturity models describe the project and programme related activities within Key Process Areas (KPAs) that contribute to achieving successful outcomes.
A good model, such as the OGC’s P3M3, recognises not only the project management activities being carried out at the individual project level, but also those activities within an organisation that build and maintain a programme and project infrastructure of effective project approaches and management practices.
By undertaking a maturity assessment against an industry standard model, such as P3M3, an organisation will be able to verify what they have achieved, where their strengths and weaknesses are, and then identify a prioritised action plan to take them to an improved level of capability.
What Are Maturity Models?
“A maturity model is a structured collection of elements that describe characteristics of effective processes. A maturity model provides:
a place to start the benefit of a community’s prior experiences a common language and a shared vision a framework for prioritizing actions a way to define what improvement means for your organization A maturity model can be used as a benchmark for assessing different organizations for equivalent comparison.” - Wikipedia
The Software Engineering Institute (SEI) developed the first Capability Maturity Model® (CMM®) back in the 1980s. This was a result of research that indicated the quality of software applications were directly related to the quality of the processes used to develop them.
CMM® was originally intended as a government tool to evaluate the ability of contractors to deliver a software project. Though it originates from the software development industry it is widely used as a general model of the maturity of processes (e.g. Project and Programme Management).
Maturity models have five levels:
1. Initial (chaotic, ad hoc, heroic) - the starting point for use of a new process.
2. Repeatable (process discipline) - the process is used repeatedly.
3. Defined (institutionalised) - the process is defined/confirmed as a standard business process.
4. Managed (quantified) - process management and measurement takes place.
5. Optimising (process improvement) - deliberate process optimisation/improvement.Portfolio, Programme and Project Management Maturity Model (P3M3)
The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) is a department within the UK Government with a remit to help public sector organisations improve their efficiency, gain better value for money from procurements and deliver improved success from programmes and projects. They are the owners of PRINCE2™, Managing Successful Programmes (MSP), Management of Risk (M_o_R®) and the IT best practice framework, ITIL®.
In 2003 the OGC released their first draft of a Portfolio, Programme and Project Management Maturity Model (P3M3). The model was refined and formally published in February 2006 after incorporating latest maturity modelling practices and after consultation with interested consultants, practitioners and their accreditation partner APM Group.
The P3M3 describes the portfolio, programme and project-related activities within process areas that contribute to achieving a successful project outcome. The levels described within the P3M3 indicate how key process areas can be structured hierarchically to define a progression of capability which an organisation can use to set goals and plan their improvement journey.
The levels facilitate organisational transitions from an immature state to become a mature and capable organisation with an objective basis for judging quality and solving programme and project issues.
The distinct yet connected disciplines of portfolio, programme and project management are nested within the P3M3 model:
Portfolio, Programme and Project Management Maturity (P3M3) When to Establish an In-House Advertising AgencyProgramme and Project Management Maturity (P2M3) Project Management Maturity (P1M3)
In my thirty years as an advertising consultant, I ran into many businesses that could have benefited from an in-house advertising agency. Instead, they spent fortunes on various agencies that were more concerned with making money than helping the client. So perhaps it’s time to set the record straight and offer some advise to anyone that fits the following criteria. There are several types of businesses that could be better off if they created a small division to handle their marketing needs.If you have a product you manufacture, you are tops on my list. It’s your product and you should be controlling every aspect of the promotions. That includes: product development, packaging, logo design, national media placement along with trade publications, public relations and press releases, trade show booths, annual report publication and any supplemental support materials like brochures, spec sheets, and documentation.It sounds like a daunting task, but any company that requires any or all of these marketing tools should consider doing it in-house. Why? Because of two things: control and self-interest. The business gets to control every aspect of the things the public sees regarding the image of the company and it’s in the businesse’s best interest to make the right decisions that will affect them most. In other words, would any advertising agency give them all the time and effort it takes to produce the work they desire? Perhaps they might, but at what cost?Which brings up another issue: expense. Hiring a marketing director, copywriter and artist will be cheaper in the long run if the company can support the investment. It will prove more advantageous down the road to build this department and have a say in the personnel that runs it. You will have to provide the technology needed for the department to function, but having the ability to create internal collateral material is a time and corganisation will be able to verify what they have achieved, where their strengths and weaknesses are, and then identify a prioritised action plan to take them to an improved level of capability.What Are Maturity Models?
“A maturity model is a structured collection of elements that describe characteristics of effective processes. A maturity model provides:
a place to start the benefit of a community’s prior experiences a common language and a shared vision a framework for prioritizing actions a way to define what improvement means for your organization A maturity model can be used as a benchmark for assessing different organizations for equivalent comparison.” - Wikipedia
The Software Engineering Institute (SEI) developed the first Capability Maturity Model® (CMM®) back in the 1980s. This was a result of research that indicated the quality of software applications were directly related to the quality of the processes used to develop them.
CMM® was originally intended as a government tool to evaluate the ability of contractors to deliver a software project. Though it originates from the software development industry it is widely used as a general model of the maturity of processes (e.g. Project and Programme Management).
Maturity models have five levels:
1. Initial (chaotic, ad hoc, heroic) - the starting point for use of a new process.
2. Repeatable (process discipline) - the process is used repeatedly.
3. Defined (institutionalised) - the process is defined/confirmed as a standard business process.
4. Managed (quantified) - process management and measurement takes place.
5. Optimising (process improvement) - deliberate process optimisation/improvement.Portfolio, Programme and Project Management Maturity Model (P3M3)
The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) is a department within the UK Government with a remit to help public sector organisations improve their efficiency, gain better value for money from procurements and deliver improved success from programmes and projects. They are the owners of PRINCE2™, Managing Successful Programmes (MSP), Management of Risk (M_o_R®) and the IT best practice framework, ITIL®.
In 2003 the OGC released their first draft of a Portfolio, Programme and Project Management Maturity Model (P3M3). The model was refined and formally published in February 2006 after incorporating latest maturity modelling practices and after consultation with interested consultants, practitioners and their accreditation partner APM Group.
The P3M3 describes the portfolio, programme and project-related activities within process areas that contribute to achieving a successful project outcome. The levels described within the P3M3 indicate how key process areas can be structured hierarchically to define a progression of capability which an organisation can use to set goals and plan their improvement journey.
The levels facilitate organisational transitions from an immature state to become a mature and capable organisation with an objective basis for judging quality and solving programme and project issues.
The distinct yet connected disciplines of portfolio, programme and project management are nested within the P3M3 model:
Portfolio, Programme and Project Management Maturity (P3M3) Would You Make This Mistake, Too?Programme and Project Management Maturity (P2M3) Project Management Maturity (P1M3)
A storeowner told me a story recently that I think probably every storeowner has dealt with at one time or another. He has a very liberal return policy. If something is wrong with an item, he will make it right, period. He is that kind of guy. His philosophy is if you keep the customer happy, he will return and purchase more from you in the long run. He realizes that the value of a customer is not a one-time sale. But having that customer return many times during his lifetime and them tell other people of the good experiences he has had in dealing with that store owner is what makes a business successful.However in one particular instance, he made a mistake with a good customer over a two-dollar item. The family had been good customers over the years and had purchased lots of items from him. However, lately they had not been shopping with him as much as usual. One of the big discount stores had opened nearby and his sales had decreased.On this particular day, the family had came in and purchased several items including a wooden paddle with the ball tied to it. Every kid has had at least one in his or her life. Even adults get into the act to see who is the best at bouncing this ball on the paddle.About two hours later, the little boy came back into the store with the wooden paddle and it was broken. The boy asked if he could get another one because he broke this one. “How in the world did this kid break that wooden paddle?” the owner wondered. He told the little boy that he would not give him another one free. The little boy left the store crying and his family has not returned to his store and it has been over a year now since that incident.What would you do in that situation? Was the store owner right not to give another one to the young boy. Obviously, the boy had broken the toy. The owner thought that the child should learn responsibility for his actions. Although, the toy only cost two dollars, the owner did not think thent industry it is widely used as a general model of the maturity of processes (e.g. Project and Programme Management).Maturity models have five levels:
1. Initial (chaotic, ad hoc, heroic) - the starting point for use of a new process.
2. Repeatable (process discipline) - the process is used repeatedly.
3. Defined (institutionalised) - the process is defined/confirmed as a standard business process.
4. Managed (quantified) - process management and measurement takes place.
5. Optimising (process improvement) - deliberate process optimisation/improvement.Portfolio, Programme and Project Management Maturity Model (P3M3)
The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) is a department within the UK Government with a remit to help public sector organisations improve their efficiency, gain better value for money from procurements and deliver improved success from programmes and projects. They are the owners of PRINCE2™, Managing Successful Programmes (MSP), Management of Risk (M_o_R®) and the IT best practice framework, ITIL®.
In 2003 the OGC released their first draft of a Portfolio, Programme and Project Management Maturity Model (P3M3). The model was refined and formally published in February 2006 after incorporating latest maturity modelling practices and after consultation with interested consultants, practitioners and their accreditation partner APM Group.
The P3M3 describes the portfolio, programme and project-related activities within process areas that contribute to achieving a successful project outcome. The levels described within the P3M3 indicate how key process areas can be structured hierarchically to define a progression of capability which an organisation can use to set goals and plan their improvement journey.
The levels facilitate organisational transitions from an immature state to become a mature and capable organisation with an objective basis for judging quality and solving programme and project issues.
The distinct yet connected disciplines of portfolio, programme and project management are nested within the P3M3 model:
Portfolio, Programme and Project Management Maturity (P3M3) Poster PrintingProgramme and Project Management Maturity (P2M3) Project Management Maturity (P1M3)
Attracting the attention of young and old alike is a goal of any kind of professional printing services, whether it involves letters/letterhead, brochures, flyers, web pages, or poster. A bright and vibrant, yet easy to read and communicative presentation is a must. What’s the solution when you need to get a lot of information across in a short amount of time? The answer is simple, poster of course. A simple poster can communicate a wealth of ideas using simple use of color and aesthetic design. Grand opening events, special occasions, big sales, or even big family events would make a perfect application for a well designed and implemented poster.Imagine attracting new customer and new clients with a big “GRAND OPENING” poster outside of a newly opened store, or to draw in a range of customers and/or clients who would otherwise not stop. A simple poster with the proper sale information and/or grand opening information can generate a great boost in sales and customer base. Posters in sizes ranging from 11” x 17” up to 24” x 36” (depending on retailer), and range in price(s) based on the quantity of the poster needed. Practical application for smaller posters can include to post at any given public place to attract the attention of passersby thereby drawing them in to your business. An important aspect to keep in mind when creating any advertisement of poster is that it should not be too flashy otherwise the prospective target group will simply pass it over. As a matter of practicality, the cost of the posters can easily be offset by the cost of the incoming business. Cheaper alternatives to traditional poster printing also exist in cyberspace.The concept of attracting new business may be quite an appealing one to all ranges of business owners; however poster printing may be too costly for a new business owner. To help curb the cost, which may seem a little exorbitant to a newly started business, the option of banners and/or posters in cyberspace may be a litand Project Management Maturity Model (P3M3). The model was refined and formally published in February 2006 after incorporating latest maturity modelling practices and after consultation with interested consultants, practitioners and their accreditation partner APM Group.The P3M3 describes the portfolio, programme and project-related activities within process areas that contribute to achieving a successful project outcome. The levels described within the P3M3 indicate how key process areas can be structured hierarchically to define a progression of capability which an organisation can use to set goals and plan their improvement journey.
The levels facilitate organisational transitions from an immature state to become a mature and capable organisation with an objective basis for judging quality and solving programme and project issues.
The distinct yet connected disciplines of portfolio, programme and project management are nested within the P3M3 model:
Portfolio, Programme and Project Management Maturity (P3M3) Programme and Project Management Maturity (P2M3) Project Management Maturity (P1M3) This means that organisations can use the model to evolve their maturity across all disciplines in an integrated approach or by addressing Project Management then Programme Management and then Portfolio Management in sequence.
Using Maturity Models for Performance Improvement
The beauty of maturity models is that they enable organisations to breakdown a broad process improvement goal into manageable tasks. The lower level KPAs need to be in place for the higher level KPAs to be effective. Therefore the lower level KPAs should be addressed first.
Step 1 – Where Are You Today?
In order to identify a prioritised roadmap for process improvement it is important to understand what KPAs you currently do well and what KPAs are causing you performance issues. Maturity modelling applies the concept that there’s little point in fixing things that are not broken or that are not causing problems. Additionally, for large organisations it is likely that you have islands of good practice. What is it that department X does differently to department Y or Z? It may be that you have many of the KPAs covered but not universally across the organisation. Adopting good practice from within your own organisation can significantly accelerate adoption rates and hence performance improvement.
The best way to understand current capability is to conduct a baseline assessment against the maturity model through a process of inspection and structured interviews.
Step 2 – Where Do You Want To Be?
Not all organisations need to be at Level 5 maturity. The ideal maturity level for an organisation will depend on how important programmes and projects are to their overall performance.
If you are a R&D organisation, say developing aerospace technology for governments, then your organisation’s performance is likely to be highly dependent on your programme and project management capability.
If you are a retailer by contrast then your organisation’s overall performance is likely to be less dependent on programme and project management capability.
The output from Step 1 will help identify some realistic goals. For example, there are 13 KPAs that need to be addressed to get to level 2 maturity. If the initial assessment has shown that 8 of the 13 are ok then a realistic goal would be to change the 5 weak KPAs to strong KPAs within 6 months to consolidate at level 2 before addressing how to get to level 3.
With an estimated 90% of organisations operating at Level 1 or Level 2 maturity, setting targets by the quantity of strong KPAs is more inspiring than aiming to be level 2 of 5 in capability. For example “We will be in the top 10% of corporate organisations by achieving a strong capability in 25 Key Process Areas”
Step 3 – How Will You Get There
Experience has shown that it takes between 3 and 12 months to raise maturity by one level.
A recommended approach to improve process capability is to appoint process owners for the KPAs to be addressed. For example you could appoint one person to drive improvement for Business Case Development and Benefits Management KPAs and another person to drive improvement for Requirements Management and Configuration Management KPAs. An improvement roadmap should be produced showing the priority of the KPAs to be addressed and the set of initiatives which will improve them. The improvement roadmap should be used to drive and measure progress.
It is important to recognise that if you are changing processes, policies, standards, job descriptions or reporting structures then you will be changing how some people will work. Therefore, as with any initiative that affects people’s current working practices, power or authority, it should be treated as a change initiative. If the change is likely to be significant, it is recommended to establish a change programme to help with the transition. Using change methods such as Six Sigma™ help to structure the roadmap and ensure that the solution sticks.
Step 4 – How Will You Know?
To increase capability organisations need to collect metrics in order to provide a platform for continuous improvement.
Therefore regardless of your baseline maturity it is recommended that the improvement roadmap identifies what metrics should be collected to demonstrate performance improvement.
The establishment of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) will not only enable organisations to determine when they have achieved their goal but can also be used to prove the Business Case for the process improvement journey (i.e. what is your return on the capability investment?).
If your KPIs are showing that you have achieved your current maturity goal then you may wish to consider gaining accreditation
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