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1. Executive Summary
Advanced Project Management Techniques
Once an organization undertakes the process of standardizing Project Management,
the next step is to benchmark maturity levels in the 9 key project management
competencies, and set goals for improving in each area.
Use Demand Metric's downloadable Project Management Maturity Assessment to
identify your strengths and weaknesses, and work to optimize your methodology.
Project Management Competencies:
• Scope Management - business requirements are well defined; stakeholders stay
engaged; Change Request Forms are used to approve scope changes; adjustments to
delivery timelines are made to manage expectations.
• Time Management - scheduling and resource planning is performed; projects are
systematically prioritized to ensure resource allocation; formal Project Schedules and
Work Breakdown Structures are used consistently.
• Cost Management - cost estimates and plans are tracked against a baseline, and
integrated into project office system. Lesson learned are used to improve documented
cost management processes.
• Quality Management - quality processes are well defined and documented,
checkpoints are scheduled for quality assurance (QA), and Post-Project Evaluations are
used to improve quality management proactively.
• Human Resources Management - formal project teams are assembled; processes
exist to define how to plan/schedule projects; HR time/cost is measured; resource
forecasting is used to schedule projects.
• Integration Management - cross-project integration is performed to drive
efficiency; integration processes are measured and managed.
• Communications Management - Project Charters are used to document project
communication plans; collaboration tools are used; communications processes and
tools are consistently improved to increase effectiveness.
• Risk Management - risks are documented in project planning phase; metrics are
used to inform risk management decisions; senior management is aware of key risks
and stays involved to manage them.
• Procurement Management - contract management and build vs. buy decisions are
made at organizational level; cost-savings are realized.
© 2009 Demand Metric Research Corporation

2. Executive Summary
Action Plan:
1. Assess your Project Management Maturity - start this initiative by downloading
Demand Metric's Project Management Maturity Assessment and determine your
organizational strengths and weaknesses. Benchmark your maturity in each of the 9
competency areas, and evaluate your overall score.
2. Standardize Project Management - read Demand Metric's Research Note,
Standardizing Project Management, to develop a formal policy, methodology, and
toolset that you can provide to your team.
3. Train your Staff - now that you understand what it takes to effectively manage
multiple projects, train your staff and work to define repeatable processes for each of
the 9 competency areas.
4. Measure Progress - next quarter, do another project management maturity
assessment to demonstrate how your department is improving in this organizational
competency.
5. Help other Departments - once you have perfected your project management
procedure, speak with other executives to see if they could use some help with
improving their processes. Provide tools & resources to get them started.
Bottom-Line:
Project Management is the lifeblood of every organization; embrace this process and work to
make your department the leader in project management maturity. At the very least, you will
learn a skill set that is well received in any organization.
© 2009 Demand Metric Research Corporation