The PMI Silicon Valley Maturity Forum 2007 is now history…at least for the event but not in the mindset of participants. Here is my recap from this important event:
My keynote message covered WHAT, HOW, and WHO need to address project maturity in their organizations. WHAT is the ten pieces of the puzzle to create an environment for successful projects. HOW is the eleven step journey to create a project office and lead organizational change. WHO are project sponsors who need to be fully on board to achieve management commitment for project success.
Dr. Ray Levitt and Mark Morgan from the Stanford Advanced Project Management program described the strategic execution framework–a set of six domains that comprise the acronym INVEST. We then viewed benchmark data from the Maturity Forum Survey questionnaire and compared that with data from the Environmental Assessment Survey Instrument (EASI). It showed that Silicon Valley people had similar maturity scores to other people but remarkably scored slightly lower in PM information systems and PM selection and development. The important comparison is for individuals to rank their scores to others and use this data as a call for action to build upon strengths and formulate development steps.
Participants used the Group Mind Express collaboration tool to brainstorm maturity issues at their tables and enter them into the software tool. These issues were grouped into four categories and were voted upon to determine the top four areas. The next activity consisted of sharing action-oriented solutions to address at least one of these areas. Participant discussions were quite intense and productive.
Larry Bull then described the Organizational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3) and shared a composite case study that depicted how a company can apply the model and improve its business performance. Claudia Baca demonstrated the OPM3 assessment process, and Brad Clark shared a case study on applying maturity models within an organization.
In response to the question of whether it was a good day, participants enthusiastically nodded YES. The next question was the most important: What are you going to do about what you learned? At their disposal are concepts, models, tools, and best practices. Maturity levels are quite varied. Success goes to those who take the opportunity to invigorate their organizations, learn from others, and immediately adopt, adapt, and apply at least one thing in the short term.
Results and materials from the Maturity Forum 2007 are available at www.pmisv-onlineforum.org/?da=8dcf.
Randy Englund, www.englundpmc.com
